From the small town of Keystone Heights, Fla. to the swaying palm trees in Boca Raton, Kiley Channell is stepping into her sophomore year as a standout talent on the Florida Atlantic University’s softball roster. 

Channell played tee ball since the age of four, making her no stranger to the game, nor when it comes to dominating on the red clay. Her whole life has been dedicated to swinging a bat at an overly sized baseball. Growing up, she was coached by her father Jason, and watching her brother play baseball — she easily developed a love for playing the sport.

“My first memory was playing tee ball. I would play with my brother, and my dad was my coach and that was kind of what got me into the sport,” Channell said.

Channell played softball throughout her elementary, middle and high school. Additionally playing on travel teams. Many athletes make a name for themselves in high school and are prominent years of development, but that was not the case for Channel. In eighth grade, Keystone Heights High School softball coach, Jessica Marquart vividly remembers her first notice of the young 5-foot-4-inch shortstop.

“At our school, it’s 7th through 12th grade, and we have three different teams. So we can pull kids up from middle school to play on the varsity level,” Marquart said. “I didn’t really see her in seventh grade, but I noticed her during her eighth-grade year, and I was like ‘That kid has to play for us.”’

Marquart expressed her amazement at Channell’s performance at such a young age.

“She’s way too valuable to not have and that wasn’t very common at our school — her skills were just unbelievable to have at that age,” Marquart said. “This girl is going to be special one day.” 

Channell’s talent and high-level performance secured her a spot on the Keystone Heights varsity team, as a middle schooler. This was the first of many coach recognitions that would come.  

When the transition to an upperclassman came, so did all of Channell’s accolades. In her senior year at Keystone Heights, Channell was a stellar student with a 4.3 grade point average and dominated the classroom and the gym. She was also a dual athlete, playing on the school’s softball and basketball teams.  

“Growing up throughout elementary I played softball and basketball — I played in the Rec leagues and travel teams,” Channell said. “Basketball was in the winter and Softball in the spring so it was a little bit easier to do that, but I would go from softball practice to basketball practice and [vice versa].” 

Channell knew that if she wanted to play on a collegiate level, there would be a decision between the two sports that she played her entire life. She chose her first love, softball.

“Basketball was fun, it was my escape [from softball]. Once I got to eighth grade was when I really decided what I wanted to do and I chose softball,” Channell said.

Now gracing the Florida Atlantic softball roster, Channell was a part of the 2024 team to make an American Athletic Conference (AAC) championship appearance, in her freshman year. Head coach Jordan Clark led the girls in a conference victory and also initially brought Channell to FAU.

“I struggled in the recruiting process because I was so small and short, and wasn’t as strong as the other girls. And she saw me play one time at a tournament… she said ‘I want to get you on campus… she matched my personality, and it was awesome,” said Channell.

Clark shared that the overall collegiate softball recruiting process is more challenging than that of collegiate basketball and football recruitment.

“Softball happens a little differently. They grow up playing travel from May until August, and then they play in the fall from October to the end of November, so usually there are windows for us to go and watch them play,” said Clark. “Twitter became a huge thing in our sport where you tag coaches in highlights videos and your game times so that they come and watch you.”

Clark remembers the first time she saw Kiley come across her Twitter (X) feed.

“Kiley would always tag big, huge power five schools, and she randomly popped up on my Twitter one day. And I was like ‘Who is this kid and why is she still uncommitted?’. Usually by your junior year you are committed, and she was an uncommitted senior,” said Clark.

After showing up to one of Channell’s games in high school, Clark insisted that she take a visit to Florida Atlantic in chance of commitment. After a month, Channell would commit and join the Owls softball team.

Now, Channell gears up for the start of a turning-heads sophomore season this spring. The reigning AAC regular season and conference champs team takes the field against the University of Mississippi Ole Miss on Feb. 6.

Lys Hayes is a Contributing Writer for the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories email her at allyssiahayes2.00@gmail.com or DM her on Instagram @lyshayes or Twitter (X) @lyshayes.