Pembroke Pines Girls Fastpitch Softball: The Softball Life
I hope you enjoy this collection of essays collected from the internet. If anyone would like to suggest or submit anything which would fit into this section, please contact me.
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This is a poem for the Softball Life:
She pulls on the helmet, picks up the bat and walks to the plate, "gotta hit and that's that." The crowd starts to yell, the games on the line, last inning, 2 outs ,the scores nine to nine. Dad yells, "go get it", Mom wrings her hands, coach hollars, "hit it" but alone there she stands. Heros are made in seconds such as this, but she is only a little girl, what if she should miss? Years after this game has ended and she's little no more, will she remember the outcome or even the score? No she'll have for gotten if she was out, hit, or a run, she'll only look back on her friends and the fun. So cheer this girl on, alone with her fate; help her remember with fondness, this stand at the plate. Spend your time wisely and help in her quest to be a hitter with confidence and always her best. And when the game's over, this girl can stand tall, for you helped her prepare to give it her all.
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At one time, she looked cute as a button, dressed in pink with pony tails. (Visions of Alice in Wonderland.) She played with dolls, helped mom bake cookies, and has been, and always will be, daddy's little girl.
She still has all those little girl attributes. The only difference is now she looks cute dressed in sliders and shorts. If she is wearing ribbons in her hair, they are team colors. She still bakes cookies...for the team bake sale. And she has probably earned a few bucks...at the team car wash. Now she is, and always will be, daddy's little second baseman (insert position of choice).
She takes pride in how much dirt she can collect every weekend. Go to dinner on a night she is not playing and it takes an hour of primping to get ready, and she still feels self-conscious. Go after a game and she'll walk into a restaurant with a streak of dirt across her forehead, ratted hair, stained shirt and brownish/white socks. Or brown toes with sandals! Lets EAT!
She is ready and willing to play at the drop of a hat! If she can get away with it, she will play on two teams (In the same day no less). She has a huge wardrobe: plenty of tournament shirts and shorts from all the teams she has played on. Her parents do her school shopping every weekend at the tournament T-shirt booth. when you say, "Wear something nice", she thinks it means a tournament shirt without dirt stains.
She need to get an athletic scholarship. Her parents have spent $100,000 on camps, private instruction, batting cages, gloves, bats, equipment, uniforms, player fees, concession stands, travel and lodging. THEY'RE BROKE!!!
She is a fierce competitor, willing to stand in against a fast pitcher at close distance that even pro baseball players would have trouble hitting! And she might be 5'2" and 100 lbs. soaking wet. She might play first or third base at 20 feet from home plate, saying I dare you to bunt...drive one down my throat!!!.
She has more spirit than maybe any other team sport. At least it sounds that way. Softball is the only sport where a girl's ability to cheer sometimes effect roster decisions. She can't bunt or hit, she is a liability in the field...but she cheers constantly. She is playing the games for all the right reasons! SHE LOVES IT! She could hang out at the mall, stay home and watch TV, or spend her summers at the pool. Instead she has a tight schedule with limited free time, hangs out at the practice field with a coach in her face, and spends her summers getting baked on a 95 degree field with no shade. Maybe we should get some of our kids checked for IQ? :)
She has her priorities in order: tournaments, league games, team practices, schoolwork, individual practice and batting cage, family, private softball instruction, church, conditioning, softball camps, boys. (Maybe church comes before the batting cage...at least on Sundays.)
She is diligent and hard working. She knows you get out of something what you put into it. She is not the type of kid to take the easy way out! She is competitive, not willing to give up. She learns many valuable lessons during the course of her softball career like:
You can stay at the Holiday Inn for $12 a night if you are willing to go four to a room.
Hotels don't monitor pool usage, and you can go swimming anytime, whether you are a registerd guest or not.
Continental breakfast means 3 bowls of cereal, bagel, two donuts and four glasses of OJ.
Unlike the geographically challenged, softball girls know how to get from home to every field in a 25 mile radius.
She has a lot of fun every summer, enough to make her come back next year regardless of all the sacrifices, the money, the occasional bad coach, drinking water that people have put their hands in, etc.
The Typical Girls Fastpitch Softball Player is, first and foremost, somebody's little girl.
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We used to have a regular life. (Actually, many of our friends say that sentence should say, "We used to have a life", period.) It doesn't really seem that long ago. Then we became travel ball parents.
Our lawn used to be like a carpet. It was green, mowed, trimmed, fertilized, and watered. Any weeds that dared to show their leaves were pulled out by their roots. Now we have two big bare spots forty feet apart. We like the bare spots. We like them because they are the only places that the weeds and crab grass aren't threatening to take over.
