Well I probably watched my DD's last fastpitch softball game last night. She graduated this year from HS and is not playing college ball, unless she hates not playing and tries to walk on. Last night the local Community College held their annual Senior All Star game, all the local HSs nominate seniors to play in the game and my dd was chosen to play. Sort of an odd game it's 9 innings in order to get all the girls in and typically the pitchers pitch 3 innings each. My dd pitched 2 innings of no hit ball, her team was the visitors and we lost so she didn't get her last inning. Oddly the team was short catchers so she got to catch an inning, she was hoping for more as she really enjoys catching and its something she hasn't done in a couple of years.
This isn't going to become a brag thread, its more of a cautionary tale to other parents. Enjoy it while you can. Don't let your DD's softball career end and your memories be filled with team and parental drama. Relax, when your dd is 8 and she is playing right field, its not the end of the world. When your DD is 11 and she gets bumped from pitching, but ends up catching instead. If thats not what you want, grin and bear it. If its not what she wants then move on the next year to a team she can pitch for(she probably earned her spot out of the rotation) but relax a little in the meantime. If you don't like some of the other parents, be the adult and figure out how to make it work... Because the end of your dd's softball career is coming soon, (a lot sooner then you think)and you will want to look back on memories that make you happy, not ones that make you upset. Your dd should look back on the teammates and the friendships, not the number of games that suzy pitched in front of her, you should prepare yourself for the same eventuality. I had a year or two of drama in 10u and my DD made it clear to me that she enjoyed the team she was on and did not want to change, I had to figure out how to make it so that I could enjoy myself and she could play with the girls she wanted to. As it turned out some of the parents who incited the most drama figured it out and became great parental teammates and some that I really liked when their dds were 9, weren't around at the end.
Enjoy the ride, take a lot of pictures and brag your rear off because your dd is great and she deserves to know that her parents think so. Oh and especially you pitcher parents, don't just take pictures of her pitching (so you can point out the ball position at 3, 6 and 9) but take photos of them hanging out in the dugout, under the pop up between games, during warmups when they are laughing amongst themselves, when you create your senior yearbook ad you will want to have at least one of those to put in there... Just remember to tell her how much you enjoy watching her play, and don't rehash errors in the car on the way home. If you have a hard time making that drama go away just remember to follow the 3 Ls (one of the things I learned here) Leftfield, Lawnchair, Lemonade (with vodka if necessary).
There she is 8 years old, front and center playing in one of the first tourneys with her 10u team. I have a bunch of pictures from the years of her pitching and playing, but this is the picture she posted on facebook when she played her last regular season HS game.
This isn't going to become a brag thread, its more of a cautionary tale to other parents. Enjoy it while you can. Don't let your DD's softball career end and your memories be filled with team and parental drama. Relax, when your dd is 8 and she is playing right field, its not the end of the world. When your DD is 11 and she gets bumped from pitching, but ends up catching instead. If thats not what you want, grin and bear it. If its not what she wants then move on the next year to a team she can pitch for(she probably earned her spot out of the rotation) but relax a little in the meantime. If you don't like some of the other parents, be the adult and figure out how to make it work... Because the end of your dd's softball career is coming soon, (a lot sooner then you think)and you will want to look back on memories that make you happy, not ones that make you upset. Your dd should look back on the teammates and the friendships, not the number of games that suzy pitched in front of her, you should prepare yourself for the same eventuality. I had a year or two of drama in 10u and my DD made it clear to me that she enjoyed the team she was on and did not want to change, I had to figure out how to make it so that I could enjoy myself and she could play with the girls she wanted to. As it turned out some of the parents who incited the most drama figured it out and became great parental teammates and some that I really liked when their dds were 9, weren't around at the end.
Enjoy the ride, take a lot of pictures and brag your rear off because your dd is great and she deserves to know that her parents think so. Oh and especially you pitcher parents, don't just take pictures of her pitching (so you can point out the ball position at 3, 6 and 9) but take photos of them hanging out in the dugout, under the pop up between games, during warmups when they are laughing amongst themselves, when you create your senior yearbook ad you will want to have at least one of those to put in there... Just remember to tell her how much you enjoy watching her play, and don't rehash errors in the car on the way home. If you have a hard time making that drama go away just remember to follow the 3 Ls (one of the things I learned here) Leftfield, Lawnchair, Lemonade (with vodka if necessary).
There she is 8 years old, front and center playing in one of the first tourneys with her 10u team. I have a bunch of pictures from the years of her pitching and playing, but this is the picture she posted on facebook when she played her last regular season HS game.
