Victoria Hayward was born in Toronto before her family moved to Mountain View, California.  She went on to star as a member of the Mountain View High School softball team from 2007 to 2010, earning Most Valuable Player honors in her final season. She was also a member of the Sorcerers club team that won the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) 18-and-under Gold National Championship in 2009.  In 2009 she became the youngest player to join the Canadian Senior Women’s National Team at the age of 16.

Hayward completed her senior season at the University of Washington in 2014, capping a four-year NCAA Division 1 career by being named to the Pac-12 All-Conference Team.  She finished the 2014 season among the Pac-12 league leaders with a .414 batting average (5th), a .513 on-base percentage (5th) and 28 stolen bases (1st), while also maintaining a 1.000 fielding percentage as an outfielder.  Following her senior season, she was drafted by the Pennsylvania Rebellion in the fifth round (19th overall) at the 2014 National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) draft.

After joining the Senior Women’s National Team in 2009, Hayward won a bronze medal as a member of Team Canada at the 2010 ISF Women’s World Championship in Caracas, and went on to compete as a member of both the Junior and Senior Women’s National Teams in 2010 and 2011.  As a member of the Junior Women’s National Team, she won silver medals at the 2010 Pan American Qualifier in Bogota and the 2011 Canadian Open Fastpitch International Championship, and finished fifth at the 2011 ISF Junior Women’s World Championship in Cape Town.  She also competed as a member of the Senior Women’s National Team at the 2009 and 2013 Pan American Softball Championships, as well as the 2011 Pan American Games – winning silver at all three of those events – and also competed at the 2012 and 2014 ISF Women’s World Championships.

Victoria talks about competing at the highest level of softball, playing one pitch at a time, and what she does to work on her mental game.

You can connect with Victoria on Twitter @VictoriaHayward