This has been a softball summer. Usually we try to have balance in our lives, but I over estimated how much time I have on my hands and wound up getting our whole family involved in softball
one way or the other. For example. It all began with one of Kris' professors asking if I wanted to help out his daughter's team. Well, I sent him the information he requested about my softball history, etc, and he forwarded it on to the real coach who asked me to get involved with the Bloomington Lightning Girl's Fastpitch League here in Bloomington. Wow...to make a long story short, I decided to help coach a 6 and under team so Alyson could play for the first time, and then since the league was short coaches, I agreed to head coach a 12 and under team. On top of it all, I continued to play Thursday night softball with my regular women's slow pitch city league team.We found ourselves at one ball field or another atleast 3-4 nights out of the week. When I say we, it was usually Alyson, Kourtney and I all of the days, and Kris atleast 2-3 times a week. Alyson loved playing, and made friends with the other girls quickly. She started off never having caught a ball, hit a ball or thrown too many balls, and wound up being able to hit the ball about every other time it was pitched to her. She began to throw further and harder, and picked up her running speed throughout the season, her arms and legs moving less deliberately and more naturally towards first base. It was awesome to see Alyson's progress.
Coaching 6 year olds was a breeze in comparison to coaching 12
year olds. Ouch...What a tough age to be at. Some of the girls were eager to listen and do as asked, while others formed little circles and tried to chat. I really appreciated the girls who made coaching easier, because it was hard enough making line-ups and deciding what to do for practice, making sure girls were getting equal playing time...etc, etc, etc...all the things you never think about when you are just a player.As the season went on, my 12 year old team began to pull together as a team, and won all their games except two they lost to clearly an excelerated team of fast pitchers and hard hitters. However, when tournament play came around at the end of the season, that team lost to another team that we ended up beating for the championship.
While we were playing the championship game, Alyson's team was playing their "championship game". Okay...so they played the only other 6 and under team in the league, and beat them. Throughout the season they hadn't kept score of these little girl's games, but this time they did. Alyson's team and my 12 year old team was presented with first place trophies.Then this last Saturday my women's team played in the E division and took state. So, wow-what a successful end to our summer softball season. Now fall ball is almost upon us...but I'll be the only one playing this time around!
