Your little softball player.
At one time, she looked cute as a button, dressed in pink with ponytails with visions of Alice in Wonderland. She played with dolls, helped mom bake cookies, and has probably earned a few bucks baby-sitting. She still has all those little girl attributes. The only difference is now she looks cute dressed in tall socks and softball pants. If she is wearing ribbons in her hair, they are team colors. She still bakes cookies… team bake sale. And she has probably earned a few bucks… at the team car wash. She takes pride in how much dirt she can collect every weekend. Go to dinner on a night that she is not playing, it takes an hour of primping to get ready, and she still feels self-conscious. Go to eat after a game and she’ll walk right into a restaurant with a streak of dirt across her forehead, ratted hair, stained shirt, and brownish-white socks in sandals yelling “Let’s 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, if possible. 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 shirt from Nationals that doesn’t have dirt stains. She needs to get an athletic scholarship. Her parents have spent $100,000 on camps, private training, 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 the box 43 feet away from a pitcher throwing pitches at speeds that even baseball players can’t hit. She might be playing first or third base 20 feet from home plate, but she dares 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 girls ability to holler and scream can actually affect roster decisions. She is playing the game 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, going to parties, hanging out with boys. Instead she has a tight schedule with limited free time. When people invite her places, her answer is usually "Sorry I can’t, I have softball.” She hangs out on the practice field with a coach yelling in her face and spends her summers getting baked on a 100 degree field with no shade. She has her priorities in order: Tournaments, League Games, Team Practices, schoolwork, individual practices, batting cages, family, private softball training, church, weights, conditioning, softball camps, boys. Well… maybe church comes before the batting cage. At least on Sundays.
She is diligent and hardworking. 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. And she’s learned many valuable lessons during the course of her softball career, like:
1. You can stay at Holiday Inn for $12/night if you’re willing to go 4 to a room.
2. Hotels don’t monitor pool usage, You can go swimming anytime, whether you’re a registered guest or not.
3. Continental breakfast means: 3 bowls of cereal, bagel, 2 donuts and 4 glasses of OJ.
4. Unlike the geographically challenged, softball girls know how to get from home to every field in a 50 mile radius.
5. Last year’s sunflower seeds that you found in the bottom of your bat bag aren’t too bad if you wash them down with enough Gatorade.
6. Never wash your socks when you’re on a winning streak.
7. Never wash your socks when you’re on a hitting streak.
8. Never wash your socks after you’ve scored the winning run, scored any run, or were close to scoring a run.
9. Never trust a mother who says she won’t wash your lucky socks. She will.
The typical fastpitch softball player 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, the occasional injury, drinking water that people have put their hands in, the bruises, the scars, and the heat. She comes back because softball runs her in veins. She is the rare breed. She is Elite.
At one time, she looked cute as a button, dressed in pink with ponytails with visions of Alice in Wonderland. She played with dolls, helped mom bake cookies, and has probably earned a few bucks baby-sitting. She still has all those little girl attributes. The only difference is now she looks cute dressed in tall socks and softball pants. If she is wearing ribbons in her hair, they are team colors. She still bakes cookies… team bake sale. And she has probably earned a few bucks… at the team car wash. She takes pride in how much dirt she can collect every weekend. Go to dinner on a night that she is not playing, it takes an hour of primping to get ready, and she still feels self-conscious. Go to eat after a game and she’ll walk right into a restaurant with a streak of dirt across her forehead, ratted hair, stained shirt, and brownish-white socks in sandals yelling “Let’s 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, if possible. 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 shirt from Nationals that doesn’t have dirt stains. She needs to get an athletic scholarship. Her parents have spent $100,000 on camps, private training, 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 the box 43 feet away from a pitcher throwing pitches at speeds that even baseball players can’t hit. She might be playing first or third base 20 feet from home plate, but she dares 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 girls ability to holler and scream can actually affect roster decisions. She is playing the game 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, going to parties, hanging out with boys. Instead she has a tight schedule with limited free time. When people invite her places, her answer is usually "Sorry I can’t, I have softball.” She hangs out on the practice field with a coach yelling in her face and spends her summers getting baked on a 100 degree field with no shade. She has her priorities in order: Tournaments, League Games, Team Practices, schoolwork, individual practices, batting cages, family, private softball training, church, weights, conditioning, softball camps, boys. Well… maybe church comes before the batting cage. At least on Sundays.
She is diligent and hardworking. 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. And she’s learned many valuable lessons during the course of her softball career, like:
1. You can stay at Holiday Inn for $12/night if you’re willing to go 4 to a room.
2. Hotels don’t monitor pool usage, You can go swimming anytime, whether you’re a registered guest or not.
3. Continental breakfast means: 3 bowls of cereal, bagel, 2 donuts and 4 glasses of OJ.
4. Unlike the geographically challenged, softball girls know how to get from home to every field in a 50 mile radius.
5. Last year’s sunflower seeds that you found in the bottom of your bat bag aren’t too bad if you wash them down with enough Gatorade.
6. Never wash your socks when you’re on a winning streak.
7. Never wash your socks when you’re on a hitting streak.
8. Never wash your socks after you’ve scored the winning run, scored any run, or were close to scoring a run.
9. Never trust a mother who says she won’t wash your lucky socks. She will.
The typical fastpitch softball player 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, the occasional injury, drinking water that people have put their hands in, the bruises, the scars, and the heat. She comes back because softball runs her in veins. She is the rare breed. She is Elite.
