I am so proud of my softball team! We placed first place in the league and ended the year end tournament with a bronze medal!

He said

Softball has always been a bit of an interesting card in Emelia’s portfolio. It was a never a sport that had tether in either of Danielle or my life so when she first came home talking about maybe playing it, it came out of no where for us. But, then again, I guess you could say the exact same thing about Gymnastics, Cheer, Rugby and Wrestling as Danielle and I never did any of those sports either. But, Softball was one born out of friends who were doing it so she thought she might want to, too. First it was the twins and not long after Emelia had started up they moved onto other passions like hockey, leaving Emelia at it on her own. Oddly enough, when it became her own thing, she kept at it and found her own space in it.

Every year when registration came up we’d wait with bated breath to see if was going to continue on. And every year with some hesitation and uncertainty she would sign up but not be certain if she was fully committed. Some years she would bitch about practice and games and as her social calendar picked and how it interfered with her life. But every year as the season moved on and she became better and better with the skills, she would become more enamoured with the sport and by the time the season ending playoffs rolled around you could actually sense that she was going to miss her teammates and the weekly obligation the sport brought to her life. And slowly this has become a sport, like all the others, that she does for herself, by herself. But no mistake, she has made some very important friendships, just like those others, because of this sport, all on her own.

This year was what felt like a bit of a special one, as like Cheer, she is getting close to the age of aging out. So, we started the season with the feeling of soaking as much in as we could as it might be her last. But, something special happened along the way—she started to actually really come into her own. She was catching pop flies in the outfield on crucial plays. She was getting at-bats where she was making hits and bringing home runners. And she was using her rugby skills to charge the plate to score a run like she was getting a try on the rugby pitch diving over the catcher who “had it coming cause they were blocking the plate”. It has been a real joy to watch her find her comfort in skill this season and more importantly to watch her find joy in showing up and being there for her teammates this season–some of them having been with her for all fours seasons she played.

So, when this weekend’s season-ending playoffs came up, it was all a bit bittersweet. But, we were happy, in terms of same way we saw her graduate from high school in June to move on to bigger and better things, to see this one through. They led into the end of the season on a ten game bender having not lost a game. This was good enough to secure for them the league championship in their division. And to start the playoffs yesterday, they continued their winning streak, winning all three games yesterday despite it being a very long day of three games, almost back-to-back, in the insane heat, only to have one game come up this morning and catch them completely exhausted and off guard. They lost that one in uncharacteristic fashion. But. They found a way to wash that off and come back later this afternoon with a come from behind win, and ended it out with a win, with an impressive grand slam to seal the deal and win the bronze.

It was an absolute delight to watch as parents, especially considering the camaraderie and support they had for each other. They lost as a team. But, more importantly, they also won as a team. Bronze and third was not how they wanted the playoffs to go, but they knew they gave it their all and for each other, and that was enough. But the true measure of the season was as we walked away from it all, contemplating if it was really over, and asking Emelia if it was for her, and she said basically that she’s not ruling it out, that like last year it will come down to what she decides about Cheer. And that is all that you can ask for with sport and activities, is that it gives them enough value and reward that they can see themselves coming back.

She said

Sports is the one place where Emelia has always found her people and peace. And softball has not been different. She started 4 years ago because her friends begged her to join her, as the years went on Emelia stayed in softball long after the friends that wanted her to join had quit. She found her new people and some of the best champions in her corner have come through sports, especially softball. Emelia joined this year as the least experienced player on her team, the girls she played with all grew up together and have all played together for years. So Emelia felt unsure that coming back was the right choice, but within a few weeks all these girls who she had some on her team last year really came together, gave Emelia so many tips and tricks and built her confidence. By early July Emelia had really come into her own. Suddenly softball wasn’t a chore it was a joy for her and she looked forward to every game. This past season she really committed to coming back because one of her best friends Cheyenne and she were going to play together before Cheyenne moves away for college. So having this last summer together meant the world to each of the girls.

The season was a bit of a dream, long gone was Emelia on teams that were the underdogs, she was on one of the strongest teams in the league and she was making her own mark on the team. The girls ended the regular season as the champs of the league and were going into the year end tourmemnt on a strong winning streak, even winning the last game of the season agaisnt the one team Emelia had never beat in her 4 years in softball. The season flew by and before we knew it we were coming into the year end tornament. The girls had a very early start on Saturday and have 3 games on Saturday in relentless heat. The whole region is under a severe heat warning and we went from a very wet spring to a very dry last few weeks. The grass was very dry, the heat was brutal and the girls were feeling it. By the third game in the day with little break from the sun the girls were starting to drop. A few girls were pulled out and needing to be cooled off. I think it was the brutal heat the drove them to come from behind in the third game so they didn’t have to play a fourth game to determine their seeding for Sunday. We left the diamond late into the day and I got Emelia home, she was burnt, exhausted and feeling sick from the heat. She came home and instantly crashed for a few hours. She woke, grabbed a shower and then was back out until morning.

Today was another scorcher, we came with more supplies and with a bit of a later start the girls got to sleep in a bit today. By the time their first game started the temp with the humidex was hitting 40 degrees. The girls were just not into it, they were still feeling the effects of Saturday and after a few misses in the early game the wheels came off, the girls were making mistakes they normally never make, they could not make the right plays and the game got away from them. At some point all the girls and the parents wanted was for the game to end so we could get them out of the heat and get them hydrated and cooled off. At first they were mad at themselves but in their normal practice this group bonded, they came together and by the time they were on the diamond for the last game they were back. They made some crazy plays finishing the game with a grand slam home-run that put the game out of reach for the other team and they came out with bronze in an incredibly tough division. The girls were full of smiles, happy tears and loving life. As parents we could not have been prouder of the girls, how the held their head high all weekend, even when the one game didn’t go their way they stayed strong together and came out on top with their heads held up high! So proud of these girls.