Late Start In Softball Didn’t Hinder Keyauna Thompson’s Dream

Keyauna Thompson radiates energy any time she arrives at the ballpark. It's not uncommon to see her dancing in the outfield or leading her team's cheers in the dugout.

Thompson's dad taught her some hip-hop moves when she was younger, and Thompson started choreographing her own dances to teach teammates.

“I bring the dancing onto the softball field, and I like to make other people join me,” Thompson said. “During the summer, I was making the girls do TikToks and making them come out of their shells a little bit and do dances with me.”

Thompson, a 2026 recruit from Pittsburgh who has committed to Abilene Christian University, didn't start playing softball as early as many others. She saw former LSU star Aliyah Andrews make a diving catch on television in 2021 and was inspired.

Thompson signed up for a slow pitch softball 12U league in the spring of 2021. She worked with her dad, a former college football player, the entire summer to improve, and signed up for two fastpitch recreational league teams in the fall of 2021.

“A bunch of people told me that I was starting too late, because I told people that I wanted to play softball in college,” Thompson said. “All my friends and teammates who played softball, when they talked about their stories, they all started at a very young age. But I was just determined to do it, so I just put in a lot of work on my own with my dad.”

Thompson, a lefty slapper, received positive feedback while she practiced at local parks during her first few months learning the game.

“There were past MLB players and other people who played on the collegiate level who would stop and tell me to keep it up,” she said. “I feel like that kind of kept me motivated. I eventually went and played on a national team, and started playing national ball.”

Before she decided to play sports, Thompson channeled a lot of her energy into creative outlets. She started a jewelry business with her two siblings and was active on her YouTube channel Key Plays.

“I was making short little mini movies for YouTube during Covid that were voiced over. I was really interested in doing film production,” Thompson said. “My channel blew up. I have 34,000 subscribers. I stopped that for a little bit when I got into softball. But I am starting the channel back up again to do vlogging content of my life and more sports stuff.”

Thompson's speed is her biggest strength. She said she's been clocked on video going 2.5 seconds from home to first. Thompson, who also plays flag football and runs track, helped her high school 4x100 relay team win the district and qualify for the PIAA State Championships.

Although Thompson started playing softball a bit late compared to her peers, it didn't take long for college programs to take notice of her abilities. 

“I had some bigger schools reach out to me, but I feel like ACU was the best fit for me,” said Thompson, who has a 4.4 GPA. “I wrote down my top schools, and the major I wanted, which is civil engineering, and ACU has a really good program. That was important to me.”

Thompson isn't immune from the normal frustrations athletes face during competition. She wants to perform her best every time she's on the field. But as her dancing displays, Thompson won't let anything completely rob her joy.

“Softball just makes me happy. I get to build friendships with a lot of people and it helps me with social skills and overcoming adversity too, because everybody goes through problems,” she said. “But what I learned when I started sports is that you'll go through stuff, but you have to learn how to overcome it. If you really want that thing, you are going to work towards it, you're not going to quit. I feel that's really going to help me later on in life.”