By Amy Chastain
Assistant Sports Editor
CSUSM softball player Naomi Amu produces big statistics, but ask her about that and she’ll tell you that her collegiate softball career revolves around freedom, not the numbers.
“I know what it’s like to be sitting on the side and worrying about work and income, so when I play, it’s my time to just relax, have fun. It’s like my free time,” said Amu, a fourth-year transfer from the University of Utah.
Unlike a lot of college athletes, Amu does not fixate on statistics. This approach pays off. Despite an injury prohibiting her from pitching, Amu leads the NAIA in home runs (10), total bases (56) and RBI (33).
“I don’t look at anything, I really just play… [it’s a] kind of freedom,” she said.
Amu is able to find liberation in the midst of her busy life, which involves the responsibilities of being a full-time mother—to an 18-month old son, Amu—student and athlete. Amu took a year off from school, but had a strong interest in CSUSM and their softball program even while pregnant with her son.
As an Oceanside native, Amu decided to transfer to Cal State San Marcos so she could raise her son, play the sport she loves and finish her education close to her family and fiancé.
“Softball was my key to completing my education,” Amu said.
“I think the loyalty for them to respect me as a mother…was the biggest reason why I play so hard for [CSUSM],” said Amu, a Communication major. They “totally let me be a parent” even if that means missing practice to take care of her son, she said.
Coach Laurie Nevarez, had nothing but praise for Naomi and her accomplishments in all facets of her life.
Nevarez endorses Amu’s skill and character on and off the field.
“She is so powerful and explosive,” said Laurie Nevarez, Head Softball Coach.
Nevarez said that Amu has an incredible ability to be “100 percent in as an athlete, mother and student.”
The coach called her “a selfless superstar” and credited Amu for being a positive addition to the team with an innate ability to encourage her teammates.
“She is an absolute treasure to the team,” she said.