Girls Softball By The Book, From The Heart
Their kind of activity is everywhere. They invade our parks. Groups of them show up on school grounds previously deserted for the summer. They carry bags of “stuff.” Each comes armed with weapons of choice.
The dress code is specific. Warily, one group sizes up another.
Gangs and drugs? No, girls’ softball.
The weapons are bats, balls and gloves. Here in the Valley, it’s called the Spokane Valley Girls’ Softball Association. It’s volunteer-powered, parent-participating, sponsor-proud activity.
It involves 94 teams of girls from 8 to 16 (close to 1,100 participants this year). Accolades don’t happen only on the field, and they don’t involve only the champs. The superior athlete and the girl just trying this sport on are equally respected.
In a town that has had one fine, athletic young lady peppered with shotgun fire this summer by the random act of another teen, a softball league like this deserves double and triple attention by our media, not to mention by our community as a whole.
My daughter turned 13 this summer, and I find it scary that the time of truly being a carefree child has grown shorter. Here, at least, is an oasis where stereotypical thinking about body shape gets hit into the outfield. This game belongs to any girl who’s willing to work at it, and some of those you might least expect to excel at it become most valuable players.
We’ve seen Willie Mays-style catches in the outfield, one-armed, airborne, snags in the infield, and home runs that were poetry. And, some of those were made by the other team. We still oohed and aahed.
This is a community of support for both teams. The girls enter the field with containers of ice water, clean uniforms and a glint in their eyes. They leave the field dirty, disheveled and tired. Win or lose, they plan sleep-overs, swimming parties and try to get their parents to stop off for pizza on the way home.
What do they gain from all this? Our kids need a village of support. This softball community is just such a village.
There are authority figures: coaches, and umpires. When you’re out at second base, you’re out. You learn to accept the decision gracefully.
These athletes are expected to behave by a certain code of conduct, including shirttails tucked in on the playing field, no thrown bats, and no profanity. It goes without saying that drugs and alcohol have no place here.
Parents, too, are expected to conform to these rules. Razzing the umpire or the other team can lose the game for your daughter’s team. Out or safe, substitute or starter, these girls are cheered by all for their effort on the field.
My husband and I have been involved in organizing our team, coaching, sponsoring and scorekeeping. And we are the peons of volunteer involvement. Volunteers from the organization can be found preparing fields as early as 6:30 a.m. on tournament days. Team rostering, organizing the umpires, scheduling the games, organizing the bags of equipment, ordering uniforms, assigning coaches, keeping track of wins and losses - all of these are just the visible goings on of dedicated individuals who donate their time and energy to making this league so much fun.
This is a village that feels small and friendly, despite its size and the size of the growing community it serves. As you look across the playing fields, you recognize people from your bank, your grocery store and your doctor’s office.
Girls quickly discover that the opposite team consists of friends from school or the neighborhood. They gather afterward, a mix of teams, to giggle and confer.
It’s true that we need a village to raise our kids. We probably need a village more now than we ever did in the past. Families don’t always stay together. Childhood is shorter and life is faster and more complicated than at any other time in history.
If parents will look around them in this community, they’ll find that village in all kinds of places, including a softball field.
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The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = By Angela Allen Special to Roundtable