Amanda Freed facts for kids
| Biographical details | ||||||||||||||
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| Born | December 26, 1979 Fountain Valley, California, U.S. |
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| Playing career | ||||||||||||||
| 1999–2002 | UCLA | |||||||||||||
| 2005–2007 | Texas/Rockford Thunder | |||||||||||||
| 2008 | Chicago Bandits | |||||||||||||
| 2008 | Denso | |||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Pitcher | |||||||||||||
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | ||||||||||||||
| 2008 | Virginia | |||||||||||||
| Accomplishments and honors | ||||||||||||||
| Championships | ||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Amanda Louise Freed (born December 26, 1979) is an amazing American former professional softball player. She was a great pitcher and could play many positions. Amanda played college softball for UCLA. She helped her team win a national championship in 1999. She also earned a gold medal with Team USA at the 2004 Summer Olympics. After college, Amanda played professionally for the National Pro Fastpitch league. She also spent some time coaching at Virginia.
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Early Life and College Softball
Amanda Freed was born in Fountain Valley, California. She grew up in nearby Cypress. She went to Pacifica High School. In high school, Amanda was a star pitcher. She won many awards, including the Gatorade National Female Athlete of the Year. She was even ranked as the top pitcher in the world. She threw five perfect games, which means no one on the other team got on base!
In 1998, Amanda was the best softball recruit. She chose to play for UCLA from 1999 to 2002. Her stats at UCLA are still very impressive. She holds top 10 records in many pitching and hitting categories.
Playing for Team USA
Amanda played for the United States women's national softball team for several years. She helped Team USA win gold medals at many big events.
- In 2002, they won the Canadian Cup and the World Cup.
- In 2003, they won gold at the Pan American Games.
- In 2004, they won gold at the Summer Olympics in Athens.
- In 2006, they won the World Cup of Softball.
Amanda was also an alternate player for the 2000 Olympics. The team won gold that year too! In the 2004 Olympics, Amanda played in four games. She hit a double and scored three runs.
Professional Softball Career
From 2005 to 2008, Amanda played in the National Pro Fastpitch league. This is a professional softball league.
- From 2005 to 2007, she played for the Texas (later Rockford) Thunder.
- In 2008, she played for the Chicago Bandits. Her team won the Cowles Cup championship that year!
After Playing Softball
After her playing career, Amanda stayed involved in softball.
- In 2008, she was an assistant coach at Virginia.
- In 2009, she even helped actress Reese Witherspoon train for a movie. Reese played a softball player in the movie How Do You Know.
- Amanda later became a softball commentator. She talks about games for TV channels like FSW, ESPN, and Pac-12 Network.
