Team Canada
Dream Big.
Sara has been a member of the Women's Canadian National team since the summer of 2013, which was her senior year of high school. 2013 was the first year that she played on the Junior National team. That team had the opportunity to play on home soil in Brampton, Ontario for the Junior World Championships.
Groenewegen was asked to play up on the Senior National team after a strong performance on the Junior National team. She was able to solidify her spot on the roster in 2014. That year, the team played at the World Championships in Haarlem, Netherlands.
Groenewegen states that this was one of her favourite tournaments to play in representing Canada because she met many relatives that she did not know previously. Groenewegen is of dutch decent, and has extended family there.
Fear The Leaf.
Groenewegen was a significant member of the 2015 Pan American Championship team. Starting the gold medal game, Groenewegen pitched an eight inning - seven strikeout game allowing just one earned run against Team USA. The championship game win was the first gold medal for Team Canada Softball in the Pan American Championships in 32 years.
After a few years on the team, Groenewegen embraced her newly-found impact role on the pitching staff and was a key member of the bronze medal team at the 2016 World Championships in at Softball City in Surrey, B.C.
Veteran.
Two weeks before the world championships were set to start in Chiba, Japan in 2018, Groenewegen was placed in a 10 day, medically induced coma after going to the emergency room with flu-like symptoms. Groenewegen contracted Legionnaires disease. She aimed for a full recovery and wanted to get back on the field with her teammates. Thanks to her being an athlete, Sara made a full-recovery and was back stronger than ever for the 2019 season.
Upon making a full return in 2019, Groenewegen earned All-NPF honours for her strong performance in the National Pro Fastpitch league and the team won a silver medal at the Pan American Games that were hosted in Lima, Peru. At the Pan Am Games, Groenewegen became Canada’s first pitcher to throw a perfect game (August 5 vs. Venezuela). She was a large contributor to the team’s qualification of the Olympic Games in Surrey, B.C. going 2-1 with 11 strikeouts and 0.70 ERA.
History.
After losing two devastating games 1-0 versus USA and Japan, Canada still had a chance to write their names in history as the first softball team to come home from the Olympics with a medal.
Canada ended up earning the bronze medal after winning an exciting bronze medal game versus Mexico. Groenewegen was a key member of the team, starting 5 of 6 games as the starting pitcher.
The University of Minnesota
Freshman
Big Ten Freshman of the Year
Big Ten Pitcher of the Year
1st Team All-Big 10
2nd Team NFCA All-Region (Great Lakes)
Gopher Sports Female Rookie of the Year
Team Freshman of the Year
Top-10 NFCA National Freshman of the Year finalist
Big Ten Tournament Champions
Led the nation in strikeouts / 7 innings
Sophomore
NFCA All-American (2nd Team)
Big Ten Player of the Year 1st
Team All-Big 10
1st Team NFCA All-Region (Great Lakes)
Team Pitcher of the Year
Academic All-Big 10
USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award top-10 finalist
Junior
NFCA All-American (1st team)
1st Team NFCA All-Region (Great Lakes)
1st Team All-Big 10
Academic All-Big 10
USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award top-10 finalist
Big Ten Tournament - Most Outstanding Player
Big Ten Tournament Champions
Led the nation in strikeouts
Team Pitcher of the Year
Senior
NFCA All-American (1st team)
Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-American (3rd team)
1st Team NFCA All-Region (Great Lakes)
Top-10 finalist for the Senior CLASS Award
1st Team All-Big 10
Academic All-Big 10
USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award top-10 finalist
Big Ten Tournament - Most Outstanding Player
Big Ten Tournament Champions
Team Pitcher of the Year
Professional Softball
Akron Racers
Sara was the 2nd Overall Pick in the 2017 National Professional Fastpitch Draft by the Akron Racers and played her first professional season in 2017.
Canadian Wild
In her second season in the National Pro Fastpitch league, Groenewegen was one of the league's top pitchers, earning All-NPF. She ended the 2019 season with a 1.52 ERA going 6-4 with 3 saves. She made 17 appearances, 11 starts, had 73.2 innings pitched, and struck out 64. She threw 4 complete games and 1 shut out.
Athletes Unlimited
Athletes Unlimited is changing the game to make it fresher, faster, and more exciting. Groenewegen had the opportunity to become one of the first ten players to sign for the league. Due to COVID19, Sara decided to not play in the inaugural season, but resigned to play in season 2, starting August 2021.