My Mama Told Me...

You'd better shop around!
Audrea played in the same summer rec league for about three years, maybe four. We had coaches that didn't know what they were doing and umpires who knew even less. We had girls who were late to practice, that is if they showed, and girls who thought they were too good to drill...and because we were a rec league, we really had no recourse as coaches according to the pretty much non-existent board of directors. But we stayed because we didn't know any better and as long as I was able to coach, at least I could control her playing experience a little bit.
Then came the year my youngest, Olivia, was finally old enough to play tee-ball. Audrea had moved up to the 16 & Unders and although I knew it would be a challenge, I enlisted the help of my sister, and signed up to coach both girls.
Funny thing is, I never got the call from the league for the 16 & Under team. The tee-ball commissioner called and gave me my info, but nothing from the other age group. So at the coaches meeting, I asked if I had been over-looked somehow.
I was told, "No. We have all the coaches we need for that age group." Wow.
"OK," I said, "She's on the border, so what if I keep her down a bracket?"
"No, I think we're good there too. We don't need any help." OH MY.
At that point, the coach for Audrea's travel team walked by, over-heard the conversation and shook his head. He leaned over and said, "She's beyond this league anyway. Don't have her do both, this league will hold her back. She's playing for me and that's good enough."
So, I told the commissioner to remove Audrea's name from the player list. We were done. The only reason I allowed my little one to play out the season is because it was too late to sign up in any other league.

~*~*~HOLD UP....WHERE'S MY SOAP BOX?~*~*~

That happened to be the same year I was working in middle school, volunteering with middle schoolers at my church, and by this time, had coached middle schoolers for a few years...needless to say I'd been around them enough to know that they need all of the positive influence and guidance they can get. There is no way this league had "enough" people to fill all of the spots needed for middle schoolers. Give me a freakin' break. I'm not that stupid!

So there were a couple of complaints/incidences my last year coaching Audrea. They were silly mix ups. See we have 4 middle schools in our tiny town. I worked at Middle School "A" and Audrea played for them, the summer league practiced at Middle School "B", and one day a girl whose father I knew showed up at practice in her PE shorts from Middle School "C". So I jokingly told her she couldn't wear those shorts to practice. The father was standing there and laughed but that didn't stop the comment from getting back to me at work and to the board as a complaint. Then when my daughter and some of her friends showed up for games having not changed out of their uniforms from Middle School "A" yet, I was told they were intentionally intimidating the other teams. Again...Give me a freakin' break! Stupid people make stupid comments which lead to stupid decisions and game playing and yes I am speaking to the Board of that league.

~*~*~*SOAP BOX GONE*~*~*~

The next year, Olivia played for the local baseball league. Not much better organized, but at least we got a parade at the beginning of the season. Oh wait, this isn't a beauty pageant! NEXT!!!

I should mention, it was somewhere in our decision to leave the local summer "rec" league that I earned the title "Stage Mom of Sports." I was lovingly told that I am like a stage mom, because I am always jockeying around behind the scenes trying to get my girls in the spot light. Personally I think I just do what I need to do to ensure the most positive playing experience.

That brings us to the league my little one currently plays with, it's an official Little League club. Little League as in The Little League World Series on ESPN; Little League as in The Little League Hall of Fame in South Williamsport, Penn.; Little League as in founded in 1938. Yeah, that Little League!

So I heard about it through a friend whose brother in law is on the board for the baseball division and who had told her they were starting a softball division. Do you remember those Mervyn's commercials? The ones with the woman standing at the window waiting for the store to open with all it's great prices? The one where she says, "Open, Open, Open."? How about this? Have you ever seen a dog learning how to jump to fetch a treat from his master's hand? He's so excited he usually pees himself before he can jump. Cross those two and you have me when I heard about a BRAND NEW SOFTBALL LEAGUE starting up...and one that is a division of Little League no less!!! To say I was excited and eager would be understatements!

So that's where we are today, about half way through our first season with Little League Softball, the only Softball division of Little League for hours, and we are loving it! Yes there are a lot of rules to follow and "I"s to dot and "T"s to cross, but it's supportive, competitive, the umps know their stuff (despite their very young ages), the board members are readily available to help, and most importantly, the girls are having fun and learning to love the game.

