Highlighter yellow with firetruck red stitches looping diagonally on both sides. It measures to 12 inches in circumference and as opposed to its name, it’s not very soft at all. I’ve had many bruises that have proved so: many on my shin from where groundballs hit (sometimes I can still feel a slight indentation on my tibia), getting hit on my upper arms and sides when I got hit with a pitch, and I’ve even encountered a bloody nose or two when the ball came into contact with it. I only have one softball left from when I played. It’s dirty; the yellow has faded from the wear and tear over the years. There are smidges of brown from the field and one of the stitches has come loose. For thirteen years, softball was my life; when I was 18, I decided to stop playing. Most of my gear has been given away since I no longer have use for it. And yet somehow this softball has stood the test of time and sits in my closet, untouched. It was my favorite one; the one I used to practice with whenever I played catch with my mom in …show more content…
My mom had convinced me by saying that my grandma “would have wanted me to do it.” She had passed away the year before. I was apprehensive about playing in a harder, competitive league. I made the youngest team; most of the girls were in the 7th grade. The man in charge of Chi-Town, Coach Mike, had once told me “Cassie Shanks, now that is a softball name.” I wasn’t exactly sure what he meant by it, but I took it as a compliment. Chi-Town kicked my butt in the beginning. They taught me how to throw and catch correctly (both hands!), how to turn my body to catch a fly ball, how to pick up a grounder and immediately turn to my side in order to throw it. They taught me discipline and how to work hard to get the results I wanted. It was like what Tom always told me, “practice doesn’t make perfect, it makes
The first team I ever played for was Tobers Party Store. For some kids growing up, baseball was just another way to pass time during the summer, away from the grind of public school. For me it was everything. From the moment my eyes snapped open in the morning, until the time I slipped away to sleep, I had baseball on my mind. I loved to play baseball, watch baseball, and talk baseball. Nothing else mattered. Eating and sleeping were just "necessary evils" that took precious time away from my hobby. I anxiously awaited the day when I would be drafted into the professional ranks after a successful college career. Bubbling with excitement, I would explain my inevitable career path to anyone who would listen. Of course, the responses were less than empowering. "Do you know how good you have to be?", and the tried and true " Go to college and get a real job", were two of the more popular sentiments that the "opposition" hurled at me. Naturally, in my 10 year old mind, I knew they were delusional and I would prove them wrong.
Though the practices performed within softball literacy do not immediately seem as if they should be considered a literacy practice, according to two of the six propositions about the nature of literacy, it is. Not only does it involve the physical performance from a play, but also includes formal writings, new rules and regulations, and offer different rules in different countries. I think softball should be counted as a literacy practice because it appeals to Barton and Hamilton’s propositions and includes artifacts that make it a community and artifacts that provide the players with essential people skills.
I have played softball for four years, Softball has always come to me naturally. It was my third year playing when I moved to Friendswood, I was new to everything. During this year I met a girl named Shaye Brockwell. She was really nice to me and we hung out many times. Then her dad started coaching and I got on their team the next year and everything changed.
The weight and size of a softball impacts the players not only mentally, but physically. The round yellow ball with red seams is 12 inches in circumference with a diameter of 3.8 inches. It is hard to grip. A softball weighs about seven ounces. Carrying a softball is like carrying a grapefruit. Players could get seriously hurt if the ball hits their
It was the beginning of a new softball season, and I couldn't wait to get out there with my team. At our first practice I remember feeling back at home on the field. Just when I thought this was going to be our teams best season, my parents moved me to a private school. Leaving what I was familiar with was not an easy task, and deciding if I would continue my passion of softball with a different team was even more difficult.
Of all sports that I have seen I can say with all confidence I never thought softball would be my sport.When I first thought about playing softball I thought I could never do it. Then as I finally agreed to play softball I was completely petrified. I got on the field and the first thing I did was mess up and I messed up bad. I barely could catch a ball here I was standing there watching everyone play like pros. When I got up to bat I hit the ball but the bat vibrated down and swole up my thumb. I was completely embarrassed and immediately was out cause I was too busy freaking out.
I have played softball ever since the tee ball days. It has been a sport that I have grown to love and couldn’t imagine not playing. The way I have grown up playing softball has changed tremendously from the time it was 1st created in 1887 on Thanksgiving Day. The first time this game was even thought of was when a group of excited men threw a boxing glove to another man who swung a broom trying to hit the boxing glove, like a bat hitting a ball. This group of men, who were all apart of the Farragut boat club, decided they would turn this into a game of their own and softball was born. Although the name softball was not finally decided on until 1926. It was first called indoor baseball. Kitten baseball, or pumpkin ball. Softball didn't grow rapidly until 1933 a softball tournament was set up at the world fair. There were 55 teams in the invent and over 350,000 watching. The game of softball went crazy. Not just in the U.S., but all around the world.
