THIS IS EPISODE 246 OF THE SPORTS SPECTRUM PODCAST

Janie Reed is a member of USA Softball’s 2019 women’s national team. She played her college softball at the University of Oregon, where she was an NFCA All-American three straight years, as well as first-team All-Pac-12.

In 2018, she represented Team USA in the WBSC Women’s World Championship, where she helped the team to a gold medal, hitting .360 (9-for-25) with one home run, six RBIs and seven runs scored. The victory qualified the U.S. for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

Reed is also part of a group of players who started a ministry called Church on the Dirt, and as vice president, she helps merge the worlds of faith and athletics nationally. They share the love and presence of Christ to coaches, families and athletes when they are unable to attend church.

On this episode of the podcast, Reed shares her vision for Church on the Dirt, why she wanted to bring Jesus to the field, her experience as a chaplain in Oklahoma, playing for Team USA in Japan, and being part of a team that was able to clinch a spot in the 2020 Olympics.

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Thank you @usasoftball for giving me another chance to play for @teamusa and put on the red, white, and blue this summer! I can’t explain how much fun I have playing for this team and with these people that have grown to be like family to me. ⠀ ⠀ Not a lot of people truly understand the grind of what we do and what we sacrifice to be able to do what we do. My feelings of excitement are matched with heart break because not everyone that competed this past week can be a part of the 2019 season. And they’re not just people we’re competing against for a spot – they’re our friends, our family, our people. I wish I could play alongside everyone that was at the tryout because it truly is an honor to meet and spend time with people who are so talented and also a pure joy to be around. Love you all. 🇺🇸

A post shared by Janie Takeda Reed (@_janiereed) on Jan 7, 2019 at 8:41am PST

Married to professional baseball player Jake Reed, Janie appeared with her husband on Episode 91 of the podcast, which you can listen to below.

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