Out Of Her Comfort Zone - Killer Bees

When the time arrived to sign Emily up for Fall Softball, I found myself with a dilemma. We liked the girls Emily had been playing with for the last four to seven seasons, but we also felt like Emily had been at somewhat of a standstill when it came to her progress in the game.

The way the league had been set up in the past there were two age groups. When Emily turned 11 she was supposed to move up to the older age group. I was really excited about her getting to play with older girls who would push her a little bit more. But when it came time to register we found out that they had now divided the league into three age groups. Putting Emily towards the oldest of the middle age group. The last two seasons we had her play in this age group. By the end of the last season I was a little frustrated that it was pretty much the same as playing in the younger age group, with not much development for Emily.

So this season I told Emily that I thought we should bump her up into the next age bracket just to give it a try. We talked about how this move might mean she will not get to play her favorite position as catcher, and she may spend a lot of time in the outfield, but in the end playing with the older girls would help her become a better player. She agreed. So this fall Emily played in the 15 and under league.

When I say 15 that means the girl was 15 as of January first. The fall season being in September meant some of the girls were 16. I took her to her first practice. I was a little intimidated by her new team. Most of the girls on her team were 15 and 16. A couple had played on the school teams, but there were also a couple of girls who had never played before. Her coach asked Emily what positions she likes to play. She told him catcher and 2nd base. So he had her try them out at practice.

After the practice Emily was really excited about playing. I asked her if she felt okay playing with the older girls. She told me it would be fine, and she didn't fell intimidated at all, because she knows what she is doing, and there were a couple of girls at practice who had never played before.

The coach must have liked what he saw in Emily, because she got to play catcher for at least two innings at every game. When she was not playing catcher he rotated her to 2nd base or outfield.



Moving her up to the older group turned out to be just what Emily needed. She really sharpened her skills this season. Her coach was very positive, and also really great at telling Emily how she could improve.
The girls on her team were great too. They made sure Emily felt like part of the team. It was a fun season to watch. We won a few games and lost a few, but the girls were all into playing, and that made the games really fun to watch.

The Ice Dragons

Because of all of the snow storms we have been having, softball season has been a little slow getting started. The clinic has already been rescheduled twice and one game was cancelled due to the fact that the fields were covered in snow. But Tuesday the weather was nice and by Wednesday the fields were playable. So Emily got to play. Her team is light blue this season, so they are calling themselves "The Ice Dragons."

Emily has graduated from the beginner league and is now old enough to play by all of the rules. So this season is going to be a lot more work, and a lot more fun. No more coach pitches. Three strikes, your out!

Emily loves softball and was sooooo ready to play. She was excited to be the first up to bat. I would have been too nervous, but Emily did great and got her first hit of the season.

She also got the first run for her team.

Catcher is Emily's favorite position. She was really happy when the coach put her there to start the game. She does a really good job at it too. I think her coach was pleasantly surprised when she threw the ball all the way to second base.

The other position that she played was second base. Where she picked up a ball and threw it to first to get an out.

My family was in town this week, so Grandma and Grandpa, and a couple of the cousins came to watch the game. The cold wind was blowing in the next snow storm. So it was really cold and by the end of the first inning most of the fan club had moved to the car to watch and keep warm. Emily didn't mind. She was happy to have them there, and they gave her their blankets so she could keep warm in the dugout.

Hopefully the rest of the season is a little warmer, but I am excited to watch Emily play. She loves it, and I love watching her.