Senior Spotlight: Sydney Fritchman, Penn State Greater Allegheny

Welcome to our Senior Spotlight. In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the PSUAC had to cancel its spring sport seasons. This prevented several student-athletes from receiving a proper senior day and minimized opportunities for Player of the Week awards. In its place, we will highlight seniors from around the conference throughout the remainder of the semester. Next in our series is Penn State Greater Allegheny's Sydney Fritchman!

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Name: Sydney Fritchman

Campus: Penn State Greater Allegheny

Sport: Softball

Primary Position: Catcher/Inf

Hometown/High School: Carnegie, PA/Carlynton Jr/Sr High School

Major: Administration of Justice

Q&A

1. What are your post-graduation plans? (short and long-term)

After I graduate, I plan to go to police academy and become a police officer for a few years. After that, I would like to do something with the FBI or move South and do something with Boarder Patrol.

2. What life lessons did you learn while playing a sport at your campus?

A big lesson I learned while playing softball at GA was to never limit yourself. I tore my ACL in spring training during my sophomore year and then took my junior year off. I did not feel comfortable yet because I was scared to go through getting hurt again. Early in my senior year, the softball coach asked me to come play again and I felt that I was healthy enough to come back. Once I started to practice, I felt better than I ever was. I let myself lose and just played the game. Even though we only played two games, after the games, I felt that I overcame a fear that I did not think I was ever going to get out of. I learned that I cannot hold myself back because of an injury.

3. Are there teammates, coaches or family members you would like to thank for having a positive impact on your playing career?

I would like to thank my family for being at every game no matter how far the games were. My parents for driving me to practices and games since I was eight years old. Most importantly my dad. He was my coach for several years and always took the time to take me to the field or cage to get extra reps in, got other coaches to give me lessons on the side when he didn’t know how to fix something and always tried to push me to do more than what I thought I could. If it was not for him, I would not be where I am today.