Sports

Co-Captain Kiley Buckley ’23 Leads Through Skill and Reliability

Andover Softball Co-Captain Kiley Buckley ’23 began her softball career in elementary school, after competing in sports throughout her childhood. Buckley continued her love for the sport through middle and high school, eventually earning a spot on Stanford University’s team for next year. Buckley believes that her dedication to softball is what got her to where she is and what helps push her team to provide effort.

“I think the value that I fixate on is just dedication and, making sure that the whole team is involved, in practices and games and even if they’re not playing, just making sure that everyone’s playing a part and, everyone’s just doing their job,” said Buckley.

Angie Ceballos Cardona ’25 commended Buckley’s dependability on and off the field. Buckley’s talent benefits the team during games due to her consistency on offense and defense. She also has the ability to calm nerves in challenging moments which helps the team play at its best.

“She’s one of those people that’s really reliable. I think in big moments we can rely on her to come up big and I think she definitely uses her natural talent to really step up in those big moments. And I don’t think you don’t really see Kiley sweat in big moments, she’s very calm and collected, and I think that helps de-escalate difficult situations and games. She’s a very calm presence in the field, and I think it helps the anxiety in other players within the team, whether we’re losing or we’re having a bad game,” said Ceballos-Cardona.

Emerson Buckley ’25 appreciates how Kiley Buckley approaches her teammates with constructive feedback. Kiley Buckley uses her wealth of experience to maximize the team’s success.

“I think through her actions as well as…[her] want to help people. You’ll see her telling girls what they can fix about their swing or just how they can get better. Not to a point that gets annoying, she wants to help. So I think that makes her a great Captain,” said Emerson Buckley.

Buckley played a large role in creating team bonding experiences during the team’s pre-season trip to Florida, according to Ceballos-Cardona. She continued to push for team chemistry after pre-season because Buckley felt that would create the best atmosphere during the season.

Ceballos Cardona said, “We did a lot of team bonding in the preseason. I think Kiley and the rest of the Captains really helped orchestrate going to parks with friends and staying in groups and really getting to know each other. So I think that was a really good way to bring the team together before the season started.”

According to Kiley Buckley, she uses team huddles as her way of communicating during challenging games. She makes it a point to encourage her teammates no matter the score, so that each player believes that they have the skills and ability to persevere through adversity.

Kiley Buckley said, “I think for a team as a whole… After each inning, when we come back and we’re all meeting in a circle just making sure that everyone resets and focuses on the next inning, what they have to do next, and just not worrying about if they made an error or whatever was causing the dull in the game. I think that meeting for each inning is very important [to make] sure that the energy in the dugout stays high and everyone’s involved.”