PAGE A18, KEIZERTIMES, MARCH 04, 2022
New face
of Celtic
softball
BY JEREMY MCDONALD
For the Keizertimes
There will be a new face of McNary
softball this spring.
Kelly Parsell will be taking over the
head coaching duties for the McNary
Celtics after Kevin Wise stepped down.
Having coached since 2019, spending
a year at her alma mater South Salem,
Parsell came over to be an assistant
under Wise for the past two seasons—
technically, one season as the COVID
pandemic wiped out the 2020 season, her
first with the Celtics.
Parsell admits, as she has transitioned
from softball player (at the University of
Washington), to coach was expanding
her knowledge of the game: knowledge
that led from being good at one posi-
tion to more well-rounded with all of the
positions.
“The most difficult part of the tran-
sition from being a player to being a
coach was and is having confidence
in my knowledge of the game. Going
from being a player and specializing in
one position and one type of offensive
approach to being an assistant or head
coach supporting players in all aspects of
the game has been a challenge,” Parsell
explains.
“Thankfully, I was surrounded by
some of the greatest athletes in the game
in college and was able to absorb a lot
of coaching information and observe so
many incredible playing styles that I get
to share with my players now as a coach.”
Wise was a good role model for Parsell
the short time the duo was together. Wise
was a great example of how to have a
good rapport with player that would lead
to them respecting and implementing the
feedback that you are giving them.
Adding in what she’s learned as a
teacher, Parsell is a special education
teacher at McNary, ‘Kids don’t learn from
people they don’t like’.
“The same goes for coaching,” Parsell
said. “Kevin showed me the value of
getting to know the players and letting
the players get to know you. In addition,
We can change
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Kevin really empowered me as an assis-
tant coach and provided a safe envi-
ronment for me to share my knowledge
with the girls and implement systems
that I had learned through my playing
experiences.”
Without that experience, points out
Parsell, she wouldn’t feel as nearly as con-
fident to lead the practices as she does
right now with the season on the horizon.
A slew of emotions has been there
with the excitement, joy and nervous-
ness, but just heightened with the Celtics
first game of the year Mar. 14 against
Roseburg, but Parsell’s heart is at rest
when she’s on the field.
Their senior leadership have been
the focal point and their rock coming
from off-season workouts in January and
February. Providing a strong peer-men-
torship role as they gained more and
more players with limited softball experi-
ence and helping with relaying the mes-
sage back to Parsell.
“Their communication with me has
been positive, respectful, timely, and all
in the team’s best interest. It has been
clear for some time now that they are
going to do all that they can to create a
positive, inclusive, and competitive envi-
ronment for our program,” Parsell said.
“This group of seniors is what gave me
and the coaching staff confidence that
this season will be a great one, despite the
challenges we have and will face.”
McNary opens the season Mar. 14 at
home against Roseburg before traveling
to Grants Pass on Tuesday, Mar. 15.
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Photo by JEREMY MCDONALD for the Keizertimes
Kelly Parsell greets players and parents at McNary prior to practice
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