I tried out and made my highschool team. While playing on my highschool team I joined a travel team for the Brooklyn Cyclones while still playing for my church’s high school team. My passion for softball could not be taken away from me. Even when I failed, I did not give up on my dream. Giving up on my dream of being successful in softball would be equivalent to letting down my past self who was just a little girl who fell in love with softball. Playing softball was my parents way of wearing me out, but it was my way of getting away from the problems of the real world and into a world of my own. Between two white chalk lines nothing else mattered, but playing the game I fell in love with when I was only ten years old. On the field, I was able to feel pure bliss. Playing softball for seven years has not only given me joy, but it has also taught me life skills that I use from day to day. I learned to work as a team to achieve a common goal, to communicate with others better, I have learned to cherish my wins while accepting my losses and I have learned no matter what happens in life, you always have to put your heart and soul into everything you
As the clock struck 3:15 we began warming and limbering our muscles. I stretched my legs as far as they would go to the side and reached for the grass. I ran my fingers through the grass and counted along with the team. I felt my legs slowly begin to loosen with each stretch and sprint that we did. Following our series of warm-ups we began playing catch Pop! The sound of a ball hitting leather filled the outfield. As our coaches approached the throwing stopped and the field returned to silence, the buzz of anticipation in the air. Coach McGownd and our assistant Lori gave us a run-down of the practice plan, which included infield-outfield (IO), hitting drills, fielding drills and various base running drills. As he spoke, a few of the upperclassmen whispered back and forth amongst themselves. I caught bits and pieces of phrases like “come on it’s just the first day” and “how about no”. I stood drinking in every word and ignoring their muttered curses. I had never played softball and was determined to learn as much as I possibly could about the game. Coach McGownd asked us to go to a position we thought we might want to play. I ventured across the field and stood by first base. My parents and a few of my friends had told me that I would make a good first baseman so that seemed like the best choice to me. I had no clue how to actually play the position. My emotions ran amuck, ultimately stopping at optimistic.
For many of those athletes who lace up their cleats, pull on a glove, and slide through dirt each year, softball has become more than a sport but a way of life, each one of them knowing that “When you step on the field, nothing else matters.” It’s not just the sport, it’s the way to go.
Some people believe that softball is just the femal version of baseball. This is not true. Although baseball and softball have many similarities, such as the feild and overall concept, they have many differences too. For example the pitching form. These next few paragraphs will outline some of the similarities and differences between the two sports.
Softball has always been a huge part of my life, but once I got to high school I was not sure it was what I wanted to do any longer. After being forced into trying out, I made the team but little did I know that would change
It happened during a warm night in volonia about to play a game . I was warming up in the outfield and I was warming up with a 12 oz baseball. Why was I warming up with a 12 oz base ball I don’t know? Ok back to the story. So me and another fellow teammate was throwing around a 12 oz baseball and when he threw it into my glove WHACK!! It hit me in the face and I was out cold for about ten seconds then my coach shook and almost had a heart attack. Everyone was freaking out because where the ball hit me it was a little close to my temple. So got up and me and my mom got in my truck and we went to conway to a hospital. When we got there I was hurting and a hour later i'm in the
As a kid growing up I sparkled at the chance to shine in any sport. I particularly loved playing baseball and being known for making a great play of getting a big hit that turns the tides of the game. Every chance I would get to do something spectacular I would jump at the opportunity. I wanted so badly to be the one who was up to bat with two outs at the bottom of the last inning with winning runners on base. I seen those as golden opportunities and found them to be the most defining points of my baseball career growing up. I would have to say I didn’t like the outcome if it did not go in my favor. On one day during the prime of my baseball years I did what I had always wanted too, and that was to hit a walk off to win the game.
Softball was my main sport, but I did everything else until it was time to play softball. I fell in love with softball at an early age. I would play every summer or I was asked to play which helped me travel all over the place and meet new friends. Each year I played my love for the sport grew more and more. I played on multiple teams throughout the summer. Playing with one of my teams I gained the advantage to visit Santé Fe, New Mexico two years in a row to play softball. When I reached 8th grade I was excited about playing for the high school softball team until I figured out how it really was. Although I was not happy about having to sit on the bench, but I understood that I had to earn the privilege to play, and that the upperclassman were more seasoned.