By Derrick Smith

Most coaches will tell you that every season does not end the way you hope it will. While that is what happened with coach Lauren Whatley and her Chickasha softball team this season, they still had a solid season. 

“I think we had a great season,” she stated. “Our overall goal was to win regionals and we fell short. But we went 23-13 with everyone returning. Bayle Bingham was the only freshman that started this season, and she was our silent leader. She came up with big plays in big games. And she was also a steady bat in the lineup. Not very powerful, but she constantly got base hits, and moved runners.”

Whatley wears a few different coaching hats for Chickasha. She is the head coach for softball, head coach for seventh grade girls basketball, junior high girls powerlifting coach and assistant high school powerlifting coach.

Over her coaching career, Lauren has been influenced by a few different coaches and they are what have made her the coach she is today.
“My first year as an assistant softball coach, we won state,” she said. “I also got the pleasure of coaching under two really good coaches who have taught me a lot, Dennis Furr and Courtne St. Clair. Those two, along with my high school basketball coach, Rocky Clark, have been the best coaching role models for me. I would not be the coach that I am today without them. I grew up playing sports, and my coaches had huge impacts on my life, and I wanted to be able to impact other students like I was.”

Whatley says she coaches some really solid athletes, but even better, they are great kids.

“I enjoy the relationships I build with each athlete,” she said. “I also love the relationships my student athletes build with my own children. It’s like we are all one big family.”