Giving Back to the Game
4/25/2013 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 25, 2013
By Carie Cunningham, MSU Athletic Communications Student Assistant
Most family businesses are housed in a storefront or a corner office, but for Michigan State University center fielder, Kylene Hopkins, her family business is on a diamond. Softball and baseball run in her blood and have been a part of the Hopkins family tradition for generations. Hopkins' grandpa played in men's professional fast pitch, her uncle played in men's professional fast pitch softball and her dad, Rick Hopkins, played for the Cubs Organization.
As for Hopkins, softball started for her even before she could play.
"I would go with my dad when he was coaching softball and I would hang out with the older girls," she said. "It felt like they were my big sisters. I always thought `this is what I want to do. I want to be like them."
Hopkins no doubt feels the pressure of the legacy, but says she is excited to add her link to the chain.
"The legacy is great. It is something I hope to pass on to my future children -- just to know this is our family history," said Hopkins.
The journey to writing her own legacy was a longer distance than most. Hopkins traded in the sun and sand of Southern California for a green and white jersey at Michigan State University.
Speaking from behind her LA Angels baseball cap, Hopkins said, "Being far away is a little bitter sweet. I never took into consideration that my family wouldn't be at my games and be able to come out here as often, but it has been a great experience. It has made me cherish my family just that much more."
Despite the distance, her family has been able to cheer her on from afar with a little help from the Spartan family.
"My teammates and my coaches are my support system and we have parents that support us," said Hopkins. "We really are a Spartan family. My experience here has molded me into the person I am today."
The elementary education major has shined in the Great Lakes State, earning Academic All-Big Ten two years in a row, but for Hopkins the best thing about being a Spartan Student Athlete are the small moments.
"There's always your first Spartan win or the first time you put on your jersey," Hopkins recalled. "You look in the mirror and you are just like `Wow! I am here!'"
Hopkins, who earned first-team All-Big Ten honors as a junior in 2011, will finish her career ranking among the all-time school leaders in batting average, hits, and runs scored
With a current batting average of .421 and an on-base percentage of .500, this intensely hard worker says, "I come off as intimidating and fierce, but I really am sensitive and care about other people. If one of my teammates needed me, I would be there in a heartbeat if they asked."
No doubt, team spirit inherited from her long line of family history in the game.
Torn between two states, for this senior, her professional plans for the future are still being determined, but the game of softball she knows will stay with her no matter what.
"This game has been so good to me for so long," remarked Hopkins. "I think I will always be involved in the game somehow. I doubt that I will play after my time is up here, but there is always coaching. Give back to the game."
As her final season wraps up, Hopkins' softball goals are to "take it a day at a time, a game at a time. I could not be more proud that I play for Michigan State or go to this great university."
