Vanessa Stokes is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

softball pitcher. She plays club softball in South Australia. She has represented Australia on the junior and senior level.

Personal

Stokes is an

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia 50,000 to 65,000 year ...

from

Gepps Cross, South Australia Gepps Cross ( ) is a suburb and major road intersection in the north of Adelaide, South Australia. Gepps Cross is traditionally seen as the end of the inner suburbs and the start of the outer northern suburbs, as it was home to a major abattoir (n ...

who grew up in Darwin. In 2003, she was awarded an Indigenous Excellence Scholarship. She moved to South Australia after her Darwin-based softball coach moved there and encouraged her to move as well. She attended

Gepps Cross Girls High Gepp may refer to: People * Ethel Sarel Gepp (1864-1922), English phycologist * Gerhard Gepp (born 1940), Austrian illustrator and designer * Herbert William Gepp (1877–1954), Australian industrial chemist, businessman and public servant * Mark G ...

and took Japanese language classes. Her mother also played competitive sport, representing her state in national competitions in softball and soccer.

Softball

Stokes is a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. She started playing softball when she was four years old. Her mother was her first coach. As a young player, she dreamed of playing softball for the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

. She plays for the South Australian club Glenelg Rebels. She was with the team for their 2011 season. In March 2012, it was announced she and

Stacey Porter Stacey Porter (born 29 March 1982) is an Australian professional indigenous softball first/third baseman. She represents New South Wales in Australian national competitions, where she has won several national championships on the junior and se ...

would be ambassadors in a programme to increase aboriginal participation in softball around Australia.

Juniors

Stokes competed at the 2001

Arafura Games The Arafura Games was a multi-sport event where athletes with a disability compete in the same program as able-bodied athletes. Competitors from around the world compete in the week-long games held every 2 years in Darwin, Northern Territory, Au ...

in softball. In 2001, she was invited to play for a Texas U14 team, Hearts of Texas at a national competition in

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. The Texas team paid for her travel to the country. She has represented Australia on the junior national level. In 2001, she was a member of the Australian U19 national team. She was invited to play for the U19 team when she was thirteen years old.

Senior national team

Stokes was a member of the 2012 Australia women's national softball team. She played 2012 game against

New Zealand women's national softball team New Zealand women's national softball team, nicknamed the White Sox, is the women's national softball team for New Zealand. The "White Sox" name is New Zealand national team nomenclature based on the "All Blacks", one of many national team nickna ...

. In March 2012, she participated in a seven-game test series in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

against the Japanese national team. She was one of two South Australians to participate in the series.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stokes, Vanessa Australian softball players Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Australian women 21st-century Australian women Sportspeople from Adelaide