We were told today that if this league is to move forward they will need people to step up and help on the Board. I could hardly wait to get home and sign up!

There's no Crying in Baseball...or Softball for that matter!

During Audrea's second or third year of summer league softball, she had one of those defining moments that a mother and her child never forget. I was coaching the team, made up of her and two of her best friends, along with a handful of other girls. We were having a decent season and the girls were getting to the point where they could definately make some progress. They were at the age that starts to separate the serious athletes from the weekend players. Audrea wanted to be a serious athlete.
To that effect, she had been working hard on her batting all spring and summer long and had seen limited success. She got up to bat and of course, the bases were loaded. I was coaching First Base and her best friend's mom was coaching Third. I don't even remember where the ball was hit to and really, that's not the point here. She took First with a vengence, rounded Second, and headed to Third. Christy, the third base coach, told her to stop on Third, but she wanted that Grand Slam. She wanted to make the serious athlete status. She was within 5 feet of the plate when the ball came flying in from the Shortstop. She saw it in her periphial vision and afraid to slide, she was tagged out at home.
OH NO! She came storming into the dug-out, pushing the teammates that had come out to congratulate her, threw her helmet down and tried to sit in the deepest corner.
"OUT!," I yelled, "Don't you dare come in here with that attitude. Go for a walk and cool off."
She looked up at me shocked.
"But Mom! I almost had the Grand Slam!," she cried.
"I don't care. You lost it because you didn't slide. That isn't my problem and I don't have time for your attitude. Get out and come back when you can control your temper."
She stormed out and was on the neighboring field when our team headed back out to the field.

FAST FORWARD 8 YEARS...

My little one, Olivia, has finally, in her third season, started to show some instict for the game. We've started league shopping and this year we've ended up in a neighboring town which has just recreated a Little League Softball organization. (More on the league shopping later). I am once again coaching along with two other adults and now Audrea is to the point where she has the ability to be a base coach.

Olivia has been practicing her batting daily and is finally starting to really keep her eye the ball during her swing. And so, with runners on third and second, she hits it out to left field. Her best hit to date! She too rounds first and heads to second where she slows down and looks to her sister for guidance. By the time, Audrea throws up her hands with the signal to run, Olivia has stopped completely at second. Not quite understanding whether her sisters wave means to "go" or "stay," she hesitates just a second or two. By the time, she realizes she is supposed to run, it's too late. The third baseman gets the ball and at about this time, Audrea starts to yell "Back! Back! Back!"

Although this is Olivia's third year playing, she is only 7 and doesn't even know the term "pickle" much less how to get out of one. So she runs right into the third baseman and is called out. All this time, the crowd had been cheering for her and when she was called out the crowd fell, as did her spirits and her big beautiful brown eyes. She jogged off the field and when she reached second, she looked up and me, slowed down to a walk and let the tears fall.

"Oh no, Baby! You did a great job! You had a great hit. Your best ever! I am so proud of you!"

It didn't matter. She was so upset. She slowly came off the field, tears falling and into my arms. I tried to tell her she had done a good job and that I was proud of her and none of that mattered. Lucky for me, her papa was close by and he took her and consoled her a bit. Next time the girls were on the field, I had a converstation with Audrea in the dug-out.

"Kinda like that time you lost your grand slam, huh kid?"

"Mom, we're not going to discuss that, ok?"

"My point is this, you learned how to slide after that, right? Think your sister will understand the signs now?"

"Yeah, Mom. I think she's got it now."

"Good. Lesson learned."

Her next turn at bat, Olivia hit a line drive right past the pitcher and through the second baseman. She got a single and 2 RBIs off that hit. That's my girl!
We won that game: 17-6. But it wasn't the score that mattered. What I realized later after all the equipment was packed up and put away was this: Olivia cried because Olivia cared. A few months ago, despite two previous years of playing, she couldn't swing the bat to save her life. Last week, she showed an abilty to hit and more important, she showed a heart for the game.