Amanda Karlene Asay (May 16, 1988 – January 7, 2022) was a Canadian

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

and

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

player. She played on the

Canada women's national baseball team The Canada women's national baseball team represents Canada in international baseball. They are overseen by Baseball Canada, the governing body of baseball in Canada. Competitive record World Cup Pan American Games Awards and honours ...

from 2005 to 2021, and was its longest-serving member at the time of her death. She batted and threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

, and played at

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

, first base, and starting pitcher. Asay joined the national team when she was 17 years old. She played in the World Cup one year later, where she was named to the all-tournament team as first baseman and won the national team's Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. She proceeded to compete in six more World Cup tournaments, earning two

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

and two bronze medals in total. She was also part of the roster which secured a silver medal at the

2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak al ...

. At the 2016 World Cup, she played as a pitcher, won both her starts by pitching complete games, and was again bestowed the team MVP award.

Early life

Asay was born in

Prince George, British Columbia Prince George is the largest city in northern British Columbia, Canada, with a population of 74,004 in the metropolitan area. It is often called the province's "northern capital" or sometimes the "spruce capital" because it is the hub city for ...

, on May 16, 1988. Her father, George, worked as a high school science teacher; her mother, Loris, was a nurse. Asay began playing baseball when she was five. She attended College Heights Secondary School in her hometown, where she graduated with

honours Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...

. She then studied at Brown University on an academic and hockey scholarship, graduating with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

in 2010. Subsequently, she completed

postgraduate studies Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and struc ...

at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

under the supervision of

Suzanne Simard Suzanne Simard (born 1960)Cori Vanchierim'An ecologist’s new book gets at the root of trees’ social lives,' Science News 28 June 2021 is a Canadian scientist who is a professor in the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences at the Uni ...

, obtaining a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

in 2013, and a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in forestry in 2020. Her research concentrated on

kin selection Kin selection is the evolutionary strategy that favours the reproductive success of an organism's relatives, even when at a cost to the organism's own survival and reproduction. Kin altruism can look like altruistic behaviour whose evolution i ...

and

recognition Recognition may refer to: *Award, something given in recognition of an achievement Machine learning *Pattern recognition, a branch of machine learning which encompasses the meanings below Biometric * Recognition of human individuals, or biomet ...

in interior Douglas fir, as well as the involvement of

mycorrhizal network A Mycorrhizal network (also known as a common mycorrhizal network or CMN) is an underground network found in forests and other plant communities, created by the hyphae of mycorrhizal fungi joining with plant roots. This network connects indivi ...

in that interaction.

Playing career

NCAA

Asay competed in

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

for Brown University from 2007 until her senior year in 2010, playing as

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

, and

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

. In her first season, she had the most

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

(RBIs) on the team with 16, to go along with 20 hits and 8 runs scored in 42 games played. She was limited to eight games the following year due to an injury that prematurely ended her season, but maintained a .435

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

with 10 hits and six RBIs in those games. Her 2009 season was also cut short to six games because of another season-ending injury. She nonetheless had 10 hits, two

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s, six RBIs, and six runs scored in 13 at bats. She served as

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

during her senior year. Asay also played on the Brown Bears women's ice hockey team. She missed only one game during her first season in 2006–07, in order to travel back home to receive the Canadian women's baseball player of the year award. During her second year, she played 19 games as

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...

and had nine shots.

Baseball

Asay joined the Canadian national team in 2005, when she was 17 years old. One year later, she made her

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

debut at the tournament in Taiwan in which the Canadians secured bronze. Asay was employed as a backup at her natural position of

, with the majority of her playing time coming as a first baseman and designated hitter. She posted a batting average of .500 throughout the competition alongside nine RBIs, leading to her being named to the tournament all-star team as first baseman and winning the national team's Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. Asay went on to compete in six more editions of the World Cup, helping the Canadian team earn

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

, and bronze in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

. During the 2016 tournament, she played as starting pitcher and won her two starts by pitching complete games. This included a 2–1 victory over Chinese Taipei in the semifinals. She posted a 1.00

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) and 16 strikeouts. Offensively, she had a .333 batting average with two doubles and three RBIs. In recognition of her performance, she was honoured as the team MVP for the second time. In May 2015, Asay was one of eighteen players chosen to play for the Canadian roster at the

, held two months later in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

. It was the first edition of a major multi-sport Games to feature women's baseball. She was selected as both a first baseman and pitcher. The team ultimately advanced to the gold medal match of the

women's tournament A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

, losing 11–3 against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. She pitched innings in

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

and recorded an RBI in the final. Asay was later ranked seventh in '' Baseball America'' top 10 list of best female baseball players in the world released in August 2017. She was the only Canadian to make the list. At the time of her death, she was the longest-serving member of the Canadian women's baseball team, having played on the squad for sixteen years.

Ice hockey

Asay competed in women's ice hockey with the

UBC Thunderbirds The UBC Thunderbirds are the athletic teams that represent the University of British Columbia in the University Endowment Lands just outside the city limits of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In Canadian intercollegiate competition, the Thu ...

from 2010 to 2012, playing as a forward. During the 2010–11 Thunderbirds season, she scored 6

goals A goal is an objective that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve. Goal may also refer to: Sport * Goal (sports), a method of scoring in many sports, or the physical structure or area where scoring occurs ** Goals, the goal frame in ...

and contributed 5 assists for 11 points. In her final year, she was second on the team in points scored with four games remaining. She scored UBC's only two goals in a 4–2 loss to the

Manitoba Bisons The Manitoba Bisons are the athletic teams that represent the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The football team plays their games at Investors Group Field. The soccer team play their home games at the University of Manit ...

on Seniors Night, when Asay and another senior-year teammate were honoured before their final home game with the Thunderbirds. She scored another goal during the penultimate game of the

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the ...

regular season against the Saskatchewan Huskies.

Personal life

Asay appeared alongside her supervisor

in the

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

''Intelligent Trees''. She was employed as a forester for the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources and Rural Development in Nelson, British Columbia. She played hockey there in the winter of 2021–22. Asay died at the age of 33 on January 7, 2022, at Kootenay Lake Hospital in Nelson. She fell into a tree well while skiing at the nearby

Whitewater Ski Resort Whitewater Ski Resort is a ski resort in western Canada, located a 25-minute drive from Nelson in southern British Columbia. In the Selkirk Mountains, the resort is situated in Ymir bowl, beneath the Ymir Mountain. The Selkirks receive plentiful, ...

. Two months after her death, the Prince George Community Foundation created the Dr. Amanda Asay Memorial Award in her honour. It is presented annually to two post-secondary school students, one from School District 57 in her hometown and the other from School District 8 in Nelson.

Career stats

NCAA hockey

Source:

Awards and honours

* IBAF Women's World Cup of Baseball All-Tournament Team (2006) * Finalist,

Tip O'Neill Award The Tip O'Neill Award is given annually to a Canadian baseball player who is "judged to have excelled in individual achievement and team contribution while adhering to the highest ideals of the game of baseball." The award was created by the Can ...

(2006, 2016) * Canadian Women's MVP (2006, 2016)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asay, Amanda 1988 births 2022 deaths Baseball people from British Columbia Baseball players at the 2015 Pan American Games Brown Bears softball players Brown Bears women's ice hockey players Canadian female baseball players Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Pan American Games medalists in baseball Pan American Games silver medalists for Canada Skiing deaths UBC Thunderbirds ice hockey players University of British Columbia alumni Accidental deaths in British Columbia Sport deaths in Canada 20th-century Canadian women 21st-century Canadian women