I took my daughter to a camp in Iowa this weekend and as we (just her and I) were driving down the highway I thought to myself, "this is so much more than just softball or the hopes of a college scholarship". It's about spending quality, "one on one" time with my daughter and that's the way it's always been for me. I continue to spend countless hours sitting on a bucket catching her, coaching her, talking to her and most importantly, listening to her. We talk about everything during those times. Schoolwork, her friends, her life.
All those trips to tournaments, camps and practices have always been very good Father/Daughter bonding time and I'll truly miss it when it's gone. Oh, don't get me wrong, we share so much more than softball so when it's over we'll still go fishing, we'll still watch movies, we'll still just hang out but softball has provided us the time and the ability to hang out more often.
It hasn't always been pretty, like the time we were practicing in the tunnel at Blue Springs High School (she was maybe 10?) and a basketball team was practicing down below. Well, her effort wasn't very good that day and I just blew up . I grabbed my bucket and threw it across the tunnel and it slid out the back and slammed up against the wall and I hollered at her to put in more effort! She told me to quiet down because everyone could hear me. I told her, "I don't care who hears me"!! As I picked up my bucket and I turned around I saw her laughing at me. I asked her, "what are you laughing at"? And she said, "Dad, I don't know how to take you, you're funny". We both started laughing and she came over and sat on my knee and I told her, "I've never loved you more than I do right now".
I learned a lot that day. Don't take it so serious, they're not. Have fun with your daughter because they grow up awful fast. Make great memories and as you're driving down the highway and they have their headsets on seemingly not listening to you, just know they really are.
Don't do it for any other reason other than, you just love to hang out with your daughter.
Rod Burghart
All those trips to tournaments, camps and practices have always been very good Father/Daughter bonding time and I'll truly miss it when it's gone. Oh, don't get me wrong, we share so much more than softball so when it's over we'll still go fishing, we'll still watch movies, we'll still just hang out but softball has provided us the time and the ability to hang out more often.
It hasn't always been pretty, like the time we were practicing in the tunnel at Blue Springs High School (she was maybe 10?) and a basketball team was practicing down below. Well, her effort wasn't very good that day and I just blew up . I grabbed my bucket and threw it across the tunnel and it slid out the back and slammed up against the wall and I hollered at her to put in more effort! She told me to quiet down because everyone could hear me. I told her, "I don't care who hears me"!! As I picked up my bucket and I turned around I saw her laughing at me. I asked her, "what are you laughing at"? And she said, "Dad, I don't know how to take you, you're funny". We both started laughing and she came over and sat on my knee and I told her, "I've never loved you more than I do right now".
I learned a lot that day. Don't take it so serious, they're not. Have fun with your daughter because they grow up awful fast. Make great memories and as you're driving down the highway and they have their headsets on seemingly not listening to you, just know they really are.
Don't do it for any other reason other than, you just love to hang out with your daughter.
Rod Burghart