There are those the game changes and there are those who change the game.
Before Southwestern College softball coach Yasmin Mossadeghi led the Lady Jaguars to their first playoff appearance in 25 years, produced NCAA transfers for five consecutive years and was awarded Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, she literally wrote the book on softball.
“Between the Lines: The Mental Skills of Hitting for Softball” is written for softball players by a great softball player. Mossadeghi gives athletes a quick series of in-depth and relatable hitting experiences from star softball players.
On her field “confidence is everything,” she said.
“I’m the type of person that likes to be in charge of things because I know I can garner success.”
At 5’11” Mossadeghi’s stature speaks confidence, her eyes exude passion and her silence shouts louder than her words. She describes her coaching style as aggressive and problem solving.
“I like to make the other team react to what we do,” she said. “If there is something we struggle with, I enjoy the process of finding a solution.”
Mossadeghi was a softball prodigy. At age five she was moved from the girl’s league to the boy’s league because of her skill and competitive nature. She grew up into a Division IA scholarship athlete at CSU Fullerton and a professional softball player in Germany.
She is one of the greatest players in CSUF history, but the road was not easy. Mossadeghi said she felt overlooked in high school and college, and when she lost coaching jobs to less-experienced applicants.
“If it’s never going to be easy for me, then I better make sure I gave it everything I got so when I don’t get it, I’m okay with it,” she said.
After re-writing softball record books at CSUF, Mossadeghi continued her authorship at CSUF with her graduate project essay turned book, “Between the Lines.” As she studied for a sports psychology Master’s at Fullerton she found a lack of softball representation in her texts.
“I wished there was something (softball players) could relate to,” she said. “An easy-to-read book from an actual athlete.”
Doctors that never played sports wrote most sports psychology textbooks, she said.
“They haven’t really been in the thick of it, they’ve only heard from athletes being in the thick of it,” she said.
Mossadeghi became the bridge between doctor and player, interpreting physician language and converting it into athlete language.
She interviewed more than a dozen Division IA softball players at top programs about their approaches to hitting a softball.
“I greatly enjoyed the interview process because I was able to absorb their experiences and understand what it took to be successful,” she said.
Results of these interviews were compiled into “Between the Lines,” published in 2007 by Wish Publishing and sold on Amazon.com. One review said, “Just recently read ‘Between the Lines’ and I was very pleased with how easy it was to read along with how useful the material was in the book.” Another said, “I wish I had read this book when I was a player, but now that I have it as a coach, I make all my players read it! I really have seen great improvements, especially from my players who tend to lose confidence in their abilities easily.”
Mossadeghi said she is pleased with the feedback.
“Everyone has said how relatable it is and how easy to read it is, and that’s what I wanted it to be,” she said.
Confident and secure, Mossadeghi considers herself pragmatic.
“Do your best with what you have now,” she said, “meaning don’t focus on the things you don’t have. Focus on what you do have and make the most of it.”
Her philosophy, adopted from mentor Ken Revizza, has proven efficient. In 2016 she led the Lady Jaguars to the playoffs with 14 freshmen and one sophomore.
“I think you can’t battle the instability,” she said. “I think community college is one of the most unstable places to coach. If it’s going to be unstable, then my number one goal is to get the kids out to a four-year whether it’s after the first year, or second year.”
This season Mossadeghi and her staff transferred their only two pitchers.
“I’m really proud of our staff,” she said. “If other programs lose big players like that they’re usually not in the running for playoffs.”
Mossadeghi also coaches her players on life skills.
“The one thing I always want them to leave with is to take advantage of opportunities,” she said. “And if they don’t have opportunities, what can they do to create opportunities for themselves?”
SWC’s game changer said she does not plan to change locations.
“I have coaches currently that I absolutely love,” she said. “I’ve really enjoyed what we’ve created here at Southwestern and I think this program is at the highest level that it has been in a long time.”
