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Ashley Burkhardt: Elevating Softball in The Midwest One Smile At A Time

Ashley Burkhardt engages a young fan during her days as a pro player. Photo: Jade Hewitt.

There are a lot of former players teaching the current generation of athletes.

Few have the desire to change the culture and thought-process of an entire region of the country. Even fewer have the passion and the drive to actually do it: meet Ashley Burkhardt.

Burkhardt’s credentials are impressive.

She’s a former pro player for the Dallas Charge of the National Pro Fastpitch League (NPF); a former travel team star for the Indiana Magic Gold; two-time All-State player at Bishop Dwenger High in Fort Wayne, Indiana; and a former Purdue Boilermaker All-Big Ten first baseman.

Currently, she also frequently coaches at The Packaged Deal clinics around the country.

Burkhardt has her own business, Ashley Burkhardt Training, based out of the 1st Source Bank Performance Center in South Bend, Indiana.  The facility is affiliated with the South Bend Cubs, a minor league baseball team in the Chicago Cubs organization.

When you hear South Bend mentioned, it usually has something to do about the University of Notre Dame football team.

However, in this case, South Bend is the epicenter of Burkhardt’s mission to elevate the level of softball in the Midwest and change the mindset of the athletes she works with–no easy task in a town that gets 64 inches of lake-effect snow every year and where softball teams rarely play outside until early May.

However, Burkhardt loves a challenge.

She tells her players that they shouldn’t settle for being mediocre because they’re from the weather-challenged Midwest. They shouldn’t accept, because they are in the Midwest, that they will not be as good as players from softball hotbeds like California, Texas and Florida.

“Why should they limit themselves because there’s snow outside?” Ashley questions. “They can be just as good as the kids from the warm-weather states. They have to make their own sunshine and be willing to put it all on the line for a dream to play high-level D1 softball. They can’t allow their situation to dictate and limit their expectations.”

It all starts with a simple philosophy for her: you can have a positive impact on everyone you meet. Her softball mission is to provide more for the girl who may limit herself based on where she’s from, what her circumstances are or how she compares to other players her age.

With excitement in her voice, Burhardt explains, “I don’t care about any of those things. I care about how she values herself as a person and believing whole-heartedly in going after the things she wants most.”

Ashley (far right) has been a natural in working clinics and camps with aspiring young softball players.

“I thrive on their joy and rapid improvement in their games. Especially the ones who are all in. They put in work during the week between lessons. Those are the athletes that are going to change softball in the Midwest and not let the perception of their circumstance dictate their outcome.”

“I want to show them the way. Do you want to play in the SEC? Great, here’s what you have to do. Want to be on Team USA? You can do it, but you have to be the best and even then, you might not make it. Still want to try? I want to empower these athletes and challenge them to dream and put a plan in place to chase those dreams.”

Amanda Scarborough, a former All-American pitcher at Texas A&M and co-founder of The Packaged Deal (TPD), says Burkhardt will be successful because she pinpointed her mission and focus.

“She’s going to dominate this,” Scarborough believes. “The players in Northern Indiana need to understand what a great asset they have in Ashley. She’s focused, committed and all-in.”

Dave Shondell, the head volleyball coach at Purdue, who knows Burkhardt from her playing days at the Big Ten school, says, “Ashley’s been on a mission to make difference. She’s an impressive woman in how she’s lived her life. Her positivity and ability to put herself out there in a positive way on social media is outstanding. There is no doubt she is going to be very successful with her business.”

IT ALL BEGAN IN FORT WAYNE

To understand why Burkhardt is who she is today, you really need to understand her softball journey. Her father played D1 basketball at Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne. He has always been the one pushing her and supporting her at the same time.

When Burkhardt was around five-years-old, she played every sport she could with all the boys in her neighborhood in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She was the only girl in the cul-de-sac, and they played every day after school and it was competitive.

The former Purdue standout grew up playing baseball first. Photo: Chris Hagstrom (South Bend Cubs Baseball).

Ashley says she held her own against the boys and when they were 7, the entire group decided to join a baseball team, Burkhardt included.

“At first I didn’t play much because they were probably better than me,” she recalls. “But I understood that if I kept working hard and competing against them, I could get to be just as good and even be better than the boys. I could change the game because I competed against the boys. I’ve taken that intensity with me into softball.”

The relentless competition with the boys made her a better athlete growing up. Her parents let her play every sport possible–baseball, softball, basketball, soccer, volleyball, swimming and tennis.

“My biggest supporter and critic was my dad,” the athlete says. “We have a great relationship. He was hard on me and I am happy he was. He was the reason I worked harder than any athlete in Northern Indiana. He was the driving force behind my success.”

“At some point I started playing softball too,” Ashley remembers. “I played for the Fort Wayne Fire, a local travel team. What was great about that team is there was virtually no turnover and we played together for six years. We won so many games, many of them because we were playing for each other and were all friends. We kept playing better and better competition and kept winning.”

“I firmly believe we could have competed in PGF tournaments, but by the time PGF was starting, not everyone on the team wanted to compete at the highest level, so that’s when the rest of us started looking for the best teams around that were playing against the best.”

Meanwhile, Burkhardt continued to play basketball and softball until her junior year. That’s when she gave up basketball because her high school coach refused to allow her to miss practices and games to go to college softball camps and campus visits.

“That was a turning point for me,” she continues. “Commitment to softball became my priority.”

“That was tough because it was also right when a lot of the social pressures of high school came into play as well. My parents always let me choose what I wanted to do and when socially. However, my dad would always tell me: ‘Look at what’s in front of you and make sure it’s the right decision and will it help you get where you want to be.’”

