Youth Softball Players’ Viral Plea to Deion Sanders: Bring Softball to Colorado

Jul 9, 2025; Frisco, TX, USA; Colorado head coach Deion Sanders speaks with the media during 2025 Big 12 Football Media Days at The Star. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

One youth softball player is calling on one of college football’s most popular coaches, Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders, to bring softball and baseball programs to the University of Colorado Boulder.

Bailey Tickle, a 2028 high school graduate out of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, and a Top Gun National Fastpitch utility player, took to X to voice her plea to Sanders. 

While actively recruiting for college, the Colorado native, along with many other softball players, would love to play D1 ball close to home. The post is now with over 500 likes and counting, and several other youth players have commented their agreement. 

Coach Prime @DeionSanders ,
My name is Bailey Tickle. I’m a 2028 graduate and softball player from Colorado. I play softball for @TG_14_National with girls from all over the US. I am writing you to ask for help. Will you help bring softball and baseball to the University of…

— Bailey Tickle 2028 (@BaileyTickle28) July 12, 2025

Colorado is home to one of the biggest summer travel ball tournaments, the Triple Crown Fastpitch Sparkler, held annually over the Fourth of July. There’s undoubtedly a popular demand for the game within the state.

“I am writing you to ask for help,” Tickle stated in the post. “Will you help bring softball and baseball to the University of Colorado? Colorado holds two huge tournaments for softball every summer, bringing the top talent in the world to play. Literally 1,000 teams come here for these tournaments and countless college Coaches make Colorado their top recruiting stop for their summer. 100’s of games are played right in Boulder! There are so many talented players leaving our state to play collegiately, and CU continues to not support softball or baseball. I know this takes time. This is not about me or my class, but future generations that can be impacted tremendously by this. The class of 2032 is waiting.”

Sanders, the only athlete ever to play in both a Super Bowl and the World Series, the two-time unanimous first-team All-American at Florida State and former Jackson State football head coach, arguably has the most pull at the University of Colorado, where he has led the Buffaloes as head football coach since 2022. 

Could the former baseball player be an advocate within the university for bringing two new sports to the Big 12? 

While the sport of softball is growing year by year with record Women’s College World Series numbers and MLB investing in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League to prove it, the addition of a softball program at Colorado Boulder could be a massive piece in continuing the growth of the game.