By R.D. KEEP
OSKALOOSA — Herald photo by Jim Gries
Former Oskaloosa High School standout Lisa Eagen smiles while standing next to a display case honoring her athletic career in high school and Olympic careers during a ceremony Saturday at the school.
The year was 1989 and a young 18-year-old heads to Iowa State to play softball.
Friday, the 1996 Olympian returned home to a hero’s welcome. A welcome that made this talented young woman tear up.
Lisa Eagen was in Oskaloosa to see a display case at Oskaloosa High School dedicated to her. The event was also tied to her 20th class reunion. The crowd of friends, relatives and classmates awed this woman who took on challenges rather than the easy and expected path of life.
“I really didn’t expect this many people here,” said Eagen. “Kevin (Pedersen, high school athletic director) and I had been talking about doing something for awhile. Coach (Cyndi) Gray and Coach (Ed) Dieleman were there. I was really surprised with the number of people who came out on such short notice.
“This is very humbling for me. I just could not stop smiling.”
Eagen was a four-year softball player at Iowa State and had plans to find a job and begin a career, find a home, and begin a family. Deb Coons, her softball coach, placed an Olympic dream before her when she told Eagen about the upcoming tryouts for Women’s Team Handball. The path of tradition or the path of challenge and self-fulfillment was before her.
Her decision resembled Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken.”
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not have traveled both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
… Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by.”
She began to learn the game and work out with the team and made the National team in 1994. Her chance at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games was in sight. Her challenge now was to be able to make the cuts of players to be able to compete in Atlanta, the city she now calls home.
“It would have been easy to find a job and start a family,” said Eagen. “I would have been happy. The decision I had to make was whether to put my career on hold and chase the dream.”
With family support, Eagen began the pursuit, which resulted in making the team, playing in the Atlanta games. The USA team didn’t win a medal and the team fell short of the 2000 games in Sydney.
“I don’t think it would have mattered if we had the financial support in 2000,” said Eagen. “We were young and the other countries have fully embraced the sport and the United States has not.”
Eagen took her game overseas playing two years in Norway and a year in Germany. She still watches the Olympic games, but no longer plays herself. She “retired” from competition after the 2003 Pan American games after serving four years as the captain of the Women’s National Team.
Call Eagen a hero and you get a quick reaction.
“Not me. Heroes are those people I work with in the hospital. They have had something taken from them, but they work and hope for something better.”
Eagen serves as a personal trainer for people with disabilities in a rehabilitation hospital in Atlanta. Her patients vary from those with muscular dystrophy to those with injury.
“I love what I do,” said Eagen. “I enjoy this field and hope to continue.”
Eagen wouldn’t mind coming back to Iowa if an opportunity presented itself, but for now Eagen is content developing the best in her “heroes.”
Eagen shies away from talk of leaving a legacy behind with her athletic career.
“Rather than a legacy, I would rather think of it as a motivator,” said Eagen. “I had a lot of luck. I was able to take advantage of opportunities.
“If I were to say anything to a kids it would be, ‘don’t hold back. Step out of your comfort zone. Many athletes don’t seek it out.”
While Eagen’s competitive athletic career may be complete her desire to succeed has not. Just as the new display case at the high school shows off the talent and success of local athletes, Eagen is that ambassador for what can occur when one takes a chance, works hard and reaches for the dream.
