Softball Gameday

Safety First | fastpitch softball

At Softball is For Girls, February is slotted for health and wellness. We will be bringing you important information about how to keep our young players healthy, in body, mind and spirit all month-long. And of course, we cannot begin to talk about wellness without talking about safety. Fastpitch, is not called FAST pitch, simply…

Lessons From the Bench!

The bench. The pine. That little aluminum seat inside the dugout where you can often find downtrodden girls (and aggravated parents) who dream of being on the brick-dust and often start to feel ‘less than adept’ because they sit there so often. Parents hate the bench. And so do most kids. If you are on…

Safety, Softball & Facemasks

We get lots of face-mask questions. Should my daughter wear a mask? Do outfielders really need a face-mask to play in the outfield? Do college coaches look down on those that wear face-masks? My daughter is not comfortable wearing a face-mask, but her coach thinks she should? My daughter is only 8 and the balls aren’t hit very…

10 Ways to Ensure Your Best Softball Players Will QUIT

Team jumping. It’s common. And many people think it’s a problem. Truth is, for coaches and parents – when you field a team of 10-11 girls, you depend upon ALL of them to remain true to their commitment to the team. Sometimes however, things happen. The grass may look greener on the other side of…

Tips for Coaching YOUNG Softball TEAMS

It won’t be long, and the cool chilly mornings will give way to lovely, breezy afternoons. As Rec departments and travel leagues across the country look forward to the upcoming thaw, there are tons of NEW coaches, and NEW players looking to tackle the brick-dust for the first time. Most often, a coach is born…

SIFG and ALLTEAMZ – Helping Players and Teams Connect

Every Sunday, we do a Sunday shuffle post, offering players looking for teams and teams looking for players and opportunity to connect with one another. One of the most common questions we get via private message and email asks us for help to connect players and teams. It is a firm belief of ours that…

It’s Softball, It’s NOT Personal

Today, fast-pitch travel softball has reached far and wide. Millions of girls play, there are millions of teams, coaches, parents, fans, umpires, organizations and venues that cater to this sport we all know and love. It has become very competitive, which is a GOOD thing for our daughters. With better competition – they are enabled…

One Coach, Two Coach, Three Coach Four

In recent weeks, we have had several fan questions in regard to coaching. Many players, especially as they get into middle and high schools have one, two or even three different coaches. They play for a travel team for most of the year and then are merged together on a school, or even an elite…

The Human Side of Girls Softball

A few days ago, we had a coach write in to us, torn about the fact that one of his players failed a drug test at her school and was removed from the softball team. Should he do the same thing, and remove this girl – one who had been playing with him for three…

Watered Down Fastpitch

There’s no doubt that all of the rule changes in college and professional sports have definitely watered down the game. And as fastpitch softball becomes more prevalent and popular, slowly but surely making its way eastward from the West Coast, the rules and regulations are certain to be next up for scrutiny. (In many places,…

You Know Your Daughter Plays Softball WHEN…..

In some ways, its funny – just how much us softball parents/grandparents/coaches and fans are alike. And most of us probably have a love-hate relationship with the game of softball – even though we love it much more than we hate it. The thing is, that our daughters cannot pursue this passion on their own,…

Taking a Break from Fastpitch

It’s December, and for many of us – this means that weather and cooler temperatures put a damper on our fastpitch fun. As teams, we end up scrambling for indoor facilities to use (which are both expensive and booked solid), and as players and parents – we finally get the breathing room it takes to…

Tips for Fastpitch Catchers

There is a very unique set of girls that play fastpitch who are willing (and excited) to sit at the receiving end of a softball being hurled at them at impressive speeds while wearing 10 pounds of extra gear and squatting in what looks like THE most uncomfortable position. Fastpitch catchers are special indeed. Today, we pay homage! The…

Fastpitch Injuries – Keeping Our Daughters Safe

Every day, we hear about another softball player injured. Nearly every one of us has witnessed at least once, a girl being carried off the field, or ambulanced away from a game due to an injury. And if you have ever witnessed the harsh realities of blood and trauma that occurs when a player is…

9 Tips for Being a GREAT Softball TEAMMATE

We at SIFG, believe that softball is perhaps the perfect combination of a team and an individual sport. As an individual, you make plays on defense and are completely left to your own abilities when at the plate. But as a team, combining the skills of each individual, is how you actually make things happen. …