Sister got into hitting baseballs and playing catch awhile back, so I suggested she sign up to play girls’ softball this spring. She agreed, and I ended up as head coach (!) after two emails that asked for parent volunteers went unanswered. I played growing up including two years in high school—goooo T-birds!—and most of the 3rd and 4th grade girls on this team had played very little if at all, so I figured they probably wouldn’t discover that I only kind of know what I’m doing.
You know how there are people who are natural coaches who relate to kids and easily get their attention and respect? That ain’t me. My voice is shrill and weak, I get flustered when in charge of a group, and it’s sometimes hard for me to hide when I’m annoyed. BUT I am organized and pretty good at letting parents know what’s up, and that’s half the battle. I even arranged for this team picture to be taken after I learned that the league didn’t do that:
Here are some things I’ll remember about our season:
-The girls voted to call the team the Blue Dragons. (Another team we played was on the same wavelength; they were the Amethyst Dragons)
-No one got seriously hurt! This was a concern since most girls couldn’t catch and they hit off a pitching machine that was FAST. We practiced part of the time with “tape balls,” i.e., men’s socks wrapped in duct tape, an idea I got from the Internet
-The girls stepped up to take turns playing catcher and wore all the gear. I didn’t make it an option but was nervous, and some got pinched and bumped but nothing horrible resulted
-Parents were great to help out, and I’m so glad I asked up front for assistance with specific things like scorekeeper, 1st and 3rd base coaches, dugout manager, catcher’s helper, practice assistants, etc. One parent helper proposed that the girls roll the ball to (x) base to make an out instead of throwing it. It looked a bit goofy but was much more effective. Having a snack/treat after the games was also important
-I offered a Jolly Rancher to any girl who could catch a ball for an out. That didn’t happen until our last game when one girl caught a fly ball at 2nd then tagged the base for a double play! She got to take the whole bag of candy home
