8yo DD is my youngest girl. She pitched in 8u rec league because few kids had the coordination to do it at all. She did well for that league. Fast-forward to fall when her 8u travel team moved to 10u. She still practices pitching form, etc, but informs me and her coach that she wants to catch.
"Abs, you're not a catcher." <lol>
"Yes I am!"
"But you are long and lean and beautiful..."
"Yep, and a catcher too."
<sigh> "You are a pitcher like your sister and every team needs pitchers."
"Nope, I am a catcher. They need catchers too."
"Yes, they do, but that is the dirtiest, sweatiest, most exhausting position on the field...especially with a 9yo teammate pitching." <go on to explain long innings/walks in the heat>
"I can do it!"
I say 'fine' and think to myself "this should last about 2 innings, or maybe 2 outs." The first game the coach put her behind the plate in some old, stinky, poorly fitted gear and said 'ok...catch.' After 3 innings she looks at me in the stands between innings. A couple of bangs fell in front of her eyes onto her dirty face--she pushes them aside and glues them to the sweat on her temple and motions for me to come over to the chain link.
"I told you. <cocks her head> I am a catcher! Why would I pitch when I was born to catch?"
Inning by inning, she takes to it like a duck to water. Game by game, she sticks it out over a 6 week travel league and is addicted. She got a new glove midway through and has it broken in already. Her 9th birthday is next week and her catcher's gear should be arriving Monday and Tuesday. That will be one happy 9u.
Mom, sisters, brothers, and I are excited just thinking about how thrilled she'll be when she sees her gear. Over the weeks we have all come to realize that she was right. Like some catchers--the ones who aren't 'players who catch', but 'catchers who play'--she seems to be a different animal. She still says she was born to catch very matter of factly as if she didn't really choose it, but she was somehow predisposed to catch. Sounds crazy, but we're all pretty much believing it now.
She's not quite 9. She might hang it up by summer and declare herself a first baseman, but I doubt it. Whatever the case, I'm along for the ride and plan to enjoy every minute of it! Go get 'em, Ab!
"Abs, you're not a catcher." <lol>
"Yes I am!"
"But you are long and lean and beautiful..."
"Yep, and a catcher too."
<sigh> "You are a pitcher like your sister and every team needs pitchers."
"Nope, I am a catcher. They need catchers too."
"Yes, they do, but that is the dirtiest, sweatiest, most exhausting position on the field...especially with a 9yo teammate pitching." <go on to explain long innings/walks in the heat>
"I can do it!"
I say 'fine' and think to myself "this should last about 2 innings, or maybe 2 outs." The first game the coach put her behind the plate in some old, stinky, poorly fitted gear and said 'ok...catch.' After 3 innings she looks at me in the stands between innings. A couple of bangs fell in front of her eyes onto her dirty face--she pushes them aside and glues them to the sweat on her temple and motions for me to come over to the chain link.
"I told you. <cocks her head> I am a catcher! Why would I pitch when I was born to catch?"
Inning by inning, she takes to it like a duck to water. Game by game, she sticks it out over a 6 week travel league and is addicted. She got a new glove midway through and has it broken in already. Her 9th birthday is next week and her catcher's gear should be arriving Monday and Tuesday. That will be one happy 9u.
Mom, sisters, brothers, and I are excited just thinking about how thrilled she'll be when she sees her gear. Over the weeks we have all come to realize that she was right. Like some catchers--the ones who aren't 'players who catch', but 'catchers who play'--she seems to be a different animal. She still says she was born to catch very matter of factly as if she didn't really choose it, but she was somehow predisposed to catch. Sounds crazy, but we're all pretty much believing it now.
She's not quite 9. She might hang it up by summer and declare herself a first baseman, but I doubt it. Whatever the case, I'm along for the ride and plan to enjoy every minute of it! Go get 'em, Ab!
