The Little League Coach

Girls Must Be Social

I have often wondered why my softball teams would play so well when I had them dead to rights before the game would start. They would chitty-chatty during the entire warm up session, and then, when it came time to play, they got down to business. Then when we were strict from the beginning, they would not perform. This video provides some insight into the reason.

My favorite quote from the video: “Boys must play well to feel good, girls must feel good to play well.”

That is brilliant!

Anyway, enjoy.

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General
Fastpitch, game, girls, Leagues, social, softball, Sports, Teams, United States
5 January 2009 comment [1] TrackBack-URI

I Think I Like Softball Better Than Baseball Now

Today we had our most challenging softball game. We are a team of 13 year olds with only 2 x 16 year olds playing in an interleague softball division that considers the senior division 13-16. It is a challenge at times, but most teams are young like us so we do OK.

Tonight we played a very experienced and aggressive team and we hung with them. I am proud of our girls. We were down 9-7 going into the last inning, very exciting. We bunted, ran, stole, they bunted, ran, stole, it was fantastic. A real softball game.

I told someone during the game that when all my kids get older, if I still want to coach, I am going to coach the senior softball division. It is the funnest division of all. Watching the College Softball World Series and Olympic games I have actually fallen in love with the game. This is unusual for me. I don’t usually care for women’s sports. Nothing personal, but women’s basketball is not very exciting and other than the olympics, I rarely watch women compete at all.

Softball is different. I think because there is no other game like it. Sure, it’s based on the same principles as baseball, but it has little in common. It has taken me years to learn this game and every day I figure out how much I don’t know about it. All I know is I love it. It is fast paced and furious and before you know it, you can be down 4 runs or up 4, in the blink of an eye.

Every play is close and every strategy exciting. Aggression is the name of the game until the other team proves they can stop you. It is really fun to watch. Heck, we ended up losing the game by 8 runs but the girls had more fun than during the games we won.

My only problem with softball is a dominant pitcher can completely overpower another team. I don’t know what the solution for this is, but I do know at the most elite level it takes away from the very thing that makes the game so great. If the ball is not being put into play, the game is boring. But when teams are hitting, running, bunting, and slapping, it is a fantastic spectacle to behold.

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General
College and University, College softball, Fastpitch, fun, Jennie Finch, Olympic Games, softball, speed, Sport, world series
21 October 2008 comment TrackBack-URI

Broke Rule #1

Image by alandberning via Flickr

The softball Gods really don’t appreciate you breaking their rules and they almost always make you pay dearly when you do! Rule #1 of tournament play, you can’t play tomorrow, if you don’t win today, so you can’t save anything for tomorrow!

I tried to make sure all my pitchers were ready for tomorrow’s game. Guess what?! I will be watching tomorrow’s game from the sidelines. I tried to out-smart the softball Gods, and they made me pay dearly. I deserve every bit of it as well. Our #1 was on fire, she was happy, and would have dominated.

I bow to the power of the softball gods and hope that I never cross them again! Hopefully, they will not hold a long term grudge against me!

What is the stupidest coaching decision you have ever made?

Game Results, General
Fastpitch, gods, Pitcher, rules, softball, softball gods, Sports, Teams, Win
29 June 2008 comment TrackBack-URI

Softball Or Baseball?

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

OK, so I watched pretty much all of the Softball College World Series . It was very exciting! Now I am watching the Baseball College World Series. Seems a little slow? These games are longer than pro games!

I think that I have finally found a sport where the girls can actually compete for eyeballs. Women’s basketball is like watching boys High School ball. Soccer is OK, but it is still soccer, same w/ tennis, the women are more fun to watch, but it is still tennis. I even watch women’s olympic hockey! Not even close to the men. But softball ?

I think the fact that softball is such a different game makes it more enjoyable. It’s faster, every play is close, and there is no room for error. They even have a 10 second pitch rule that they enforce!

What do you think? What women’s sports are worthy of national network coverage?

General
baseball, College and University, College World Series, Fastpitch, NCAA Division III, softball, Sports, Women's sports
8 June 2008 comment TrackBack-URI