My daughter's best friend plays softball, and my daughter has decided that now she wants to actually play and be serious about it. So yesterday I bought her a glove and some softballs to start working with her, I will admit, I am super excited about it. The fact that I have a new hip enhances my excitement because I'll be able to finally practice, and really teach her. I've always told both of my kids that it didn't matter what sport they played, I would support them, even though I secretly wished they would play baseball or softball. The very first sports they played though, was what I wanted them to play, because I wanted them to try it out. They didn’t like it, so I didn’t force it, I let them try several different sports until they found what really interested them, my son is football and track and my daughter, well, lol, she's too much like my youngest brother and isn't competitive and only plays for fun (drives me nuts! Play to have fun AND compete! Lol); but she is finally leaning towards volleyball and now softball along with it. Fine by me, either way, as long as she sticks to one of them, she also wants to play the violin… hmmm
So today, the girls asked me to go outside and teach them some things, so I went on a hunt and found my softball glove; I must add that I didn't find it when I first looked so I had to go outside without it. When we all came back inside, I spent almost an hour re-threading it and re-fitting it to my hand. Then, and only true ball players will understand, I covered my face with it and inhaled deeply; and it took me back. I will say at this point, both girls looked at me like I had two heads lol. The feel of the soft, hard leather, the cracks in the laces, the feel of my hand inside the glove, the roughness of it, and the smell, dear lord the smell of leather. Softball for me, was life, it was like breathing. I worked hard, every year, it's all I ever wanted to do. When I got to High School, I was a walk on freshmen on our Varsity team and All American three years in a row and my senior year I was nominated for the DIV I scholarship; I didn’t get it because with 2 innings left in the game, I was covering 3rd base and while I was reaching towards home (yes I was blocking the base) for the ball from the catcher, the runner slid into my ankle and it was sandwiched between her foot and the base and it broke. It ended my season, and I lost my scholarship, but; I didn’t let it hold me back. The second my cast came off; I was back at it practicing and I made my college team as a starter. That was the last year I played Softball, now that I think about it. I miss it terribly.
I'm hoping that sometime this weekend maybe I can take the girls to the school and use the softball field, and put my cleats on, I may need to step up my game on getting back into shape after surgery, lol; I need to be able to keep up with these youngins! I also need to check and see if my NCAA coaching and umpiring certificate is still valid, it might be worth it to get it current.
"A League of their Own" has got to be the greatest movie of all time for me, as far as a movie about sports. For me, it feels like home, every time I watch it. It resonates with me in ways I can't fully explain, but those who love the sport as much as I do, completely understand. The best way I can describe what softball and that movie is to me, is by this quote:
“Baseball is what gets inside you. It’s what lights you up. You can't deny that." "It just got too hard." "It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.” (Tom Hanks, A League of Their Own)
Also
"There's no crying in baseball!"
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