Staff Reports
newsroom@bossierpress.com
Olympic softball gold medalist Jennie Finch will be the guest speaker at the 28th annual Fellowship of Christian Athletes Founders Award Banquet on Thursday at the Bossier Civic Center.
The event, which starts at 6 p.m., is hosted by the Northwest Louisiana chapter of the FCA. It is free for school administrators, coaches, teachers and students. A $10 donation is suggested for everyone else.
Finch, a pitcher, helped Team USA win the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and the silver at the 2008 Games.
She played collegiately at Arizona and led the Wildcats to the 2001 Women’s World Series championship. Finch was a two-time All-Pro with the Chicago Bandits in the National Pro Fastpitch softball league. She retired from softball in 2010.
Finch has stayed in the media spotlight since here retirement.
She and Ann Killion are the co-authors of the book Throw Like a Girl: How to Dream Big and Believe in Yourself published in 2011.
In spring of this year, she was a contestant on season 26 of Dancing With the Stars.
Finch often speaks about her Christian faith.
During her stint on Dancing With the Stars, she decided not to dance to the Janelle Monae song “Make Me Feel,” according to media reports. She said she wanted to “glorify God” on the dance floor and didn’t feel the song was appropriate for her.
“It’s not what I’m about,” she said on the show. “I need to follow who I am and stand up for what I believe in.”
