Reality show following Celina junior

CELINA - It has been and will continue to be an interesting preseason for the Celina softball program.

While the Bulldogs prepare for the upcoming spring sports season, cameras from MTV's reality show "Made" will follow the progression of Celina junior Elizabeth Hogg, who is trying to earn a roster spot.

"Made" is a documentary style show produced by MTV Networks that focuses on assisting individuals in achieving personal goals.

Hogg's personal goal is to try and make Celina's varsity or jayvee softball team, but she hasn't played the sport in five years. While Hogg was a seventh-grader, her father, also the softball coach of her team, passed away and she hasn't played softball since.

"Elizabeth's father passing away has been tough for her to overcome mentally and she hasn't played organized softball since. That is kind of the storyline of the whole thing, to follow Elizabeth through this emotional experience," said Celina's softball head coach Nicole Driggs. "She came to a few open gyms as a freshman but never went through with the tryout. It was too stressful for her to try out at the time."

"Made" producers search through uploaded videos from individuals between the ages of 15-24 that are passionate about achieving a certain goal within a few months, with a little help from MTV.

Cameras have been following Hogg since Feb. 16 and will continue to do so until March 26th, the first game of the season for Celina's softball team against St. Henry.

Helping to train Hogg to achieve her goal is professional softball player Kelley Montalvo of the Akron Racers.

"Elizabeth goes through our regular practice with all the girls and then is receiving additional training with Kelley," said Driggs. "It'a great opportunity for Elizabeth to work with a professional player one-on-one as she strives to reach her goal. MTV is there to video everything and she has a microphone on as well for everything that we do in practice."

It is too early to tell if Hogg will earn a roster spot, but Driggs will have an open mind to the possibility.

"The sky is the limit for Elizabeth. The best players in our program play, so there is no ceiling," said Driggs. "We will be fair through the whole process and there will be no preferential treatment just because there is a reality show involved. That wouldn't be fair to the rest of the girls in the program."

The additional interest in Celina's preseason has gone well so far according to Driggs.

"All the girls were excited and almost giddy about the cameras the first few days they were there because they have seen the show before, but things settled down quickly and the girls have gotten used to them being around all the time," said Driggs. "Like I tell the girls, just be yourself. The focus for the cameras being here is to follow Elizabeth, so we just have to have the approach that it's business as usual. If I notice any controversy or issues, I will address it immediately. They (MTV) have assured me that they aren't here to create drama and we have to make sure that we don't let any drama creep in."