The summer before her junior year Burkhardt shifted from the Fire to the Indiana Magic Gold (IMG) travel program. She says it was difficult to break up the Fire team because they were all friends.

By today’s standards, she got a late start on attending prospect camps and didn’t start until her junior year. Burkhardt received interest and offers from Purdue, Michigan State, Ball State, Wright State and Boston University.

“I really had always thought I was going to play at Notre Dame,” she continues, “but when I visited Purdue, I realized there are other amazing colleges out there.”

Purdue head softball coach Boo DeOliveira has a unique relationship with the Burkhardt family. She recruited Ashley to Purdue and her sister Kristina to the University of North Carolina, where she plays today. Ironically, DeOliveira never coached either one of them as she had moved on by the time they got there.

FROM TOP PROSPECT TO BECOMING ‘THE MAYOR’ OF PURDUE

Burkhardt went to Purdue’s winter prospect camp in her junior year and was offered a scholarship a few months later. She fell in love with the West Lafayette campus, the coaching staff, and the athletic department.

“Purdue’s athletic department is jaw-dropping,” she says emphatically. “They have a leadership coordinator, Cathy Wright-Eger, that I met on my visit and she said she would show me how to lead even though I was always an introvert growing up and never knew how to be a leader. I was hooked after that meeting.”

“The athletic department does absolutely everything they can for their athletes to help them succeed, and I cannot thank them enough for providing me with the tools to go on and be successful.”

Since Purdue was only a couple hours from Fort Wayne, Burkhardt was expecting to go home a lot. Once she got on campus, she realized it had everything she needed and wanted.

“I was like, dude, I didn’t need to go home! I had everything I needed right there.”

The star softball player says her four years at Purdue were the best four years of her life.

“It felt like home from the first time I stepped on campus and still feels that way when I go back now,” said Burkhardt.

She loved being on campus and watching her fellow athletes grind it out in training and then going to support them at their games. Her enthusiasm and passion for Purdue sports earned her the nickname, “The Mayor.”

DeOliveira explains: “Ashley is the most kindhearted and genuine person you will ever meet. She is thoughtful and looks for the good in everyone. At the same time, she is a true competitor that respects the game and plays it the right way. Around here they talk about bleeding black and gold; it feels like Ashley actually does! She embodies what it means to be a Boilermaker.”

“Ashley was one of a kind,” adds volleyball coach Dave Shondell. “What was unique about her is that, despite the focus and discipline she had to become one of the top softball players in the Big Ten, she gave herself to other parts of the athletic department. She would go to other teams’ games and support her fellow athletes.”

Shondell said she was a leader on and off the field including serving on the Boiler Athletic Council where she was a liaison between the athletes, the athletic department administration and the NCAA.

“Ashley had all these intangibles that make her different from the average student-athlete,” he says. “We were lucky we had her at Purdue.”

The Triple XXX Root Beer Stand on the Purdue Campus, where meals are named after famous Purdue athletes.

Perhaps the highest praise Shondell could give was when his Director of Volleyball Operations position became open a few years ago, Burkhardt was one of the first people that came to his mind.

“Even though she didn’t have volleyball experience or background, when she was at Purdue, she always found the rainbow in whatever was going on. You just want to have her in your program because of all her positives.”

Part of being The Mayor extended to off-campus locations as well.

A legendary local eating place called the Triple XXX Root Beer Stand–which has been open since 1929–has a menu with meals named after famous Purdue athletes. Some of the more famous alums and their meals on the menu include:

  • The Drew Brees (two eggs and either sirloin or chicken fried steak w/biscuits, gravy and hash browns).
  • The Leroy (Keyes) Loin (breaded pork tenderloin sandwich)
  • The Ryan Kerrigan (double cheese burger with chili and fries)
  • The David Boudia (a triple grilled cheese sandwich with bacon, tomato, and a fried egg, served with hash browns and sausage gravy)

Greg Ehresman, the owner of Triple XXX says, “Ashley was in here after she had brought in the Big Ten Network to do a video shoot. She asked, “What does a gal got to do to get her name on the menu?’ I had no idea who she was. She told me she played professional softball and had played here at Purdue. Within a few minutes I made the decision. She had the right personality to be on our menu.”

The Ashley Burkhardt meal, which includes chicken & biscuits and sweet potato fries.

The two then went to the kitchen to figure out what dish to name after Burkhardt. They settled on chicken and biscuits. The chicken tenders are tossed in a special sauce that includes the Triple XXX root beer jelly, a secret buffalo sauce and is served with sweet potato fries. Burkhardt likes to drizzle honey on it.

With that, Burkhardt became both the first female athlete, as well as the first non-football player, to get a signature menu item at Triple XXX.

“It was such an honor,” Ashley says humbly. “Greg and Carrie are wonderful people and have been very supportive of the Purdue community for decades. I am extremely humbled they chose me to be on their menu.”

DALLAS CHARGE – TWO CHALLENGING YEARS

As hard as it is to tell the next part of the story, it needs to be told, and Burkhardt needed to tell it.

It doesn’t fit with the rest of her softball journey, but it was also a defining time in her life. It is clear the memories are painful and it still bothers her. She had compartmentalized it and hadn’t thought about it in a while. This was also the first time she had discussed these two years with anyone outside of her family and close friends.

After getting drafted into the NPF, Burkhardt left Purdue with many accolades and accomplishments. She says she never felt better about herself and her game. She was excited to get to play professional softball. It was something she had worked and trained for her entire life.

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