Last week, I had the ninth episode of my podcast “Work Hard, Play Harder” with Southwest Minnesota State University Director of Athletics Jennifer Flowers. This week, I am dropping episode ten with Wabasso softball coach Tiffany Eichten.

The podcast is called “Work Hard, Play Harder” because that’s how I like to live my life. It is about finding out your why and getting to know you beyond the occupation. The podcast is informative about what you do but also asks fun questions as well. Building connections and being able to be relatable is an important aspect of my podcast as well.

In this podcast episode, Eichten will talk about her why into wanting to be involved with sports, the importance of the sport in her life and coming from an entire family that either coaches or played sports. Eichten is also a cosmologist and does that as well as coach her team throughout the year. She recalled some memories and was very candid/open about her experiences learning of how to devote her time and lean on her faith as well. She was very praiseworthy of the city of Wabasso and expressed why her mental health and social/work life balance has been very good to manage.

“First off, we have a lot of help,” Eichten said. “We (her husband Christopher Eichten as well) have a lot of family around and I wanted to stay close to family. We have a lot of immediate family, friends, neighbors and I can’t say enough about the city of Wabasso and how helpful they are. Without my family and the help of others, I wouldn’t be able to coach. The support here in this city has always been amazing.” 

Eichten is a Clements native but has been around the city of Wabasso for many years and has been the softball coach for several years. She is a SMSU alum, a former softball player and took the opportunity from her busy day to join my podcast. Eichten spoke on the challenges in her life and being more disciplined in her schedule. 

“I had difficulty in saying no,” Eichten said. “I would wear myself really thin and try to be at several places all the time especially in the evenings. I realized that I had to draw back because of my family and spend more time at home in the evenings with my kids. So I have been better now and more disciplined just working one evening instead of every evening.” 

Eichten followed up by stating that her team gained valuable experience this past year and wants her girls to get involved in as many sports as possible and also get involved in the school’s activities as well. She wants her team to come back and pick up right where they left off last season as they only had one senior on the team and a full squad of 18 girls. 

This episode will show personality of Eichten and the passion for family, softball and the city of Wabasso. It will also show how many hats Eichten wears from being a wife, mother of four, daughter, coach and mentor, relying on a positive attitude/faith to get her through her days to continue doing what she loves.  

Below is the link to the episode:

— Chris Drummond is a sports reporter

for the Marshall Independent.

Email: cdrummond@marshallindependent.com

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