The Coaches: Olympic dreams come true for Dobbin

Oshawa resident an assistant coach with women's softball team

July 4, 2008

By Brad Kelly

Wendy Dobbin has always dreamed of one day being included among the athletes and coaches who march into the Olympic Stadium as part of an elaborate opening ceremonies.

When the games of the XXIX Olympiad open in 2008 in Beijing, China, Dobbin will be among the entourage of Canadians who will proudly wear the nations colours, serving as an assistant coach for the women's softball team.

"This has been a dream of mine since I was young," says Dobbin, who grew up in Pickering. "I always dreamed of being part of the Olympics. Whatever was required to do to get there, I was going to do it."

While the process of being a member of a Canadian Olympic team has escalated the past couple of months, the process actually began as a youngster playing the game on baseball diamonds in Pickering. She attended Indiana State University and still holds career records for ERA, innings pitched and complete games. She has also participated in 15 National Championships and more than 20 Provincial Championships.

Along the way she played and coached against Lori Sippel, who is the head coach of the national women's softball team. When the selection process began in early 2005 to round out the rest of the staff, Dobbin submitted her name for consideration.

She was assigned various jobs and tasks to complete, including planning and administration of the national program, acting as a liaison with Softball Canada and working with sponsors.

Dobbin also gained experience as an assistant coach with the national team that went to Guatemala, and she also got to visit the Olympic venue in Beijing, marking the second time she had been there.

"I went to Beijing with a team I was playing on in Pickering," she recalls of competing in the World Championships in 1992. "It was an awesome experience.

"To go back and see the cultural changes as well as the progression in the sport was awesome."

Canada qualified for the 2008 Olympics by virtue of a fifth place finish at the World Championships in September.