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High school softball pitchers from across the country gathered in Lee's Summit on Saturday for an exclusive training opportunity with two-time Olympic medalist Monica Abbott.
Abbott hosted her annual Speed Retreat at TM Fieldhouse, marking the second year she has offered the elite development experience to high school pitchers.
This year, there were 20 pitchers, and each one could bring a catcher with them.
The 16-year softball professional and four-time NCAA All-American designed the one-day retreat to provide personalized instruction, competitive drills, mental skills training, and leadership development.
The event was supported by Top Gun Events, Chick-fil-A, JaegerSports, Kendrea Scott, USA Softball, Hy-Vee, Gorilla Gold, Pitch Logic, and TM Fieldhouse.
"I've seen how impactful focused training and mentorship can be," Abbott said. "This retreat is about helping athletes raise their standards, refine their skills, and gain confidence in every aspect of competing at the highest levels."
The event brought together an accomplished coaching staff, including Sam Honeycutt and Cynthia Adams, alongside collegiate helpers Taylor Pannell from Texas A&M, Kennedy Diggs from the University of Kansas, and Madison Hoffman from Oklahoma State.
"Getting taught by the best of the best, Monica Abbott, she's one of the greatest pitchers we've had in the sport of softball,” Pannell said. “So just learning from her is so important.”
Pannell, who’s from Lee’s Summit, emphasized the importance of growing softball in the Midwest.
"I know a lot of people are like, 'Oh, Missouri,' but I love it here, really,” Pannell said. “This is my hometown and all these girls coming here just for the love of the game and really growing it here in the Midwest, I think it's so important.”
Among the participants was Teal Hamman, a high school athlete who flew in from California for the retreat.
While she often connects with Abbott virtually, the in-person experience offered something special.
"It's just like so cool to meet people who have the same passion as you, same mentality as you, want to do the same things in life," Hamman said.
For Abbott, the retreat represents an opportunity to give back to the sport that shaped her career.
"I had so many good mentors in my career that helped me from Jennie Finch to Lisa Fernandez to even Peyton Manning when I was at Tennessee," Abbott said. "Being able to have those mentors helped push my career forward as a professional athlete, and to now be able to pass the torch and try to do the same thing is huge."
The impact extends beyond softball skills, with participants like Hamman learning valuable life lessons.
"I feel like I've been learning to be a better leader myself for like both my friends, family, just like out in the world," Hamman said. “I feel like [Abbott] helped me a lot both mentally and physically. Even just an hour working with her, I feel like such a better person.”
The Speed Retreat's presence in Kansas City reflects the region's emergence as a hotbed for softball and other women’s sports, such as soccer with the Kansas City Current.
“Being in the Midwest and the sport growing, I think it just shows that the love of softball is bigger than it’s ever been,” Pannell said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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