Lesson Number 2

Leadership. This a word that is heard all around in sports. It is the word you hear when your coach says someone needs to step and be a leader. In sports having a leader is an important key to all sports, ecpescillay softball. The reason that it is so important is because if you do not have a leader on the softball field usually every thing goes wrong and nothing can ever turn out right. Learning leadership takes a lot. First you have to find a good person that will influence you in a positive way. Secondly to be a leader you have the skills to stand out from the crowd. I learned leadership the last year in majors. I had a perfect window for what you need to learn leadership a perfect role model and the skills to be a great leader.

 That year in majors I did not know what my team was going to be or if we were going to even have enough to make a team. Those were the two things that worried me the most. If we did not have a team what was I going to do with myself for the whole time frame of softball. Thank the heavens that we had a enough to have a softball team. I was so excited. I was the oldest the one who got to show the younger ones what to do and how to act. This year we had a new coach and I was super excited because it was my role model in softball, Jordan. Jordan was an amazing softball player who got to experience winning state titles and regional titles in softball, and to put the icing on the cake got to go to college to play softball. I was excited I could hardly wait to practice and play for her. Little did I know that Jordan was going to teach me a lesson that would advance me for the  rest of my life. We had only a few days of practice before our first game. I really wanted to play short stop because that is usually where the all the balls are hit and you do the most. The first game I did not get to play short stop but I did get to play first and I was okay with that. The game started off slow with not a lot of action, but when things began to start going that did not stop. I was not living up to my expectations. I was not being loud and conducting my team on what to do. When all of the sudden my coach yelled " Savanna this is your team lead them." Once I heard that I stepped up and did my role as the oldest be a leader.

That day softball taught me being a leader means stepping out of your comfort zone and being who you want to be. Out of the lessons softball has taught me this the lesson that took me the longest to learn. Once I learned it though, it helped me become the person that I am today.

Lesson Number 1

Have you ever just thought to yourself how did I get myself into this? Now usually this is a question you ask yourself when you are in trouble or having difficulties, but not me. I ask this question when ever I am thinking really hard about something or want to know how did this happen. Recently I have been thinking about this for softball. What got me started was it my choice or something I was forced into? Well as far as I know it was my choice and I am really happy that I made it.

I started playing softball when I was in second grade, after the two long years of t-ball, and let me tell you when I first started it was not exactly my second sense. It took me a couple years before I actually got good at softball. The only way that I learned was through my dad. I am the oldest out of my family , so I did not have any big bothers or sisters to watch play this sport. I had to learn on my own. If you have ever had to learn on your own you know that it is not the easiest thing to do. It takes time, dedication, and the number one key patience. For the people that know me, I do not exactly have patience. That's probably why it took me so long to learn and not beat myself up when I  messed up. That was the first lesson that softball taught me was to be patient. It was probably a good thing that I learned this lesson with softball, otherwise I would not be playing today.

 For those of you who play softball or even baseball know that not having this important skill you probably will not get through the game.  I am going to start talking about what lessons softball has taught me and in what ways.

Once and a Life Chance

Since I started playing softball, I had always dreamed about being able to go on past state softball to regionals or the world series. I finally got to live that dream in the summer of 2011. This was an experience that I had wanted to take on and was a goal. When we went to Burlington, I felt a special feeling that I had never felt before, with my team. The feeling you get when you do something good and feel all tingly. That was the feeling I felt. I knew we were going to go far I just did not know how far. When we won state that year in softball I felt like I was on top of the world. I was so excited I even cried. I knew that moving on to Regionals was a big deal and just wanted to go even farther. Though we did not make it past regionals I got to make awesome memories and become even closer with my friends.

Something I Want to Do

Ever since I was a little kid playing softball, I admired my coaches. I thought to myself you know how awesome it would be to be able to be in charge and show someone how to play softball. It became my goal to be a role modle so that one day I would be able to coach kids that love softball to. I began to count the years of how long it was before I could drive myself, and how long it would be before I was in high school so I could coach. I guess what I am getting at is that I want to be a coach some day. A coach that inspires kids to become coaches in the game that they love to.

                               

Not Knowing Something till its Gone

This summer when I broke my jaw I really did not know how much I loved softball till I could not play it. I was so upset because I was planning on playing with my all-star team, with hopes of moving on to the regional level, but instead I got to be a home eating blended up food! Yuck! I was so bummed out because I could not do anything. Not even able to go outside and dribble a basketball. You never know when you are going to have to sit out of something, or never be able to do it again. So my advice would be always live to your fullest because you never know when your last day of doing something is going to be.

Favorite Place to Be

Favorite Place to Be

Sand engraving into the fibers of your socks

Hot beating sun leaving a red tint to the fair skin 

Fresh cut green grass fills the air

 

The ring of the bat echoing through the town

Misting sprays hit your neck, sending a spiral of chills down your body

The snap of the glove as the pitcher cracks a fast ball to the catcher

 

The hot summer nights, where the bugs fly high into the lights

Where you find a home away from home

The softball field

 

It is the place I love to be

Where I feel like no one is judging me for what I love

It is just me.

 

 



Develop Your Skills

http://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/technical-and-tactical-skill-development-essential-for-softball-success
I like this website, because it not only gives you details on what you need to have for softball, but ways to execute the game easier. It gives good ways to improve the skill of your game. I also like this website  because it breaks down the sport. This would be a good website if you want to make yourself a better softball player or start to make yourself better for this summer.

What Softball Means to Me

Softball a word you hear in the summer around those die hard softball players. I am one of those players. The one that start practicing for the game when spring finally comes around. The ones that spend those hot summer nights playing until the ball becomes an invisible ghost. The tournaments that take up more than half of your summer, but are well worth it in the future. It is meeting friends that you will get to be with for the rest of your life. The excitement that overcomes you when you put those brand new steel cleats; on your feet. Getting to share the awesome experiences of winning a state title or going all the way to nationals. I love this sport and this is what it means to me. Softball is my everything! It is my love and my passion.

Fear Never Crossed My Mind

When you love something usally you do not have any fear towards what you love, or at least that is what I thought. When I had my softball accident this summer I never thought that I would be so scared to play the sport that I love, but that fear was the hardest thing to get over. Every time I ran the bases I always thought what if a ball comes out of no where and breaks my jaw again, or what if when I am bunting the ball it comes back into my helment and breaks my jaw. Even though there was a one and a million chances of having it happen again, I still thought that it would happen. It took me over two months before I felt confident in myself that I was not going to get hit with the ball again . Once I got over the fear of  by getting hit by that ball, I knew that this experince would make me a better softball player over all. Even if I went through the fear of breaking my jaw again.