I have a daughter that plays high school softball and before you start to call us crazy softball parents, this is why we miss softball so much right now.
A softball team was very likely our daughter's first team of any kind. That's a big deal. My kid was just four when she started playing and it was the first exposure she had to being part of a team. Team sports teaches critical social skills. They learn very quickly what it is like to play together and win together by doing your job and encouraging others. The earlier the better I say and she is still a good teammate to this day.
That first team experience led to other teams and experiences. Our kids were willing to take on other challenges because of their commitment to some softball team early in their lives. My daughter has become a multi-sport athlete since that first softball team. She even spent a year in competitive cheer. There are plenty of benefits of being a multi-sport athlete. Without softball, who knows if she would have seen these benefits.
The parents benefit too by having a growing network of like minded parents. You never loose track of the people you meet, play with or against. You see them again every year whether it is in school ball or travel ball. I was lucky enough to coach for a minute. My network grew tremendously and I met some of the best people I know in softball.
I know us softball parents get a bad rap. We are too competitive and we must have money to burn. But when you share so much of your kid's life with them for so long, you have trouble pulling away. We know that so many opportunities for our daughters sprang from a dirt field. Every game we attend is happening in that moment, but we are very aware of what building blocks were laid each year that put them into that game. When we long for games to start, we know that building of our daughters will continue. Stay strong players and parents, we will play again.
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