Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Forged by FAU - Tabitha Price
3/30/2021 8:03:00 AM | General, Softball
That opportunity right there changed the trajectory of my life, and I will forever be grateful to Coach Joan for giving me that opportunity, and for Coach Dooley continuing it on. That opportunity and that experience truly was a highlight in my life that has gotten me to the point I am today.
As the director of training and mental health for the Alabama Department of Corrections, Dr. Tabitha Price helps educate inmates and the staff members who interact with them. Price is creating opportunities for the “underserved,” thanks largely to the opportunity Florida Atlantic University gave her two decades prior.
“I look at it as my opportunity to give back to the underserved population and to people that don’t have many opportunities to make it in this world or in this society – some by their own choosing,” Price said. “It’s very rewarding to work with inmates because most of society gave up on them. I don’t want to give up on anyone [because] no one gave up on me.”
As a Meridian, Mississippi youth, Price dreamed of playing Division I softball. She inched close to that dream by playing slow-pitch at a local junior college. But after a year, Price decided college was “not for me” and joined the Coast Guard.
Price then served four years as a Coast Guard Seaman, spending time at the Savannah, Georgia and New Orleans bases. Her passion for softball, despite the career change, never wavered. Price played slow-pitch games on the weekends, hoping to one day return to the sport she loved, even though she never played the fast-pitch version.
“That passion of wanting to play never died,” Price said, “but not in my wildest dreams did I ever think I’d play fast pitch because that was not in my life.”
Fast-pitch softball entered Price’s life immediately after her time with the Coast Guard. Price earned an opportunity to play at Broward College and excelled despite her inexperience.
A Broward College assistant and FAU alum, Diana Hargis, then connected Price with FAU coach Joan Joyce. Price and Joyce arranged a lunch meeting, then a tryout, culminating in a scholarship offer the former happily accepted.
“It was just an incredible journey for those doors to open and for coach to give me an opportunity to play at 24, 25 years old,” said Price, who joined the Owls ahead of the 1999 season.
The incredible journey didn’t end there. Price played a pivotal role in FAU’s first two NCAA Tournament appearances in ’99 and 2000. The team went a combined 106-37 over those seasons, winning consecutive A-Sun Championships. Individually, the A-Sun named Price a Third Team All-Conference shortstop in her final season.
It wasn’t the journey Price envisioned as a youth, but its extended nature took nothing away from her enjoyment.
“Wow, here I am, this little person from Meridian, Mississippi, 25 years old, playing with all these young kids and enjoying every minute of it,” Price thought during her NCAA Tournament experience. “I loved every minute of it.”
Price’s dream was playing Division I softball, but that wasn’t the only sport FAU would offer her.
Brian Dooley, then FAU’s women’s soccer coach, needed a backup goalie and thought the agile Price would be a good fit. The only issue: Price’s furthest involvement with the sport, at that time, was watching games on TV.
Still, Price practiced with the squad and impressed Dooley enough to earn additional scholarship money.
Price accepted the scholarship and thought she’d “just be on the bench and enjoy the scenery” as a backup goalie. She thought wrong. In the Owls’ season-opening match against FIU, their starting goalie suffered a season-ending knee injury, thrusting Price into action.
“I thought I was going to have a heart attack at that moment and time,” said Price, who helped FAU reach a then-program record 14 wins in 2000. “That was a terrifying experience, but another incredible opportunity to do something I’ve never done before.”
FAU gave Price a three-part opportunity: softball, soccer and a college education. Two decades have passed since, and that opportunity still guides Price to helping others.
“That opportunity right there changed the trajectory of my life, and I will forever be grateful to Coach Joan for giving me that opportunity, and for Coach Dooley continuing it on,” Price said. “That opportunity and that experience truly was a highlight in my life that has gotten me to the point I am today.”
