Delivering under pressure is nothing new for county's top player
By Robert Morgan | Published Sunday, July 5, 2009
While most teenage girls spent last summer working, traveling or even tanning, Rachel McKinley of Chico spent her entire vacation doing what most would never consider - enduring the rigors of boot camp.
The only thing to slow her down was a couple of injuries she suffered while going through the U.S Army's eight-week program. But it did not stop her determination. She successfully completed boot camp two weeks before school started and a week after volleyball season had started.
Despite missing volleyball tryouts and two-a-day workouts, McKinley eventually worked her way back onto the varsity volleyball team. Her incredible work ethic is not found in many athletes today, but it has paid off in everything she does. It's one of the big reasons she was named the softball 2009 All-Wise County Player of the Year.
McKinley's ability to adjust came as no surprise to softball coach Mike May. This year he needed someone to solidify the left side of the field where most of the hits were expected, and after watching her shine at second base for the last two years and at catcher as a freshman, he looked no further than McKinley to fill the void at third base.
"I was super nervous at first," she said. "but I was also excited that he thought I could get the job done."
Getting the job done was an understatement.
"Rachel is such a talented girl that I could put her at any position on the field, and she would do a great job," said May. "I knew if we were going to be successful that we had to shore up our defense on the left side, so moving Rachel there was in the best interest of the team. She was outstanding and made several unbelievable plays this year."
The coach's assessment has been witnessed by Chico fans for years as McKinley has started on the varsity all four years of high school. In her final season, she helped lead the Lady Dragons to the Class 2A state playoffs by batting .408 for the year and fielding .928. Her gold glove played a huge role in dumping rivals Alvord and Paradise this season.
The Lady Dragons, who were the only Chico team to make the playoffs this season, was also the last team to qualify for the postseason. McKinley was also on that team back in 2006.
McKinley was introduced to sports in third grade when she played on a local softball team called the Mermaids. She hated the name, but little did she know that one day, she would make a big splash in the sport she has played for most of her life.
Softball was the name of the game for the next 10 years for McKinley as she played on local teams, as well as competitive select teams outside of the county to strengthen her skills.
McKinley, the youngest - and possibly most talented of her seven siblings - explored other athletic venues in seventh grade when she started playing volleyball and basketball. She stuck with those two sports through her senior year and played a valuable role on both teams. As if she wasn't already busy enough, the 18-year-old also mixed in some track and cross country during her junior and senior years.
However, softball is her first love, and she made that clear with every trip onto the field and each at bat. Coaches throughout the area have noticed. McKinley is a four-time all-district player, a two-time All-Wise County selection, District 9-2A Defensive Player of the Year and was named all-tournament twice. She has received numerous CHS athletic awards.
Considering McKinley's dedication to hard work and never backing down from a challenge, it is no surprise to those most close to her that she decided to join the Army just weeks after completing her junior year. She spent almost three months going through the rigorous boot camp in the hottest months of the year, and had she not completed her training, she would not have made it back for the first day of school.
No problem there. McKinley recovered from an injury and successfully passed boot camp 10 weeks later and did not regret her decision.
"The Army has good benefits. It helps you learn a lot about life and sticking to things and how you can't always make it through life on your own - you have to learn to rely on others," said McKinley. " You have to be trusted so that someone can rely on you. It was a great learning experience and a good way to pay for my college at the same time."
McKinley, who plans to attend Angelo State University next spring and walk on the softball team, had her share of struggles during her stay at Fort Jackson. Like all of her challenges, she passed them with ease.
"I'm an outgoing person, but I didn't really want to be noticed in training. I just wanted to make it through and get home," McKinley said. "Well, then turns out my boots didn't fit right, and they messed up my feet. It started to become a big deal, but after three different pairs of boots, I finally found a fit and fell back in the shadows."
That was just the beginning of some of the struggles, but she bounced back like always.
"We went on an FTX, which is like camping, only not as fun, and I got poison ivy all over me," McKinley explained. "They gave me a shot, which landed me at the emergency room because it wasn't the right shot, and I had an allergic reaction to it. I then had to stay 48 hours in what they call medical quarters so I could be watched."
Just as she got past that setback, McKinley stumbled up on the biggest injury of her stay.
"Even after all that I had been through, no one really noticed me until the final two weeks when we went out in the field to do some training," McKinley said. "I slipped and hit my hip on this big rock and bam, it broke."
The biggest concern at the time was whether or not she would heal quickly enough to get through boot camp before school started three weeks later.
"Sad time for me, really. I mean, we had a six-mile march back to the bays, and I was going to march it so I didn't have to make it up," McKinley said. "I marched it but once again back to the doctor for me. I was on crutches and told I wasn't going to graduate."
After receiving the bad news, McKinley made that difficult phone call back home to her family to share the news that she was hurt and would not be home in time to start her senior year. Just like this past season when the Lady Dragons were one loss away from missing the playoffs, McKinley dug deep to find some extra strength, and she delivered like a champion.
"That was a hard phone call home. Then a few days before graduation I convinced the doctor I was okay. He cleared me to make up all the training I had missed, and I did, and I got to graduate."
McKinley has to return to Fort Jackson next month to start her AIT training, which will last through November. There are parts of the whole experience she has missed.
"I made a lot of new friends, and I learned that when you're hurt, don't tell the drill sergeant; you might not graduate. I miss the daily routine of always having something to do and the friends I made," she said. "I don't miss the early wake-ups, getting rushed out of chow or having orders barked at me."
McKinley, a private second class, will remain in the Army reserves while she pursues a degree in either communications or advertising in college. Enlisting in the Army full-time has not been ruled out, but she knows she can handle that task, too, if that's where life leads her.
"Ten years from now I will be 28 ... almost an old lady," McKinley said. "I plan on being out of college, probably married - yikes - and just living my life and having fun."
