Watching Fast Pitch Makes Me FEEL…..

Amidst the drama and struggles that come along with fast pitch, it is often easy to forget just how blessed we are!

It’s not every parent that gets to spend most weekends WITH their daughters, taking part in watching them do what they love. Watching them literally grow up right before their eyes, from teeny tiny tots who pick weeds in the outfield and throw rocks in the infield, to poised and confident young ladies with bright futures ahead of them, poised and brave and confident.

We are certainly the lucky ones.

As you sit on the bleachers and look to the field, life becomes like  a slideshow of all the days before, and all the days to come – spent on the softball field. Each of us can literally see and feel how much our daughters have grown inside and out and just how fast time passes.

We are lucky, because softball and our daughters enable us to take a comfortable seat on the sidelines of their lives, watching-loving them-sharing with them.

In a world that is filled with too much social media, and too many virtual distractions – our daughters get to spend at least a few days each week living childhood the way it was intended. With friends. Outdoors. With parents near-by. With joy in their hearts. With passion. With laughter. With the freedom to grow and mature at their own pace and still be kids all at the same time.  

Along this ride, us – the parents – are truly only passengers, as our daughters learn to take the wheel. Eventually they become tall enough to reach the gas pedals and confident enough to steer on their own. And if we are truly lucky even when they can drive all by themselves, they still ask us to come along. Because although childhood is fleeting, parenthood is forever! 

See, fastpitch softball today isn’t just teaching them how to hit a ball, or field a grounder. It’s about teaching them how to live, how to trust in themselves and in others, about showing them how self confidence is earned and how hard work and morality pays off. The lessons they are learning now on the field , whether painful or joyful – are all preparing them for their futures. And when they look back, they will see that we were right there with them the entire time!

And the feelings that we have as parents, ranging from down right mad and frustrated to overflowing with joy and love are all just a by product of the love we all have for our daughters. When you take a moment to realize that every parent on the field, whether experiencing anger, frustration, engaging in drama, complaining, crying or laughing is coming from the same place of LOVE….that you feel for your own daughter, it is easier to forgive and not hold onto anything negative.

A few weeks ago, we asked our fans on Facebook to tell us how they felt watching their daughters play. And the fans answered! There were over 600 comments – each of them trying to describe how watching their daughters play made them feel.

And of all those, the two most common answers were simply, BLESSED & PROUD! It was used over and over again. BLESSED. PROUD! How blessed and proud are we? We simply this of you. The next time you feel overwhelmed with any drama that may be going on in your fastpitch circle – take breathe and just remember how insanely BLESSED and PROUD you are!

Today, we release the shirt the fans wrote! In one day at the ballpark, chances are you, and the parent next to you, and the parent on the other team, and the coach who just lost a game, and the players in the field – are feeling at least one of these powerful emotions at any given time. Maybe you feel 5 or 6 of them at once.

The important thing to remember is that above all things….WE ARE BLESSED!