Our car used to draw admiring looks and comments. It was clean and waxed and shined and Armor All'd. Now it only draws attention when it wins the "dirtiest car in the parking lot" prize.
Our friends and we used to spend Monday mornings talking about five-iron shots, three-putts, and titanium shafts. Now we bore them to death with detailed play-by-play descriptions of five or six low-scoring ball games. Somehow, they just don't understand the drama of a 2-0 game.
We used to think anything over $40 was an exorbitant price for a ball bat. Now the contents of our daughter's equipment bag are worth more than everything else in the car together-including clothes, jewelry, watches, and laptop computer.
My wife and I use to love each other. Still do, Thank God. But that's a tribute to our patience and good humor. We used to sit and talk for hours. We still do-to keep the driver awake when we're headed home from a tournament a distance away. We used to wonder what the kids would do when they grew up. Now my wife wants to know what I'm going to do IF I ever grow up.
Our summer casual wardrobe used to be made up of color-coordinated polo shirts, cool cottons in bright colors, and the occasional "aloha" shirt. Now we have a closet full of T-shirts in white with some softball logo in Teal. Those that don't have Riptide Fastpitch Softball on the front have a cute saying on the back, like "If You Follow Me Long Enough, You'll End Up at a Ball Field."
We used to glue ourselves to the sofa and watch the NCAA basketball tournament or go to a movie. Now, we catch the highlights on Sportscenter or wait till the movie comes out on video.
We used to have sympathy for umpires...We used to think boys were tough...We used to think a double-header was a long day at the ball field. Now we're just getting warmed up.
We used to spend our summer vacation relaxing on the beach or visiting family. Now we hit the road with 40 of our closest friends.
We used to think the ideal child had brains and beauty. She still does, but now she better also be quick, courageous, and able to bunt a good rise ball.
We used to look for little restaurants that served seafood fresh off the boat. Now we are connoisseurs of nachos and smoked sausages.
We used to be concerned that we would fall into the trap of living our life through our daughter. Now we know that we are privileged to live our life WITH our daughter
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I started playing competitive sports when I was very young. One or both of my parents came to most of my games. I learned the awful truth at the very start. My parents voices, coming from the stands, had a major impact on my concentration on the game.
I had been raised, as I hope all kids are, to listen to everything my parents said. The same went for my coach. Anything that one of those three distinct voices of authority said, I listened. Even if the words were not directed at me, I listened. Even when I did not want to hear them, I heard them loud and clear. When a kid hears one of those three voices, he CANNOT ignore them.
When I was 9 years old and there were 10 people in the stands, I heard them. It broke my concentration. It took some of the fun out of the game for me. It would sometimes distract me so much that it ruined the whole game for me.
When I was 24 with 1,000 people lining both sides of the field yelling, I still picked those three voices out from all the rest. It is impossible to tune those three voices out.
Every parent wants their kid to be the best at everything they attempt. They want to be there to show their love and support for their kid, mine were no exception. Every kid wants to make their parent proud, I was no exception to that. That's the natural way of things and especially true when it comes to parents of kids on a sports team.
At 9 years old I found out I was going to have a major problem with my parents. We had to sit down and have a serious talk about how much their voices were affecting my performance.
After we talked it out we came to these connclusions:
1. There are two kinds of people at any sporting event, PLAYERS and FANS.
2. A PLAYER is an active participant in the game. Team members, coaches, umpires and/or
referees fall into the players category. A player either plays a position in, coaches or calls the game.
3. A FAN is a non-participating observer. They neither play, coach or call the game. Their sole purpose is to cheer on their favorite team and players.
4. A parent is a FAN, unless they happen to be one of the coaches on the field.
5. Any attempts by FANS to become PLAYERS are not acceptable.
I would step into the batters box and my loving and supportive dad would yell out something like, "Follow the ball all the way to the bat". I was getting psyched up to bat. Now I'm staring at my dad wondering if he thinks I'm stupid. He's only yelled that to me 50 times before. It broke my concentration.
If the embarrassment had only stopped there. I struck out. On the way back to the dugout, of course, my loving and supportive dad had to try to console me, "You'll get em next time slugger". I wouldn't have been any more embarrassed if he would have stood up and yelled, "Oh, my poor sweet baby. How terrible you must feel. Come on up here and let daddy give you a big hug and make it all better". If we were real lucky we would all strike out so only three of us would have to go through that public humiliation an inning.
