Though she started playing softball at age five, and has followed her passion through to her final season at Western Kentucky University (WKU) where she is today, Maple Ridge athlete Larissa Franklin said that growing up, she never really looked up to one particular person as her role model.
"I looked up to everyone on the entire Canadian National Team," she clarified.
It was only when Franklin became a member of the national team for the first time that she found a role model in the form of centre fielder Caitlin Lever.
"I had a similar playing style as her so I really wanted to take all of her knowledge in before she retired," Franklin explained.
Franklin’s first international experience came as a member of the junior women's national team in 2011, when Canada finished fifth at the ISF Junior Women’s World Championship in Cape Town, South Africa.
She joined the senior women’s national team in 2013, competing in the US World Cup of Softball VIII, the Canadian Open Fastpitch international championship and the VIII Pan American championship in Puerto Rico, where Team Canada won the silver medal.
In 2014, she started nine games for Team Canada at the ISF Women’s World Championship in Haarlem, Netherlands, finishing second on the team with a .409 batting average.
In 2015, she has again been selected to play with Team Canada in the Pan Am games for the summer.
Franklin was born on March 26, 1993, and attended Yennadon Elementary and Maple Ridge Secondary.
She played with the Ridge Meadows Minor Softball Association until Grade 11, before she switched to the White Rock association in Grade 12.
But it wasn't the only sport occupying Franklin’s spare time.
"I actually figure skated until about Grade 11 too," she said. “I was more into that then I was softball." Originally, Franklin thought she would pursue a professional career on the ice, but "there's not as many opportunities in skating, so I looked more into softball," she explained.
That choice took her south of the border for post-secondary education: first to Indiana University—Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) and then to Western Kentucky University.
"I transferred because my coach left after my second year."
Franklin followed.
"It's a good opportunity and a good school," she said, noting that though WKU is similar to IPFW in terms of play schedules and whatnot, the facilities at WKU are "a little better."
Franklin is the lone Canadian on her team, and described living in the southern US as "very different." However, Franklin is by no means seen as an outsider.
"The people here are good," she elaborated. "And I have my team, so they're kind of forced to accept me."
Franklin is currently pursuing her undergrad in psychological sciences, with a minor in health and nutrition.
"It’s interesting" she said.
Once she finishes things up at WKU, Franklin said she plans on "maybe going to Washington" to pursue her masters and do some coaching.
"I'm thinking a masters in sports psychology," she added.
As for the season at hand, the Maple Ridge born-and-raised woman said her team looks good, and she continues to pursue her chosen passion.
"I wasn’t really forced into playing or anything; it was always my choice," Franklin explained.
"I guess it helped that I did well with the sport, so I could really enjoy it."