Sippel Leads Other ?Big Red? to Olympic Semifinals

Over chants of “Go Big Red!” from an excited and eager crowd, Lori Sippel watched intently from the dugout as Sheena Lawrick raced to catch a rapidly falling foul pop up that secured a 1-0 victory.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

Lawrick’s momentum nearly took her into the dugout, and when she made the catch, Lawrick was immediately mobbed by teammates from both on and off the field. An impromptu celebratory huddle quickly formed as the team came together to rejoice in the biggest win in program history.

Sippel was one of the last to join the celebration despite being close to Lawrick’s game-ending catch. Instead, she moved aside to let the players celebrate the victory amongst themselves, ever humble in relishing the moment from a short distance away.

This picture may seem familiar to Husker fans, who watched Lawrick and Sippel combine for 170 wins at <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska from 2002 to 2005. While the names were the same, the setting and uniform were not. Instead of Bowlin Stadium, it was Beijing, China. Instead of Husker Nation watching, the world tuned in. Instead of “Nebraska”, the front of the jersey read “Canada.”

Lawrick’s game-winning grab closed out Canada’s 1-0 win over host China on the seventh day of the 2008 Summer Olympics. It also gave Sippel her third win in three tries in her Olympic debut as Team Canada’s head coach. The Canadians’ 3-0 start not only marked the country’s best-ever start in Olympic play, it also marked Canada’s most-ever victories in a single Olympics.

While those achievements make for nice notes, the true significance of that third victory would not be known until preliminary round-robin play concluded three days later, when Canada learned it had advanced to the medal round for the first time ever. The victory over China, ranked fourth in the world, ultimately secured the Canadians’ spot in the semifinals.

“Really, the 3-0 start was what we knew we could and had to do,” Sippel said. “The China game was certainly one we had circled on our schedule because we have always played China pretty even. It would be a must-win game against a team that we have swapped punches with in the past.

“We traded blows again making for a very emotional game and one that will certainly be memorable for years to come.”

The memorable victory provided a dramatic ending. Leading 1-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, a leadoff double, a controversial obstruction call and an intentional walk left Team Canada in a bases-loaded, no-out jam.

An infield pop up marked the first out and Canada was able to record a force out at home one batter later on a soft grounder back to the pitcher. Pan Xia then stepped to the plate and went after the first pitch, hitting a weak pop up toward the first base dugout where Lawrick swooped in to make the running grab.

“I was so proud of the defense,” Sippel said of the seventh-inning escape. “When I went out to tell them we were walking to load the bases, they were completely on the same page and just looked at each other like there was no doubt that Canada was going to prevail. As a coach, that has got to be one of your fondest moments for sure.”

Canada did prevail, as Lawrick’s catch preserved the shutout for Canadian ace Lauren Bay Regula, who fired a two-hitter. It also put Lawrick and Sippel on the winning side of a one-run battle with Bay Regula, who went 3-0 in one-run games against the Huskers as senior in 2003, en route to earning Big 12 Player-of-the-Year honors for the Oklahoma State Cowgirls.

Former foes joining together to represent their country on the world’s grandest state is one of the great virtues of the Olympics. National pride is at stake not only for the competitors, but for every one back home as well. And there was plenty of national pride to be had for the Canadians early on in Beijing.

The Games began in grand fashion for Sippel and the Canadians, as her team opened play with a decisive 6-1 victory over Chinese Taipei. The next day, Team Canada remained in first place with a 9-2 six-inning thumping of the Netherlands. The win over the Dutch gave Canada its largest Olympic run total ever, its largest margin of victory and its first-ever run-rule victory in 23 all-time Olympic games.

Next came the win over China, where the Canadians avenged a 1-0 loss to the Chinese at the 2006 World Championships, the christening event for Fengtai Field, where all Olympic softball games were played.

Even when it came up short, Sippel’s squad was still making waves. Against the United States, the three-time defending Olympic champions, Canada was just four outs away from posting a monumental 1-0 upset but could not close the deal.

Although the United States handed Sippel her first Olympic defeat, the Canadians became the first team to lead the Americans in an Olympic game since the 2000 Sydney Olympics, a streak totaling 11 straight games. Canada’s run was also only the second run Team USA had allowed in its last 16 Olympic games dating back to the start of the 2004 Athens Olympics.

The loss to the United States was the first of four straight setbacks to close out the preliminary round for the Canadians. Despite the losses, Canada still earned its way to the semifinals and needed just one win to secure a medal.

“Canada had never made it to the medal round so that was certainly a point that needed to be checked off,” Sippel said. “We did it and the key was making sure that they understood that they were doing everything right in terms of getting themselves to that point even though the results were not showing up.

“Going into the medal round having lost our last four games was not a confidence booster, but in terms of playing hard and their approach to each pitch, they were battling and deserved and earned the right to play for a podium position.”

Although the Canadians ultimately came up one win shy of making it to the podium, they were right on the verge of breaking through. Three of their four losses in the preliminaries came to the United States, Japan and Australia, which have combined to win 11 of the 12 all-time Olympic medals. Canada was leading or tied in the sixth inning in two of those games, but came up short in both. Canada would fall just short again in a semifinal loss to Australia with a guaranteed medal on the line. The Canadians led 3-2 in the fourth and were tied 3-3 in the sixth before falling, 5-3 to finish fourth.

