UNLV SOFTBALL ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: Hollie Chadwick (1991-94) - Henderson Police Captain  (19-year vet)

UNLV softball continues its new alumni spotlight series, highlighting former Rebels that built the foundation of the UNLV softball program.

When Las Vegas native Hollie Chadwick was thinking of where to go to college, she knew one thing - she loved to play softball and loved athletics. She had some offers to play at junior colleges, but Chadwick originally targeted BYU since she was born in Utah. When she found out BYU didn't have softball at the time, her decision to stay in Las Vegas was easy.

"I wanted to stay home - I loved UNLV and wanted to be around my family," recalls Chadwick. "Being the naive kid I was, I just called and asked if I could walk on."

Chadwick knew the success the Runnin' Rebels were having on the court, but she didn't realize the Rebel softball program was one of the best in the country at the time as well.

"I went out in the fall and walked on and who knows why they took me. But I really had no idea I was walking on to a team that had just come back from the [Women's] College World Series - I'm just an 18-year old kid at the time not really realizing it. But I mean, how lucky was I - that's all I can ever think about - is how fortunate was I to get to participate in that team. My first year, we went to another [Women's] College World Series and I just got to play with phenomenal athletes. I still pinch myself how that even happened."

It was an exciting time to be a part of UNLV softball as Chadwick played during the heart of a stretch that included seven straight NCAA regionals and three Women's College World Series, which included reaching a WCWS and four-straight NCAA regionals when she was on the team. During that time, she also remembers what it was like just to be part of those teams and be on campus. All these years later, Chadwick still doesn't take for granted how special of an experience it was at UNLV.

"It was just competitive and so much fun - that whole team atmosphere and that collective bonding," said Chadwick. "At the time the stadium was right in the middle of campus, so we'd be out there practicing or playing games and we would have a whole entourage of people out in the outfield behind the fence. They'd be barbecuing, cheering us on. It was such a cool environment and atmosphere, you'd have people walking to and from classes and they'd stopped to cheer us on. It was just a totally different dynamic back then. Now they have this beautiful stadium and I love it, but I still feel so spoiled that we had that open grass in the outfield where we would have the other sports teams that would be out there encouraging us from the grass. Then to play on a team where everybody really did get along and like each other and there was that bond you had. It was a great coaching staff, you had great academics and professors that worked with you and knew your travel schedule and made sure you got your academics in. Obviously that was a priority, especially with women in athletics, there's not a lot of professional playing opportunities, so we really take our academics seriously and that was such an awesome opportunity to get a great education too."

So what does she remember from playing in the postseason and the WCWS - something so many players never get to experience.

"The experience of playing not just in a critical series, but for the regionals we got to go to, the opportunity to travel to different places and experience other campuses and other areas of the country, that was a great part of it too, but again, just playing on such a highly competitive team was awesome. One year we were ranked third in the country and of course I got spoiled my first year and we went back to the [Women's] College World Series and we didn't go back after that, but looking back you feel so special to even have made it to one [WCWS]. What an environment that is. It's totally changed now and of course now you can watch games on TV and all that, but back then you had none of that so you had all the parents traveling, you had everyone in Oklahoma City, it was just an amazing experience."

Chadwick also had the experience of playing for UNLV Hall of Fame head coach Shan McDonald, who she still credits for giving her the opportunity to play on those historic UNLV teams.

"I've always appreciated that she gave me an opportunity. Again, I was just some nice kid that showed up one day to walk on from tryouts and lord only knows why they picked me. She must have seen some potential and I'm always grateful for that because I was a good athlete, but I walked on to a team with great athletes so how fortunate was I that they just saw something in me and gave me that opportunity. Then two years in, once I got to my junior year they offered me a partial athletic scholarship for my junior and senior years, so she was always rewarding me for my hard work which I really appreciated. Yes, she was tough, but I kind of liked that discipline and we had a great coaching staff here with Leanne Jarvis and then Brian Kolze before he went to Pacific. It was such a phenomenal experience to have a coach that was disciplined and really worked hard, but she had a pretty good sense of humor too, she just hid it a little bit. But if you were around this team they were so special and there were a lot of laughs and sometimes you would see she'd have to turn her back because she didn't want us catching her laugh, but sometimes there was nothing else to do but laugh at us. I just really enjoyed playing and her giving me that opportunity, she didn't have to keep me around, so I'll forever be grateful for that."

In reflecting on her time at UNLV, Chadwick is most appreciative of the chance to get a degree and play softball and just the unique overall experience of being here during the early 1990s.

"The opportunity to get a college education and then on top of it play the sport you love and get to travel and experience different parts of the country - stuff that you may not have been able to afford to do especially when you're in college. Academics are so important to me and UNLV opened so many doors for me. After I graduated with my undergraduate degree I was given a graduate scholarship to go to graduate school so then I was able to get my master's degree. That was all based on working with professors and they saw that I had potential and they gave me opportunities. Then later on down the road, I went on and got my doctorate degree, so education has always been important to me but just getting those doors opened, getting the opportunity to play sports while you get a great quality education while you get to stay in your home with your family was everything I could have asked for. Of course, I grew up in the Tark the Shark [Jerry Tarkanian] era and we were fortunate that we used to get tickets to go watch basketball with Tarkanian, so at that time sports were everywhere and it was just such a fun place to be at and to play sports and get that experience."

