A University of Alabama softball pitcher returned to her hometown this week to give young players in Daphne a taste of college-level instruction, hosting her first Elite Softball and Leadership Camp at Daphne High School, the field where her own career took off.
Vic Moten, who just finished a standout freshman season with the Crimson Tide, designed the camp to go beyond pitching mechanics and fielding drills. Alongside the softball instruction, organizers built in sessions aimed at building leadership, confidence and other life skills meant to serve participants well beyond athletics.
Moten said the idea grew out of a gap she noticed in youth sports options for girls in the Daphne area.
“I think the community at Daphne needs an outlet, especially young girls, because there’s a lot of sports for girls to do, like cheer, gymnastics; but nobody wants to do softball. So I figured I’ll come out here and give them a chance to learn something new,” Moten said.
Putting on the inaugural camp was a group effort, according to Moten, who credited her family, friends and a small supporting organization with helping bring the event together.
A Record-Setting Freshman Year
Moten arrives with credentials that made her a natural fit to lead a camp built around both skill development and mentorship. In her first season pitching for Alabama, she went 18-4 with 151 strikeouts, a performance that earned her freshman All-American and freshman All-SEC honors as she helped anchor the Crimson Tide pitching staff in one of college softball’s toughest conferences.
Before she ever took the mound in Tuscaloosa, Moten built her reputation at Daphne High School, where she was a two-time Alabama Gatorade Player of the Year. That two-time honor placed her among the most decorated prep softball players to come out of Baldwin County in recent memory, and it laid the groundwork for the college career that followed.
Bringing College Experience Back to Baldwin County
By returning to the same high school field where she developed as a player, Moten is following a familiar path for standout athletes who use their platform to invest in the next generation of players from their hometown. For a fast-growing city like Daphne, where youth sports participation continues to expand alongside the community itself, a camp led by a current SEC athlete offers young players direct access to a level of coaching and mentorship that is not always readily available locally.
The leadership and life-skills component of the camp reflects a broader emphasis, increasingly common among camps run by current and former college athletes, on using sports as a vehicle for building confidence and character rather than focusing solely on technical skill-building. Organizers said the goal was to prepare the young women who attended for success that extends well past the softball diamond.
With the inaugural camp now complete, Moten and her supporters will look to build on the turnout as she continues her college career at Alabama, where she is expected to be a key part of the Crimson Tide’s pitching rotation in the seasons ahead.