UCLA alum awards future Bruin Rachel Garcia the Gatorade National Player of the Year honors

Rachel Garcia, a UCLA signee and pitcher for Highland High School (Palmdale, Calif.), was named 2014-15 Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year. The award was presented by Stacey Nuveman, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and former UCLA standout catcher.

Garcia was well-deserving of this honor with both her success on the field leading her team to a 26-2 record, and her commitment off the mound. Garcia maintained a 3.44 GPA, worked as a math tutor for her teammates and assisted in creating Golden League Gives Back, an initiative that helps the Grace Resource Center for the needy.

Garcia, in her bio for the junior softball national team, mentioned how her dream job would be to be either a college coach or work with children. Garcia, may have been given the award by the perfect role model in Nuveman, a coach at San Diego State who has an aspiring career in broadcasting. Nuveman, like Garcia, was a well-regarded student, serving as student body president in high school leading her to a scholarship at UCLA.

The Bruins know how to pick them.

Garcia said in an interview with Gatorade that her motto is “finish stronger than you started,” therefore softball fans, and more broadly, Bruins fans, should be excited for what’s to come from the arm of Garcia.