One of the biggest factors in each of those outcomes was the benefit of Olympic experience; which each opponent possessed and something Canada lacked. Each loss served as a crash-course in the value of experience at the end of a close game.

“The challenges (of a young team) are that you are never really sure how they are going to respond when the going gets tough,” Sippel said. “Everyone deals with the stresses differently. It would be great if we all could embrace the stress, but it is tough and a young team generally doesn’t have the experiences to go back and know the best course of action for them personally to deal with it.”

Although Sippel prepared a vigorous and challenging pre-Olympic schedule for her team, there is no substitute for experience. Eleven of Canada’s 15 players competed in their first Olympics, while Sippel was the only one of the Canadians’ five coaches with Olympic experience. Her experience came 12 years ago as a pitcher in the 1996 Atlanta Games.

Team Canada’s average age was just 23.6 years old. According to international team websites, there were only six current Division I softball players competing in Beijing and five of those players ? all key contributors ? made up one-third of Canada’s official 15-player Olympic roster.

ESPN.com’s Graham Hays, who covers NCAA softball for the website, took note of the rise of the young Canadian team under Sippel in a complimentary column on Aug. 4. But Hays isn’t the only one impressed with the job Sippel has done with her young Canadian team.

Mike Candrea, Team USA’s head coach and an eight-time national championship coach at Arizona, also had high praise for Sippel.

"I think Canada overall has improved a lot," Candrea told Hays in the article. "Lori has done a really nice job of getting those players to commit to more full-time training, and I think it's showing right now. They're playing with a lot more confidence, and I think their pitching staff can be very good on any given night."

It’s no surprise that Candrea singled out the pitching staff as the strength of the Canadian team, as Sippel has made her mark on the sport in the circle. 

Entering her 20th year as Nebraska’s associate head coach and pitching coach, Sippel pitched for the Huskers from 1985 to 1988, leading NU to three appearances in the Women's College World Series, including a runner-up finish in 1985. Sippel was a highly decorated student-athlete at Nebraska, finishing as a two-time All-American and the 1988 CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year. As a senior, Sippel was a finalist for the Honda Award for Softball, presented annually to the top player in the nation.

Although 2008 marked her first Olympic Games as a coach, Sippel pitched for Team Canada at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, when softball was first included among the Olympic lineup. Her work in the circle helped Canada to its best-ever Olympic finish prior to Beijing and marked one of the many high points in her stellar 16-year international career with Team Canada.

Before she rejoined the national team as head coach, Sippel knew Canada’s young staff had the potential to lead the team to the podium stand in Beijing. That’s why when she took the job in March of 2005, she immediately established the goal of winning a medal, a bold proclamation for a country that had never finished higher than fifth in the eight-team field and boasted an all-time Olympic record of 7-14 in three appearances.

“I was driven by the picture of seeing 15 individuals standing on top of a podium,” Sippel said of her vision for the program. “It was completely result-oriented, but then the plan was to work backward and find the best way to make that picture come true.”

Leading the team from the dugout and not from the circle required a change in mindset for Sippel as she made the transition from elite athlete to elite coach.

“Playing is stressful between the lines but there is more time to just ?be’ and deal with your personal preparation,” Sippel said. “Coaching is 24-7. You must captain yourself and the ship. Both are fun and great experiences.

“In coaching, I knew that my ?medal’ would be earned based on how prepared and confident the athletes were going into the event. As an athlete, the ?medal’ or success is clearly on getting the desired result as a team and your personal stake in that result. Only after do you really reflect on personal growth and readiness that occurred in the process.”

With softball not included in the 2012 Olympic lineup, Sippel knew that the Beijing Games could very well be the culmination of her illustrious international career. One of only 133 individuals worldwide to be elected in to the International Softball Federation Hall of Fame, Sippel knew that coaching the Canadians was something she was meant to do.

“I know that every experience I have had as a player and coach has led me down this path,” Sippel said. “I love winning, and I hate losing.

“I know that all you have control over is your ambition and enthusiasm and your approach to the task at hand and how you respond to the outcomes. How you respond may just motivate or dissuade others to give their best effort as well. I know that you must rededicate yourself every day.”

With the sun setting on the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Sippel is ready for the dawn of a new day and that means rededicating herself to Nebraska. And no one is more excited about that prospect than Husker Head Coach Rhonda Revelle.

“The entire Nebraska softball team beamed with pride as we watched Lori honorably lead her country in the Olympics, along with Sheena and Robin Mackin,” Revelle said. “As a manager, she showed great poise and game management skills as Canada made its finest showing in Olympic history.  

 

“Now, we will all benefit from Lori, as we have the opportunity to glean from her the lessons she has learned from being a part of the game at the international level on the world’s grandest stage. Personally, I am ecstatic to have my dear friend and counterpart back roaming the field beside me and the other Huskers. We are better when she is with us and among us.”

 

Being better because of Sippel is just another thing the two Big Reds have in common.