Often I think about our members kids and keep in contact via pms with many members. WE HAVE SUCH GREAT KIDS! We also, in our small way are caretakers of this great game. We should celebrate that.
In demonstrating how very lucky I am to be blessed with my child, I wanted to share a story. We have always stressed the importance of team over individual. We have always stressed that personal stats make one miserable and so, play for the enjoyment of the game. We have always stressed that if a player has special gifts on the field, they should be humble and realize that the team behind them is what makes those gifts standout. Many of you know I have a daughter and no sons. She is a competitor and does well at softball. She is also "injury prone" and has endured several injuries this year. Two weekends ago, she pitched the championship game of a 24 team tournament and was injured in the final inning. While the team won, she was hurt and so, unable to play these past few weeks. She has a possible torn rotator cuff in her non-throwing shoulder. Her trainer gave her permission (also Doctor's care) to play in the state tournament BUT she was not to bat and was not to pitch.
Long story short, we were getting hammered as our pitching wore out. These tournament games were all back to back. We were in a tight game and our pitcher was struggling. She is tough as nails but very tired. BB asked me if I didn't preach team before individual. I do. The next thing I know, my daughter is running down the sideline throwing. I went to the head coach and asked him what was going on. BB had said, it time to put the team before me. I can pitch this game and if it hurts too bad, take me out. She went further to say that she couldn't let her teammate continue knowing how hard it is to pitch all of those games. As a parent I was both scared and yet, I know my child. If she says she can do it, she can. She threw 2 innings before she had to come out. She had 3 ks in those two innings and shut the other team down. When she was taken out, we were putting ice on and she told the coach that she was ready to start our next game if he needed it. As you might already suspect, she didn't pitch again in the tournament.
I'll be the first to say that I don't think my child is special. You see, I think we all notice that same competitive spirit in our kids. That is why we're on a site such as this. Our kids inspire us to want to do more for them, learn as much as we can about the game, and then use this site as a tool to enable them to continue playing after HS. When each of you are watching your kids play this weekend or the coming weeks, enjoy that moment. Celebrate the ability to get to watch them play and forego all of the other "rumblings" that are so often associated with the games. This weekend, I saw some very special girls play in a tournament and while they didn't win the tournament, they won in so many other ways.
Take care,
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