Little Sports Days

The memories of playing sports has been with me and stuck with me. I started playing tball with my brother and then went on to slow pitch softball. Fast pitch was not a thing for girls yet, at least not like it is now. I started playing softball and was a catcher. I loved it and thrived playing softball. I made friends and it felt like I found my space.

I remember doing travel ball and making all stars. My mom was at every game and sacrificed so much for me to play softball. I didn’t ever feel pressured, it was just a geniune love for the game. I had coaches I loved and coaches that weren’t so great.

One coach I had was Ms. Beth and she made such a impact on my life, she probably has no clue. She was fantastic and when I found out later in life that she passed from cancer, I was sad. It is strange how grief works. You lose touch with people in your life all the time, but when something happens to them, it feels like yesterday they were in your life helping you feel like you are the best player in the county.

The town I was in was small. I mentioned this in previous post. Word gets around when you are good at a sport. People know you and people compete with you. I felt like I was one of the best. (This could had been in my head). I remember in 8th or 9th grade another catcher came about. She had been playing baseball her whole life. She knocked my confidence down. She was good and better than me. I accepted that but it was hard.

Growing up with a population so small you think you are the best, until you get into the big world and it humbles you. Has this ever happened to you? Have you thought you were so good at something and then somebody comes along and takes that from you? Are you ok from that? Would you handle it differently?