A Stand-Up Double and an RBI

Last night was a big night for Katie. She played her last softball game for this season. I was sad, even though I froze 90% of the time, while watching her games.

Katie really hit the jack-pot this season. Her coaches Lindsey Powell and her dad Rob Powell were amazing. When ever you sign a kid up to play sports, it's a real crap shoot. Will she get a good coach? Will she have fun? Will this be a positive experience? Will the coach yell at her? Side note:This is a question that you usually don't think about. According to my husband playing sports and getting yelled at is part of boys playing sports. I think that's a load of crap, but what do I know? Will she want to do this again?

For Katie she had an amazing coach, she had a blast, it was a positive experience, the coach didn't yell at her (other than to tell her she did something amazing) and yes, she wants to play again. One of the best parts of parenthood is watching your child grow up. Unfortunately, this is also the scariest part of parenthood.

Kate played baseball last year with all the boys and had a good time. She wanted to play baseball again, but Greg and I felt it was time for her to move on. We wanted here to be one of the many (girl playing girls softball) and not one of the few (being one of the 3 girls playing in the baseball league). And luckily, we made a good decision.

She wasn't on the first place team, but her coaches really taught those girls the fundamentals of how to play the game. So many times coaches forget that the ultimate goal is not to be in first place, but the teach these kids the game, and make them lifelong fans, and most important: to let those kids have fun. Katie improved her game, and her confidence.

Her coaches let her pitch she had never done that before, she'd been practicing all season, and they gave her a chance. She still has a way to go, but that helped her confidence so much. I am so proud of her!! I have heard "....that's nice Mom, but Lindsey and Rob said I should...." so many times over the last few weeks I almost went crazy. There was allot of hero worship going on.

Sadly, last night was her last game. She got a stand-up double (which could have been a triple, if she hadn't stopped running for a few seconds between first and second, but who cares?) and an RBI at her last at bat. She played right field, and catcher (which she loves) and had a great game! I'm so proud of her!!! One of my favorite things to do is watch my kids do things they love, and have fun doing it. And this season, thanks to some great coaches, great cheerleaders in the stands (I hope), and a great attitude, I had a great time. In fact, I think the only person who had more fun than me, was Katie. She's already talking about fall ball.

p.s. She was the biggest cheerleader, by leading all those dorky cheers that softball players yell during THE ENTIRE GAME!!!