What just happened? My dad, one of those three voices I could not ignore, just gave me coaching instructions and changed from a fan to a player. He broke my concentration, had an affect on my performance and possibly the outcome of the entire game. If this happens to your kid and their team loses, this is exactly what he will think too. It can take all the fun out of your kid's games.
Instead of being able to focus on being the best player and team member they can be, they have to stop and regain their composure and concentration. That is not what they have signed up to do. They are there to play the game and have fun doing it. If they constantly have to worry about impressing their parents, it may be just enough pressure to suck every drop of fun out of their game.
All parents want to coach and advise their kids at their games. It should never happen while the kids are on the field. It will not be taken well at all. If it is something that absolutely must be said, say it when your kid is on the bench or in the dugout. It will be received a lot better there. Do it in a quiet and supportive tone of voice. NEVER yell anything from the stands in a stern or angry voice.
When a kid reaches the point that their parents take the training wheels off of their bike, one of them will still run along side with their arms out, to catch them if they should fall. Parents try and do the same thing from the stands too.
You must come to the realization that your kid is fielding a position on a competitive organized sports team, just like the adults and professionals do. That is a very adult kind of thing for a kid to do.
A parent must give their kid the chance to prove they can do it by themselves. It may never happen if they are constantly given the feeling their parents are right there ready to catch them if they fall.
It is almost impossible for a parent to not yell these kind of things during their kids game. If the coach has done his job well, the kids know what they are supposed to do. They also know when they don't do it quite right. During the game, the last thing a kid wants to hear is one of their parents publicly pointing out what they did not do quite right, it just pours salt in their wound.
A good coach will go over the errors in the dugout or after the game. Every adult must choose their words and tone of voice very carefully during the game. During the game it is very easy for a kid to perceive an adult yelling something to them, as the adult yelling AT them. No adult should ever yell anything during the game that might humiliate a kid in front of their parents, that can be devastating to a kid.
Some parents still haven't figured this out yet. If you ever make the mistake of yelling out constructive criticism to some other parent's kid, don't be surprised if that other kid's parents start yelling some constructive criticism right back at you, or worse.
Remember, you're voice is not one of the three voices that other kid is tuned into anyway. Let his parent make his own mistakes. Rest assured, whatever you yelled WAS heard by YOUR kid. If a mature adult can take your words that strongly, how do you think an impressionable young kid is going to think and feel about them.
Supportive cheers in general, directed at the entire team, are always welcomed by players and fans alike. A comment to a player that has just done something good is also welcomed by all. While the kids are on the field, LEAVE THE COACHING TO THE COACH. It is the only coaching the kids want to hear while they are on the field.
Be the supportive FAN your kid needs and wants you to be. As long as they know you are there, they will play their hearts out to make you proud. However, if you remind them you are there too much, they won't be able to do that.
Always remember, your kid will tune into your voice because you have done your job as a parent very well. Now, do your job as your kids biggest FAN just as well and make their game just as fun for them as you can possibly make it.
If you, as a parent, do not make your kid's game as fun as it can be, you're kid WILL give up. You're kid WILL quit. You're kid WILL feel like a loser. If you're kid doesn't have a lot of fun, they can NEVER reach the point that they love the game. If you do not allow them to reach the point where they love the game, they can NEVER reach the point where they are the best at the sport they can possibly be. Find every way to make your kids game as fun as it can be.
I have been playing for well over 30 years because, when I was a kid, my parents made and kept my games just as fun as they could possibly be. I came to love the game and then I became passionate about it.
Because my parents did that for me, here is what I did for them. I kept playing and now:
I am an ASA men's 'A' division, 1st place, national championship winner.
I was also voted the ASA men's 'A' div Most Valuable Pitcher in the nation.
I am very proud of that. I am even more proud to say that before all of that, I was and I will always be, MY PARENTS' KID.
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The 10 Commandments of Softball
I. Thou shall obey they coach.
II. Thou shall not miss practice.
III. Thou shall not swing with a 3-0 count.
IV. Thou shall steal 2nd base and not get caught.
V. Thou shall not commit error, or else thou shall have to practice harder.
VI. Thou shall hustle to all the bases on any hits, be they short grounders or deep fly balls.
VII. Thou shall not argue with the umpire (even though he knows not what he does).
VIII. Thou shall lay down a sacrifice bunt, if need be, for the good of the team.
IX. Thou shall not let the opponents reach home plate.
X. Thou shall respect thy opponents, but fear them not, for victory shall be yours on game day.
So sayeth the coach!!!!!
