Out with the Old: Cowgirls Receive New Team Motto, Locker Room for 2018 Season

Kenny Gajewski spent a month working on it.

The slogan for the Cowgirls’ season was ready to be revealed, but athletic trainer Claire Williams and strength coach Wes Ulm offered a suggestion that made Gajewski decide to stash his idea for the future.

#JollyRanchers was last year’s phrase, but what’s the motto for the Cowgirls as they enter Gajewski’s third season as coach? “Jump/Set sail.”

“Set sail on the sea of consequence,” Gajewski said. “Just go. Don’t worry about what could happen. Don’t worry about what happens if you fail. Just set sail. We’ll deal with the rough tide when it comes. We’re gonna work on being better today, and we’re gonna deal with what might happen tomorrow, if it does happen.”

But before the Cowgirls can set sail, first they must jump.

“I think we’re at a point in our program, that we got some people that need to quit looking behind them,” Gajewski said. “Just jump. And if these other ones aren’t in, they’ll jump, too. Just jump and go for it and set sail on the sea.”

Gajewksi said Williams and Ulm know the team extremely well, so taking their suggestion was an easy decision when it was brought up.

The decision to go with their idea is an example of Gajewski’s trust and confidence in his staff. At the end of his second season, Gajewski sat back and did some self-evaluating and let others evaluate him.

“I knew that was something I had to get better at: letting some things go and putting some other things on our staff,” Gajewski said. “Because they are talented, and they are good.”

Along with a new code to live by, the Cowgirls will start the season with a new locker room, courtesy of Michael and Anne Greenwood. Michael didn’t want his name on anything, but the door reads, “Michael and Anne Greenwood Locker Room.” Anne even got her own locker.

Gajewski described the previous version of the locker room as “nasty,” but the upgrade is clean. He had the ceiling taken out and everything painted black, and the locker room comes with phone-charging stations as well as a stereo system that stays tucked inside one of the lockers.

New year, new locker room. ??? #okstate pic.twitter.com/4VJZz76T9N

— Cowgirl Softball (@CowgirlSB) January 26, 2018

If a photo tells a thousand words, well then we've got a lot of words for you from today's locker room dedication. #okstate

? – https://t.co/mJM1NWXoH1 pic.twitter.com/3nkBXnuS8D

— Cowgirl Softball (@CowgirlSB) January 26, 2018

“The reaction I got to see, being inside as they walked in, was exactly what I had hoped for,” Gajewski said. “I know it’s exactly what Mike and Anne had hoped for. I think that’s the coolest thing.”

The Cowgirls didn’t see the surprise until Friday afternoon, but they knew something was up when Gajewski told them there was a bad water leak that needed to be fixed over winter break.

Maddi Holcomb complied when the girls were asked to clean their lockers, but Vanessa Shippy was the first to point out that something didn’t seem right.

When they came back from break and the “leak” still hadn’t been fixed, they decided to search for evidence. They checked a dumpster and found what they were looking for: the gutted-out, old lockers.

Shippy said there was a three-week span that they were aware of something new, but they didn’t know the magnitude of how new and nice the amenities would be.

“Mike and Anne are as selfless as anybody I’ve ever been around,” Gajewski said. “Gracious, love OSU, love the underdog, if you will. The people that they support here, it’s crazy to think of that. The band, the music school, softball, tennis. That’s just the tip; they give to everything.”