How Zia Shtraikh's sixth-grade essay later inspired softball at Ann Richards

All about Zia: Relieving stress with crocheting, snowboarding

Tell something about you that most people don't know.

I'm really big into crocheting. It's a way for me to relieve stress when softball or school gives me a big headache. It was one of my New Year's resolution.

What do you believe to be the world's greatest invention?

I'm going to say the wheel. A lot of things stem from that technology. Our world wouldn't be working the same way without that invention.

If you could be any superhero, who would you be?

I really like the movie "The Incredibles" and love the character Frozone. He's got ice-based powers. I love how he helps people because he does it in a fun way.

More: Cast a vote for the Austin area's girls high school athlete of the week in our online poll

What has been your favorite vacation?

I love when our family goes snowboarding in Colorado. It's a great time to spend with family because we don't really see each other all the time in our regular lives because of school and sports.

Sixth-grade essay leads to softball

I hear you actually founded softball at Ann Richards. How did that start?

Basically I helped start the program from scratch. When I was in sixth grade, I had to write an essay as an application process to get into school here. In that essay I wrote how I wanted to start a softball team during my time at Ann Richards. That was really the seed or the spark of it.

What happened next?

In ninth grade I went to our see our athletic director (Meg Brown). She's the main reason we have softball at this school. I was in her office practically every day, figuring out what we could do, how to get equipment, what fields can we use. I would get her to send emails to the district, asking how we could do this.

How did you get girls involved with softball?

At the end of my freshman year, we had four softball clinics to see if there was interest. We were teaching skills: how to hit the ball, how to field the ball. None of them had ever picked up a ball this season. This year we got a field, got a schedule, and it's happening. I'm so happy about it.

What has been your favorite memory this season?

It's really the people. A lot of softball teams have had drama because people think they're better than each other. It's not like that here. They know we're all in the same boat. It's so easy because they want to get better and they know they have to be friends with each other.

What's the hardest thing for you to do in softball?

For me, it's hitting. But it's also not getting down on myself. My mom likes to say that athletes need short-term memories so they don't remember their errors and grow from it. I've taken that to life. If I fail a test in school, I need to learn from it so I can do better next time.

Dream dinner: Reconnecting with her grandpa

If you could have dinner with any four people in the history of the world, who would they be?

My grandpa Drake, (former Texas softball player) Jenae Jefferson and Akbar the Great (a Mughal emperor of India from 1556 to 1605).

Why did you choose your grandpa?

I would actually like to have dinner with him before he got diagnosed with dementia when I was little. I'd always hear stories of the man he was before this. It's a little hard.

Faces off the field interviews

Other Central Texas softball players we've interviewed this season: Leander UT Catelyn Beckerley, Westlake P Eden Matt, Round Rock OF Meghan Merwick, Hyde Park UT Olivia Villanueva

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Faces off the field: Ann Richards sophomore catcher Zia Shtraikh