In the midst of worldwide Olympic fever, one Seminole student has received some exciting news: she could compete in Tokyo at the 2020 Olympic Games.

Georgina Corrick, an IB senior, began playing softball at age eleven, and it has fascinated her since. A dual citizen of the U.S. and the U.K., she made history by becoming the youngest player to ever join the British national women’s fastpitch softball team, playing alongside a group of twenty-year-olds, most of whom were in college or had already graduated. Although she has accomplished so much already, she may have another very special opportunity in her future.

“I’m not too sure about the specifics right now because as a team, it’s always been so far away from us. We haven’t really talked about it,” Corrick says. “But if we do really well in certain tournaments, we could be nominated as a team to compete in the Olympics.”

Unsurprisingly, the road to becoming an Olympic athlete is complicated. According to the International Olympic Committee, “the [International Federations governing the sport] establish the rules and organise qualifying events, while the National Olympic Committee of the athlete’s country supports the athlete and is responsible for entering them for the Games.” The entire process takes years, not including the countless hours of training involved.

The history of softball in the Olympics is still being made. The sport was not added to the program until the 1996 Games in Atlanta, after a push from the International Olympic Committee on Women and Sports. However, softball was again absent at both the 2012 and 2016 Games. Thankfully for Corrick and other hopefuls, the IOC voted on August 3, 2016 to include softball on the schedule for the 2020 Games.

Even without this Olympic hubbub, Corrick’s daily life is as fast-paced as her sport. Balancing schoolwork and athletics is never easy, especially if the schoolwork is the rigorous IB senior curriculum and the athletics are at the national level.

“The international softball is usually only over the summer,” Corrick explains. “But I do play travel ball and high school ball, and it gets kind of hectic trying to balance not getting home until 10 p.m. with an IB schedule.”

Despite being an international softball prodigy, Corrick still plays for the girls fastpitch team here at Seminole each spring. She competes on the varsity team, helping the Noles take down rival schools one by one.

“Being one of the best pitchers in the state of Florida and going to play at a top program [at the] University of South Florida, it takes years and years of dedication to work at her craft,” Seminole fastpitch softball coach Corey Prom says. “The coaches and girls are very excited and very proud of [her]. We are super excited for 2020.”

While Corrick obviously has a bright future ahead of her in the softball world, nothing about the Olympics is definite yet. She will compete with the British women’s team in more nationally mandated championships, and those results will determine her next move.

“Even from when I was little, I wanted to be an Olympic athlete, like everyone does,” Corrick remarks. “Even if I don’t make the team, making a contribution to getting my sport back into the Olympics is huge for me.”