ARIOTO Valerie

General
VETERAN VOICE
She has played for the US team since 2011 and believes that her experience brings a leadership role to the team. "It was obviously a sad era when softball wasn't in the Olympics, but it says something about the [USA Softball] program and the softball community that we continued to go and play for the USA. For me, it was always about wearing USA across my chest. Obviously, I wanted to play in the Olympics. But it was more about putting on that uniform and being able to represent so much more than just myself and doing it with people I really enjoy doing it with. We were part of the era that helped get softball back into the Olympics. I think that's really big and shows what we are here for, and that's to inspire the youth and to keep the sport growing. I respect what [the younger players] do. Obviously, they are really, really good. They kind of turn to me in a sense because I'm loud and I always have an opinion, so they know that I will say something if they don't. I hear so often that young girls are dropping out of sports at a faster rate than boys and that's sad. Hopefully being able to see players on Team USA or on other teams that they look up to will inspire them to want to keep playing and competing." (softballamerica.com, 24 Oct 2019; nays.org, 23 Oct 2020; d1softball.com, 08 Apr 2021)

USA SOFTBALL BOARD MEMBER
She is an athlete representative on the USA Softball board of directors. From January 2017 to December 2020 she was the softball representative for the Athlete Advisory Council for the United State Olympic and Paralympic Committee. In 2021 she said that after softball playing career she wants to continue serving on the USA Softball board of directors, helping to improve paid opportunities for players. "I want to create other opportunities so players can play after college and get paid what they deserve for all the hard work they put in. Hopefully in the end after I am done playing I can continue to serve on the USA Softball board of directors and change that path for the next generation to come." (d1softball.com, 08 Apr 2021)

JAPAN STINT
In 2015 and 2016 she played in the Japan Women's Softball League for Honda Reverta. (wbsc.org, 13 Apr 2016; teamusa.org, 01 Dec 2019; medium.com, 14 Sep 2020; LinkedIn profile, 01 Oct 2020)

OCCUPATION
She is the founder of a health and wellbeing business called The Integrated Vault. "While I have had ample success in my sport, it wasn't always easy. There was a point where I found myself struggling and was just living life on autopilot going through the motions. It's those life lessons and passion for self-care that inspired me to create The Integrated Vault. I wanted to help guide women to feel their best, find balance, and be high performers with the same skills I've learned in my career." She has also worked as a physical education teacher, and as director of operations for the University of South Florida softball team. "When we're not in the Olympics, we don't get the funding that we do [during Olympic years], so all of us have had to have second and third jobs to make it work." (californiagoldenblogs.com, 11 Jan 2019; softballamerica.com, 24 Oct 2019; Instagram profile, 12 Apr 2021; Facebook profile, 26 Oct 2020; teamusa.org, 01 Dec 2019; LinkedIn profile, 01 Oct 2020)

FURTHER STUDIES
After completing a bachelor's degree in American studies in 2012, she completed a master's degree in business administration and management at the Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in 2016. She also has a Plant Based Nutrition Certificate and a Health Coach Certification. (LinkedIn profile, 01 Oct 2020)