Catching Up With Norrelle Dickson

NORMAN, Okla. Time has not slowed down for senior left fielder Norrelle Dickson. After picking up her second All-America honor and leading the Sooners to the NCAA Regionals, Dickson has been traveling the world as a member of the USA World Team.

After being invited to the USA World Team tryout, she joined 16 other collegiate softball players on the USA team that captured the gold medal at the World Championships in T'ai-nan City, Taiwan on July 23. It marks the second gold medal Dickson owns after her 2004 squad captured the gold at the inaugural World Championships.

Recently arriving in the United States, Dickson took a moment to sit down with SoonerSports.com and share her experiences in Taiwan.

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SoonerSports.com: You have been a member of both of the USA World Teams that have claimed gold medals at the World Championships, how does it feel to be able to represent the Red, White and Blue?

Norrelle Dickson: Every time I play for the USA it's an honor because you get to represent your country. Each experience has been special in its own way. You always have great stories and memories from each trip. They are life experiences that I will treasure forever. Even if I ever go back to Taiwan it won't be the same because I was able to have this experience in such a unique way.

SS: What were some of the exciting things about Taiwan?
ND: We got to stay in a fabulous hotel and definitely had the first-class treatment. It was awesome because we got to experience the culture too. They took us to a Confucian Temple and a military fort that has been headquarters for the Japanese, Chinese and now the Taiwanese.

SS: How about the food?
ND: They were very Americanized. They had McDonald's, Pizza Hut, and Kentucky Fried Chicken all the normal American restaurants. The chains served the normal food they serve here, but also had their own version of the menu that included rice patties and chicken wings.

At the bottom of our hotel they had a huge buffet that included American, Japanese, Chinese and Taiwanese food. If you like seafood, it's great. The Taiwanese food tasted very similar to Chinese food that I have had in America.

They had some very exotic Taiwanese food as well. They served baby octopus on kabobs that looked very interesting, but none of us on the team were willing to try it. Another favorite dish of theirs is blackened egg, which is an egg that has been buried in the ground and they dig it up and boil it to eat.

SS: While you were there, you experienced a typhoon and a monsoon. Have you ever seen any kind of weather like that?
ND: The typhoon made all the weather very extreme. It was intensely hot and humid. The monsoon came near the end of the trip and I have never seen rain like that in my life. It was so loud that when we were practicing in an indoor facility, we couldn't even hear each other when were standing side by side. They said they received 25 inches of rain and there was a ton of damage. Trees were knocked over, buildings were damaged and cars were floating down the street.

SS: You were the only player on the squad from Oklahoma so who were your close friends on the trip?
ND: We all became very close so it made for a great trip. My roommate was Callista Balko (Arizona) and she is hysterical. We had a great time rooming together. The other people I hung out with the most were Christina Clark (Fresno State), Christie Fox (Arizona) and Samantha Findlay (Michigan). They are all really fun girls to hang out with.

SS: Your head coach, Coach Hutchins, and Samantha Findlay are both from Michigan. Did anything get brought up about Oklahoma playing Michigan in the NCAA Regional Finals?
ND: Samantha is really an awesome person and so nice. We talked about that extra-innings Regional final that we played. She asked about Mariee Mena and wanted to make sure she was okay because she got hit in the face that day. We both talked about what a great game that final between our two teams was.

As far as Coach Hutch, we never talked about Regionals the whole time. We both made a commitment to USA so you are all on the same team.

SS: How was it playing for Coach Hutchins?
ND: She's an extremely inspirational coach and very positive. She's hysterical with the umpires. She would get on to them and we would just crack up in the dugout at the funny things she would say to them. I really enjoyed playing for her.

Gold Medal Game | Taiwan Recaps

SS: What did you all do in your free time in Taiwan?
ND: We had a great time hitting the local market places. We went into the back alleys and found knock-off handbags and other fashion items. The toughest part was the language barrier and trying to interact with the locals because they didn't understand us.

SS: Did this World Championship differ much from the first World Championship?
ND: This one was definitely well-earned. We lost two games to Chinese Taipei and were able to come back and beat them in extra innings, so it was a hard-fought gold medal. The world competition has definitely gotten better since two years ago, which is great for the game of softball.

SS: What will you cherish most from the experience?
ND: The experience made me so appreciative of our country and the things I often take for granted. One, it made me feel so lucky that our country has really invested time in the sport of softball so that we can be so advanced in the sport. Second, it's amazing how many teams don't even have equipment and we have anything we could ask for. It definitely opened my eyes to the blessings we have in the USA.

SS: What was the funniest experience you had in Taiwan?
ND: In our game against Japan they played American rap music during warm ups as a nice gesture. The funny part was that it was rap music that was full of profanity, but they had no idea. In the stands all of the Taiwanese were rocking out and beating their hands to the music, but they had no idea what the words meant. Coach Hutchins just told us to ignore it since they were trying to do us a nice gesture.

SS: After you left Taiwan you headed to Chicago to take on the Bandits of the National ProFastpitch League. Did you get to meet up with former Sooner Christina Enea?
ND: Yes, she's played for the Bandits for the last two years so I was able to hang out with her a lot. Her mom was in town and we all went to dinner one night. It's always great to meet up with former teammates.

SS: Now that your summer of traveling is done, what are you going to do before school starts?
ND: I'm currently back home in California and I'm going to stay here and hang out with my mom and sisters for the next two weeks. I haven't been home since Christmas so it's great to be able to spend time with my family.

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