Have you ever wondered what enterprising college softball players do when they’re not in season and are looking for something creative to keep them busy?
In the case of two Washington Husky players—senior pitcher Pat Moore from Medford, Oregon, and junior infielder Megan Vandegrift from Buckley, Washington—they started doing creative hair braiding in March under the name of “Dawgie ‘Dos” and, though it was originally meant to be “just for fun,” it’s taken off as a business.
And this was months before the NCAA ruling began on July 1, 2021 permitting student-athletes to make money by selling their name, image and likeness (NIL) rights.
“We didn’t really expect anything to come from it or for people to really like the content,” explains Moore of their initial creative endeavor, “but we ended up having a lot of success on videos that we created.”
“Success,” in this case, meant creating a Dawgie ‘Dos TikTok page that seemingly blew up overnight–one video alone now has more than 5.5 MILLION views!
@dawgiedos Criss Cross braids!! #fyp #foryou #foryoupage #gamedayhair #softball #fy #braids @jadelynallchin
… while another is approaching a half million views:
@dawgiedos we LOVE this do!!! & it’s super easy !!! #fypシ #foryou #gamedayhair #softball #summer #pepsihalftimechallenge #braid @mvande2
While the creative styling was just for friends and teammates at first, the warm reception from those who loved the results got Pat and Megan thinking about going on the road.
“Our vision now is to go to tournaments and not only braid hair for young softball players,” the pitcher explains,” but to spread our love for the game.”
The duo–along with teammate Silent Rain Espinosa, a junior infielder from Alpine, California–worked out an arrangement with the organizers of PGF Nationals where they’ll interact with young players in the 14U, 12U and 10U age divisions the second week of Nationals running August 2-8.
“We will be at the Opening Ceremonies (Aug. 2) and will also have a tent at the Huntington Beach Sports Complex and can’t wait to meet these young players!” Pat says excitedly, emphasizing that their goal is not just to make the teen athletes look stylish.
“We are going to be doing more than just braiding,” the hurler adds. “Our being there is also going to give these girls a chunk of time to pick our brains if they want to, about anything softball!”
The Husky player admits there are multiple layers in their business enterprise that they’ve come to love.
“If anything,” the Pac-12 pitcher stresses, “we want to use our platform to inspire young girls to strive to be the best versions of themselves as well as allow themselves to be creative while perfecting their craft in softball.”
Pat hopes that the next generation of college athletes will see that there is great value to having fun away from the fields too.
“We spend so much time playing the sport we love,” she concludes, “but that doesn’t have to stop us from creating and having other hobbies!”
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