Champions' TriBUne Archive

By: Nicky Dawson
 
Champions' TriBUne is a special feature through Baylor Athletics that will give you the student-athlete's perspective and tell their story in their voice. Nicky Dawson, a junior from Baton Rouge, La., is a transfer from LSU who has been the softball team's starting second baseman the last two years. Nicky's father, Charles Dawson, is the CEO for GEO Surfaces, the company that installed the new artificial turf and lighting at Getterman Stadium. The No. 21/22 Lady Bears (7-4) host the Baylor Invitational that begins Friday:

When I was in the fifth grade, we did this life project where you pick out your career, where you're going to school, what you're going to major in, what kind of car and all this stuff. And actually, the school that I chose was Baylor.
 
It's just cool to see it come around. I don't want to say you run away from it, but when you kind of push it to the side and it's meant to be, it will come back. Baylor was always in the picture, but I think I pushed it out because my high school was a Baptist school and I wanted to take a different route.
 
Growing up, my dad and I went to every single LSU football game for seven years. We were only two miles away from campus, so literally almost on campus. I had been in Baton Rouge since I was 5, so I guess it was just in me. Being a Power 5 school, I think it was just easy to say, "OK, LSU." I don't really think I opened the doors. I was just so focused on LSU, that if I could do it over again, I would make sure I took in every school.
 
I actually took a visit to Georgia, but I remember getting out of the car and looking around, and the facility wasn't as nice as LSU's. And I said, "Dad, I can't do this. I want to go to LSU."
 
I don't really have a lot to say about my year at LSU, but it showed me a lot about myself and kind of the way I wanted things to go. Which, in turn, is why I picked Baylor, just because of the team and the coaches and the different priorities from their standpoint and also from what I want for myself. I think it was good for me to go there and just find out more about myself, and I think it led me to exactly where I'm supposed to be right now.
                                                                                                   
At first, I may have been scared to leave, to kind of venture out on my own. I think everybody is at first. But, I like to be able to grow in every aspect, whether that's as an athlete, as a person, as a student and just religiously.

When I came here, it was family, and I felt that immediately with the team. I felt like we were all as one, we were all connected and everybody cares about everybody. The coaches are going to check on you outside of 2 to 6 p.m. every day. That's what I wanted, and that's the way I was brought up with my family, just loving each other all the time and making sure we're all OK. When I got here, I was able to immediately be myself.
 
Coach Ducote, my high school coach, knew what I was going through. And she kind of pulled Baylor back into the picture. Baylor had just been to the World Series, and LSU almost played them if they would have beaten Oregon. So, I knew they were up there really high and had their name. The only thing was actually the green. I've never been on a team that's worn green. It's always been purple, red or blue. So, I just wasn't sure if I could do the green.
 
I came down for a visit, and it was just really a smooth transition. I didn't even need to see anywhere else after that because of the staff and the way they were communicating with me. When I got here, Coach Moore knew all these little things about me. That just really made it click. And when he told the players I was coming, I had a lot of the girls text me and reach out. It was just positive after positive after positive. So, I knew I made the right decision.
 
It's always different, I guess, when you have a new face fill a role. I didn't really know anything about Ari Hawkins, but I knew she was a leader and I knew that they respected her. So, obviously, I had some big shoes to fill at second base. I just had to make sure that I was focused and not scared and really just play my game. That's what helped, too, is the coaches let you kind of do it your way. If it works, it works. They might help you a little bit, just not overthinking the game or overthinking the mechanics, and just letting you play.


 
Coach Moore might disagree, but I think I'm pretty shy. It takes me a minute to warm up. But here, there was none of that. I just try to make sure people know that I'm there for them. I always tell this team that I love them and I'm always here. I try to make it an environment that everyone wants to be around, because I fully believe that softball is just another part of life, it's not who we are. To be able to establish a different relationship outside of Getterman, I think that's what makes softball so special.
 
I was born in Magnolia, Arkansas, a very small town, really close to the Louisiana border. I lived with my mom, and it was just like a community family area. Everyone grew up in this house, and it was just passed down. I was there until I was 5, and moved to Baton Rouge with my dad. That was really my first difficult experience, because I love my mom so much. That was hard for me, but I stayed in touch and we have a great relationship now. We talk as much as we can.
 
