December 2007

Dream Job: Eileen Schmidt's Best Recruiting Tool
Might Be A Mirror

Having played and excelled at Virginia– Eileen Schmidt was the first Cavalier softball player to become an All-American–the first-year softball coach is cognizant of what the four-year experience on Grounds can do for a student-athlete.

That, quite simply, is part of the reason that Schmidt left a job in the Southeastern Conference at Kentucky to return for a “dream job” at her alma mater.

“I think anybody that graduates should always want to come back to their alma mater, and certainly the University of Virginia is special in a way that is different from almost all schools,” said Schmidt, who was a Cavalier from 1991 to 1994. “The ties that you have when you leave U.Va. never leave you.”

As a student-athlete, Schmidt’s experience epitomized what she hopes to give to each and every one of her players–current and future.

“One of the reasons that I wanted to come back was because being at U.Va. for four years was awesome in athletics, awesome in the classroom and awesome in balancing life outside the classroom,” she said. “You want your players to have that same experience that you did.

Schmidt’s love for Virginia’s athletics programs stretches past softball, a sport she claimed ACC Player of the Year honors in during the ’93 season.

During a recruiting trip to California in October, Schmidt tried desperately to catch every highlight possible of a victory in football over Maryland.

“I am a huge Virginia fan,” she joked. “I was stuck in the SEC there for a while but in the back of my mind I was always watching the ACC and Virginia.

“The SEC only has your 13 major sports. At Virginia and in the ACC and on the East Coast, it is different because you have field hockey, lacrosse, crew, soccer–you have all these different sports that I grew up watching and I kind of lost track of when I went south and towards the middle of the country.”

While the enjoyment remains in watching a different generation of student-athletes prosper at Virginia in many sports, Schmidt’s obvious passion resides with her new team and what she can help them accomplish on the diamond and more importantly for life beyond.

“I had a well-balanced education and my athletics were a priority but not over prioritized,” Schmidt said. “I felt that when I left here, even though I was very young, I was ready for the world.” —Jay Jenkins

Top right photo: Eileen Schmidt (center) takes time out from the team's conditioning to pose with four of the five fourth-year players. From left to right: Kierstie Cameron, Meghan O'Leary, Karla Wilburn, and Whitney Holstun.