But when it comes to favorite memories and what has been most meaningful in her life from her time here, it all goes back to the friendships she's made - both with teammates and the alumni group as a whole.

"Thirty years later, the friendships are still there. We're all a big alumni, we love each other. We talk all the time. It's just amazing to know how far these friendships have gone. Now people are married and have jobs and kids and we still look back at when we were 18-year olds doing the silly stuff we did. But playing softball together was just so much fun, what a tremendous experience."

"I think my favorite memory is just the constant friendships that we have and it's from every year - from Felicia [Benjamins] and [Trish] Spencer, Lori Harrigan and Erica Swanson - all of them are two years ahead of me and I'm still friends with all of them. Then the group that came after me -  that entire '95 Hall of Fame crew, we're all still friends and everyone's had kids and we have all grown up. We try to plan get togethers several times a year to see each other and reminisce. So it's just the memories that you made as 18,19, 20-year old kids. Now 30 years later, you're looking back at where's the time gone, and of course, we still tell stories about stuff we used to do. Now it's just so fun to see each other as adults and all of them have gone on to accomplish amazing things in their careers and in their lives, so it's fun to be a part of - I mean how many people can say you have 30 year friendships from college? All coming from that connection as student-athletes." 

After her playing career ended, Chadwick initially pursued teaching and academics, but when September 11 happened, her mission changed and she returned to Las Vegas to become a police officer. 
"I'd always loved public service and law enforcement, but while I was in college I loved softball so much and I loved teaching and academics that when I graduated with my master's degree, I got a job coaching and teaching at another college out of state. I did that for several years, but then 9/11 happened and that's when I said, you know what, I have a different calling in this world. So then I wanted to come back home and I tested for the Henderson Police Academy and got hired within the first year, which I don't even know how that happened because it was extremely competitive back then. I remember one of the guys sittin next to me in the academy and saying it took him three years to get in and I had gotten in the first year, so it really started to sink in how lucky I was to get accepted that quickly. Now 19 years later, it really was the true calling for me. I love being in law enforcement, I love being a police officer and I love getting back to the community. I live in Henderson, it's my home, and I grew up in Vegas, so I still get to stay connected with UNLV. I love the sports and how much we've grown, when you go back to campus and see the new stadium, the new football center and all the stuff they put in the athletics for men and women there, it's just awesome to see. So I always had that foundation in public service, but yeah when 9/11 happened, that's what kind of set my career path in a different direction. Again, 19 years later, I'm going strong and I love it. I've worked my way up the ranks and I'm a captain now, so it's just been a great experience."

Like last week's alumni spotlight and police officer Racheal Goodpaster, Chadwick sees many overlaps of how her student-athlete experience helped prepare her for a career in the police force.

"I think it totally prepares you. As an 18, 19, 20 -year old kid, you don't see the big picture of the world, but you feel the pressure internally, especially playing on a team like that they were nationally ranked, highly competitive and going to regionals every year with the goal of going to a [Women's] College World Series. So you always felt pressure to perform, the pressure to win and the pressure to not only not let your fellow teammates down, but also your college down. In athletics, you want to win, you want to be competitive, so at that time it was a great foundation, because you feel that internal pressure you put on yourself to perform. You also don't want to let everyone down around you. So it translated into life, the hard work you put in, the effort you put in, the determination you have. Being a law enforcement officer, it's a lot of high stress situations, but you don't get stressed because you have the mechanisms to deal with it and I believe that is from the foundation of playing sports. You work through the process, you don't want to let people down, you know your hard work is going to pay off and your training is going to kick in, so you're going to handle everything the way you're supposed to. As a police officer, it's that big life pressure - you don't want to let your community down or your fellow officer standing next to you, and for us it really is life and death decisions out there sometimes. So I think sports in general is a phenomenal foundation for anyone, because it really does teach you about the team mentality - you're a team, you work together and if somebody is not working hard and drops the ball, it affects everybody. I just can't say enough about how much I love sports and how fortunate I was to build on that foundation through college and have that carry over into life."
Chadwick continues to keep tabs on the current program through social media and is proud to see the current squad competing for conference championships.

"I love it. It's so great to follow on social media, I see their Instagram updates with profiles on the players and updates on their games, it's just been really fun to watch and see the success. That's all we ever want is to see the program continue to succeed and there's always alumni support out there. I don't know that you want to see us at the games though, because sometimes we can get a little rowdy, but if you get us all together in that fun environment it's awesome. But I love being able to follow, we didn't have social media back when I played and now you can catch games on TV and they've expanded softball to regionals and super regionals on TV. Just so many opportunities for female athletes to get exposed to these dynamic, stressful games and just perform and get the fun experience that we all had. But I'm so appreciative of being able to stay connected through social media, because every day I can see something and capture what they're doing and get insight into it. It's really fun for me to keep up with them from a distance."