My dad played baseball in the Atlanta Braves organization. He had a few injuries, and that was when he had to take a different path in his life. That's what brought us to Louisiana.
 
He was such a sports guy, that's all I really knew. I thought I was going to play basketball. That was anything and everything to me. I was always dribbling the ball, always outside. I have a brother, Andrew, who's 13, and a little sister, Amy, is 10. So, that gap, I really kind of grew up by myself. It was just easy for me to go outside and shoot the ball. But I, for sure, thought I was going to play basketball.
 
I played football in middle school. I was this size in the fifth grade, so I was a lot bigger and a lot stronger than the boys at that time. When we came back in the eighth grade, that was when the boys had grown, I was like, "Oh, wait a minute!" So, after that, we called it quits.
 
Around that time, Coach Ducote became the new softball coach. She saw me throw a ball in dodgeball, and she asked me to come play. I was convinced I was going to play basketball, and I didn't really know anything about softball, really. She told me she really wanted me to come out. So, that's kind of when the whole thing started. I realized that I was good at it, it was fun and the team was good. We were the state runner-up my first year.
 
The basketball team wasn't that good, I think we won maybe five games. My junior year, I decided I wasn't going to play basketball anymore. I was like, "You know what, that's not for me." I really wanted to focus on softball. I had already committed to LSU. It was hard, the friendship side of it, but this was what was best for me. The basketball team actually ended up winning state that year, so I was like, "Of course."


 
It was good to see them make that switch and become a power. Softball stayed strong and we were always good, competitive, just a fun team, really. I love music, and we always did the drumming on the bucket thing and that was my job, so I was always busy during the games leading cheers.
 
A lot of people don't know, but I'm legally blind in my right eye. I was born with a cataract in my right eye that had to be removed when I was 6 weeks old. At the time, there was no solution for lens replacements or anything like that. I really didn't have an option. Just growing up without a lens, I've always worn patches and did cards and all that, but it never really developed. So, that's all I've known. I can see light, I guess, but no figures.
 
Since it's what I've always known, it really wasn't a big deal until I got here and we were doing a two-ball drill and someone just threw to the wrong place. As I caught a ball, I heard someone say, "Sorry." I was like "What was that for?" just in that second, and then it hit me right in the eye. The little vision I had went away, so that's the only difference now. It's a little darker, a little more fuzzy and blurry.
 
I got up the next morning, and I thought it was just an external thing, it was swollen. I think I had four stitches. But when I woke up, it looked like a kaleidoscope. It ended up being a retinal detachment type thing, and I had multiple surgeries until last June. Now, I'm just doing checkups and making sure my pressure is good. I'm just happy that it's finally over. My dad has always been on top of looking into things, because obviously if it doesn't work, then I can just go back to closing my eye and it will be a normal thing. But hopefully, it's something I can fix one day.
 
I know it probably sounds cliché, but it doesn't get any better than this, being able to come out here and hang out for four hours doing something you love with people you love. I try to make sure every day counts. I guess choosing love, in a way. That makes it a lot easier to come with a great attitude. I think being here made me appreciate life.
 
Initially, I was going to do electrical engineering just to be able to work with my dad and know more about what was going on with his business. It didn't really pan out, but I think the health and kinesiology major is more suited for me and I can do whatever I want. It has different paths. But, I still want to work with my dad, being in a sports environment. I hope that's where I'm going to go, if he hires me.
 
It's cool to say that my dad did this field and to see how people react. This might be one of the favorite jobs he's done. I know how much he loves it, just being able to help out this program. He's a helper, and he loves to give. I'm always happy to say he's my dad. And for him to be able to help out this program, it's pretty cool.



Previous Champions' TriBUne Features
Baseball - Josh Bissonette (Feb. 14, 2019)
Men's Tennis - Will Little (Jan. 31, 2019)
Men's Basketball - King McClure (Jan. 17, 2019)
Women's Basketball - Chloe Jackson (Jan. 3, 2019)
Football - Blake Blackmar (Dec. 13, 2018)
Volleyball - Braya Hunt (Nov. 29, 2018)
Soccer - Jackie Crowther (Nov. 16, 2018)
Cross Country - Alison Andrews-Paul (Nov. 8, 2018)
Football- Ira Lewis (Nov. 6, 2018)