'Really special to me': Why Oklahoma State softball alum Chelsea Alexander decided to go pro with OKC Spark
Hallie HartOklahoman
@Wally12
STILLWATER — Chelsea Alexander heard the same question from several of the girls she led during summer softball camp.
“Can we watch you?” the young athletes asked, wanting to know when her next game would be.
She had to give everyone the same answer, and it was not the campers’ ideal reply. The Oklahoma State left fielder had exhausted her college eligibility. Sure, they could watch the Cowgirls, but Alexander’s days of suiting up for a team were over.
That’s what she assumed.
Then this fall, during her final semester of graduate school, an opportunity arose. Only three days after receiving her Master of Business Administration from OSU, Alexander took the leap into her professional career.
It's not an 8-to-5 office job. Tina Floyd, general manager of new professional softball franchise OKC Spark, visited Stillwater on Monday, officially announcing Alexander’s addition to the team. The speedy baserunner out of Latta High School is continuing her softball journey where her roots are.
“I had the opportunity to represent my state at Oklahoma State, but you’re only representing half the state because we are divided,” Alexander said. “You got two powerhouses here, so to represent the whole state of Oklahoma and to really have that camaraderie together of the whole state, it’s really special to me to play for my home state and represent it as a professional athlete.”
She’s building the team as one of its first members. OKC Spark launched its online presence in July to promote the inaugural June 2023 season. It’s one of four Women’s Professional Fastpitch teams, and Oklahoma ties run throughout the league.
Former OU softball great Lauren Chamberlain presides as commissioner. Floyd, general manager and co-owner of the franchise, hails from Tuttle and lives in Norman. Former Sooner slugger Jocelyn Alo, college softball’s home-run record holder, has signed with the Spark, and Alexander brings the other side of Bedlam to the team.
But from Floyd’s perspective, the Spark isn’t only about OU and OSU or even just Oklahoma. It’s part of a greater movement to raise the profile of women’s professional sports.
“There’s so many little girls that go follow these athletes, and then when they graduate, what do they do?” Floyd said. “They don’t get to see them in a social event anymore, so having this for young girls moving forward, and boys, there’s so many different people coming out to games and seeing that they can continue that dream even after college is what it’s all about.”
This message resonates with Alexander. She said she didn’t follow professional softball as a child. She wasn’t aware of any teams. The prominent visibility of NFL, NBA and MLB stars on TV, in advertisements and in athletic apparel stores just wasn’t there for pro softball. So, Alexander chased what she saw.
“Your goal was to play college,” Alexander said. “And I’ll be honest, I think it’s still there a little bit, but we have the right people trying to get it to where there is a goal, a vision, for younger females to play professional softball. I never had that growing up.”
She didn’t envision herself as a pro until a few months ago.
A friend mentioned the idea to her, she said, and she brushed it off at first. No one had contacted her with an opportunity.
Alexander didn’t know this friend was acquainted with Amber Flores, the Seminole State coach who is also leading the Spark.
Floyd said she kept hearing Alexander’s name pop up as someone the Spark should sign, and Flores reached out to the former Cowgirl. Alexander took a couple of months to think.
“I sat on it a long time because I wanted to be sure that my heart was in it, that I was doing it for the right reasons,” Alexander said. “And that I would be all in if I was gonna decide to do that, so it’s a big decision.”
As Alexander donned a Spark T-shirt and smiled for photos Monday at Cowgirl Stadium, her choice was obvious: she’s all in. It’s a decision for herself, a way to keep playing the sport she loves.
It’s a decision for a family friend, a little girl in Durant who rewinds recordings of OSU softball games to watch Alexander’s at-bats.
And it’s a decision for the campers who want to see her play.
“To have that platform to push, ‘Hey, yeah, you can watch me; I still get the opportunity to play,’” Alexander said, "that’s something really special to me is (to) have the opportunity to continue to inspire the younger generation, because I feel like I really utilized my platform here at OSU to show people how far hard work can take you.
“So this is just another opportunity to do that, which I’m really excited about.”
