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| Megan's 1st Softball Practice. Ever. |
I started Madison in rag ball
before she was ready for it. She cried in the dugout and was too scared to go
out onto the field. I remember my friend, Jessy, having to lead her out by the
hand and stand by her until she was comfortable. I was so eager for my kids to
begin enjoying youth sports that it never occurred to me that she might not
enjoy it at 4 years old. Lesson learned. My perspective had changed
dramatically by this summer as I considered when to start our third kid as
opposed to our first. We did not sign Megan up to play at the YMCA when she was
4, and we did not have her play for Atlanta when she was 5, either. The
logistics of getting her to 3:00 practices along with our day jobs before she
was in school just didn’t work for our family. We considered waiting one more
year, foregoing tee ball altogether, and starting her the next year in coach
pitch softball. I won’t try to lie here, the concept of
juggling three kids in sports with our work, garden, animals, and hay fields
seemed pretty daunting.
But something else that changes
dramatically between child #1 and child #3 is that child #3 has been to LOTS of
ball games--thanks to her older siblings and cousins. She has heard what coaches say about how to
swing a bat and she will shout it out to players if she sees something they should
do differently. She already knows the rules and which way to run to get to
first. She pays attention to the score board, celebrating a win and shaking her
head at a loss and she WANTS this. She wants to play and have practices of her
very own. She wants to tote around her own bat bag and helmet and have a blue
shirt with her own number on it. She is ready.
What I can say about my youngest
child when it comes to softball is this: She is ALL IN. She swings the bat as
hard as she can. She runs as fast as she can. She chases the ball wherever it
may go. In her first at bat in her first game ever, she got a double. I looked
up from where I was coaching at first base to remind her to watch her third
base coach to know when to run, but she was not on second base. She was about
ten feet towards third with an awesome lead off, looking to steal. I had to let
her know that sadly, she had to stay on her base until the ball was hit again
by one of her teammates. That not only could we not lead off, but we could not
steal yet, either. She rolled her eyes and asked, “Why can’t we just take a few
steps off the bag?”
A couple of games into the
season, she was playing center field when there was a runner on third base. The
ball was hit to her. She got it and ran that base runner down before he made it
from third to home to tag him out. She said she didn’t want him to make a point
even if they don’t keep score yet.
I know that maybe there is a good
chance that her competitive nature is a little over the top. I know how irritated
she was about how they did not keep score during her first season, and I watch
how she crosses her arms or stands with her hands on her hips when her siblings
do not have the lead in their games. I think she kind of tends to give her opponents a little bit of stink eye when they get on base, but I have to say that sports also light
her up and she has a blast out there. And I love to watch her play.
About midway through the season, I
was standing out in the field with her team to help instruct the players on where
to go with the ball. I was about fifteen feet away from Megan when the last batter
came up to bat. When the last batter is at the plate, the play is at home, and
all of the runners advance until a fielder steps on home plate with the ball. Megan
asked (loud enough for the other team’s coach to overhear, of course), “Hey,
Mom, if he hits it to me, do I touch home plate or knock him down?” The other
coach busted out laughing as I just looked her with my mouth open. I couldn’t
even deny that I was this little girl’s coach…and her mother for that matter! The
little boy in question hit the ball, luckily NOT to my daughter, and after the
game we had a long talk about tagging a base runner versus “knocking him down.”
I cannot wait to see what season
two will bring.
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