Put Me In, Coach!

Last year my family and I entered into the world of organized youth sports when we signed up our (then) 9-yr old daughter to play softball.  I – being of no athletic ability or inclination WHATsoever – was very nervous about this.  I knew it would be up to my husband to help her practice, because short of having what my husband calls a “cowabunga” throw (meaning, I can truly throw hard and far, but without a hint of aim), I am clueless when it comes to sports.  And sports teams.  And sports parents.  I felt I was in for it.

My initial fears were quelled, though, by the fact that I knew the two coaches.  They were the main reasons I signed my daughter up.  I knew these two women to be caring, fair, yet skilled and competitive.  I felt my daughter was safe in their hands.

And imagine my surprise when the parents all turned out to be very friendly.  They didn’t even laugh too hard or scowl too deeply from underneath their umbrellas at our first game, wherein my daughter and I both got drenched before they called the game on rain.  Hello, friends, a spring sport in Oregon requires clothing for ALL kinds of weather!  Duh.

(above:  Game #1:  Lesson Learned!)

And softball isn’t too terribly hard to understand.  And it’s actually sorta fun to watch.  It got more and more fun to watch, too, the better my daughter got.  She was the only first-timer on the team, which was a challenge.  All the other girls had played together as a team for the previous two years.  I saw teamwork at it’s finest, though, as they all seemed to rally around my daughter and encourage her to do her best.

Her best got pretty good by the end of the year, and believe me when I tell you that girls’ got power in her swing.  One of my proudest moments was seeing an opposing team’s coach call his players infield when my daughter was at the bat, only to send them right back out when she hit a massive (though foul) ball off the pitcher.  And indeed, her next hit sent the ball sailing between 2nd and 3rd base.

So here we are again…Springtime in Oregon.  Rain and sun and rain and daffodils.  And softball.

This year we have two girls on the same team – my daughter inspired her younger sister last year, and now the two get to play together!  A rare opportunity, and one that looks like it will be a lot of fun.

They had their first practice tonight, and it amazed me how much stronger our older daughter is this year.  Her throws are like rockets and she can stop the ball with a smack of the glove.  She still has trouble making initial contact with the ball (she needs to work on her eye), but when she hit it tonight, it moved!  Our younger daughter was a little goofy and shy, but I was surprised by how willing she was to just get out there and try.  She didn’t make a bad showing of it, either.  Definitely worth being proud of her tonight!

The team is all new to both our girls this year – it just worked out that we didn’t get the same coaches or teammates as last year.  But that puts my older daughter in a unique position.  It’s a 3rd/4th grade blend of girls, and none of the 4th graders have played before, and the 3rd graders are coming from a level of play that is very different.  My older daughter is the only one on the team that has played the game with the larger, solid softball, and the only one that has had to take pitches from the opposing team’s pitcher (at the lower levels, your own team’s coach pitches to you).  There are other rule changes as well from one level to the next – how many bases you can steal, how many pitches you can take, etc.  My daughter is the only one familiar with how this works, and if she chooses to, she can really help to be a leader on her team, staying positive and showing support to her teammates.  And her little sister.

I can’t say for sure that I’m become a big sports “fan” yet, but I’m definitely beginning to catch the spirit of what athletics can mean to a child, and to a family.  I’m looking forward to a great Spring.  And I’m bringing my umbrella!

You might also enjoy these related posts from Tree, Root, and Twig:

1. Game On
2. Wait 5 Minutes
3. Time to Recognize

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