Ohio State junior Kami Kortokrax is a “gamer” in every way, so it’s no surprise she’s speaking out to preserve future opportunities for the girls who want to grow up and be like her. (Photos courtesy of OSU)
Columbus, OH. — Three years into her Ohio State softball career, Kami Kortokrax is living her dream and acting on a passionate calling to help other female athletes do the same.
Veteran columnist Bruce Hooley writes Ohio State sports and sports at large for Press Pros Magazine.com.
A first-team All-Big Ten shortstop each of the last two seasons, and an all-freshman B1G selection before that, Kortokrax is delivering exactly what her sterling high school career predicted when PressProsMagazine.com first profiled her three years ago this month.
Her legend has only grown since then.
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Kortokrax has started every game of her college career with the Buckeyes, while collecting an equipment bag full of game-winning hits, spectacular defensive plays and several Big Ten player-of-the-week honors.
The latest of those came in late April when Kortokrax broke her nose while fouling off a pitch against Maryland on Saturday and was forced to leave the game upon the insistence of team doctors. She returned the next day to homer in her first at-bat, then hit a walk-off double in game two of the doubleheader sweep.
“Unfortunately, I had to get six stitches and (clear) concussion protocol, so I couldn’t get in there,” Kortokrax said of her early exit upon suffering the injury. “But I knew there wasn’t going to be any chance I was sitting out the next day.”
Kortokrax plays with an infectious enthusiasm that has endeared her to fans, young and old alike.
Three weeks later, while recovering at home from having her wisdom teeth pulled a few days ago, Kortokrax is ready to step up to the plate and weigh in on some major issues impacting girls sports.
Her motivation for addressing topics many athletes avoid is rooted in a past that shaped her athletic aspirations, and her desire to preserve that future for others who look up to her now.
“Part of it comes down to, I was a little girl who just wanted to play at that level,” Kortokrax said. “I sat in the stands at Ohio State softball games and dreamed about being there. I worked hard and had many people in my life helping me to get there and to do it.
“Just remaining humble and remembering, these little girls are who I was, who I am. All it took was people believing in me, helping me and encouraging me. If I can be that person for these little girls to help them be where they want to be, then I’m doing something more important in my life than statistically what I’m producing on the field.
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“That’s definitely on the front of my mind a lot with my athletic career and what I’m doing with my career and my social media platform that is going to outlast my softball career.”
Name, Image and Likeness compensation from businesses who employ Kortokrax for personal appearances or social media posts affords her an income previously forbidden for college athletes.
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She’s not driving a $250,000 luxury car, like those lavished on previous Ohio State quarterbacks, but she’s not a starving college student, either.
Kortokrax’s parents – long-time Columbus television personality Mindy Drayer and uber-successful high school basketball coach Randy Kortokrax – are fixtures at her games and understandably proud of a daughter who feels a responsibility beyond simply living up to her potential as a player.
That’s why Kortokrax is willing to address the Biden Administration’s expansion of Title IX, set to go into effect in a few months on Aug. 1.
The new application of the law that created opportunities for women in sports when unveiled 50 years ago will now require any school that receives federal funding of any sort – including high schools, colleges and universities – to recognize a student’s preferred gender identity in any “extra-curricular activity.”
Any failure by a school to do so can be classified by federal officials as a sexual discrimination violation, resulting in a possible loss of all federal funding.
The Education Department edict does not specifically apply the expansion of Title IX to sports, but the 1,500-page memo mentions 31 times that the new gender-identity guidelines will apply to all extra-curricular activities.
Kortokrax led OSU with 12 home runs and 42 RBI, while hitting .318, in 53 games.
Kortokrax voices considerable tolerance for people’s personal life choices, but she strongly disagrees with the prospect of being forced to play her sport against biological men, who identify as women, next season.
“People can do whatever they want,” Kortokrax said. “I’m not going to judge you. You can do whatever you want, choose to do whatever you want. That’s fine. I have no problem with that. I’ll support you. Whatever you want to do, that’s great.
“What I’m seeing in sports is the people that I see speaking out on this topic, a lot aren’t involved in sports. I’m like, ‘You wouldn’t even have to deal with this. How can you even say your opinion on something that wouldn’t even pertain to you or anything that goes past your knowledge?’
“So like me, thinking about playing with guys, that makes no sense. Competing for a position against a guy on a women’s team? That makes no sense to me. That doesn’t seem right in my eyes, because that isn’t right. How can I go against a man? I’m not scared of anyone and I love competing, but that’s two completely different genetically-built athletes. And then, to think I’d have to go against someone for my own spot on a women’s team, that just doesn’t sound right to me. I don’t like that idea.”
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Some past female athletes who have achieved the kinds of things Kortokrax hopes to achieve in softball – Sue Bird in the WNBA; Megan Rapinoe on the USA womens national soccer team – have voiced their strong support for transgender women (biological men) playing women’s sports.
Notably, Bird and Rapinoe are both now retired from their respective sports.
“That does surprise me,” Kortokrax said. “I’d think they would know how hard it (is) for something that basically comes down to genetics – like filling up your spot in the lineup or on the field or on a team – coming down to genetics. Basically, that’s something that should never come down to that in our world.
“For these people to speak out, you’d think they would realize how hard it (is). That something could be taken away, basically genetically pushed through, that would be terrible. It surprises me because you’d think some of these people would have kids and think about, potentially, their kids going in and competing against people and losing things because of genetics.”
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Former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines has been a vocal critic of biological men being allowed to compete in women’s sports, but most athletes and coaches – including 15 of the 16 coaches in the NCAA Women’s Tournament Sweet Sixteen – steer clear of the controversial topic.
Kortokrax chose to address the issue head on.
“There’s a difference between a man and a female, genetically,” she said. “There just is. The power, the athleticism, there just is a difference. And so, for people not to weigh in and think it’s no big deal, they’re just wrong. From a scientific standpoint, it’s wrong.
“I understand people are trying to be accepting and that’s fine. You can do whatever you want to do, but I would hate to see a girl lose something athletically because a guy went in and competed as (a girl). It’s just hard for me to see.”
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