Monday, June 2, 2008

PLAY BALL!

Okay, this is my first experience of having a child in a team sport. Josh predicts that I'm going to be "one of those Moms", how or why he thinks that, confuses me, cause I have always tried to be on my best behavior in his presence. Surprisingly, he might be onto something. I know I was very aggressive in team sports, during my youth, but I like to think that I'm more mature in my older age. Luckily, to my advantage, there are no umpires in T-Ball...



Why can't I be one of the umbrella holding Moms sitting in the bleachers? Of course not! I have to be "Dug-Out Mom". Not really sure how that happened.



Was I delusional in thinking that these sweet innocent little girls would set calmly in batting order awaiting their turn in the dug-out? What was I thinking? Here I am with 15 girls, trying to organize chaos. They rush in and drop their gloves, anywhere, and go straight for the sunflower seeds. Not all have opted to put their names on the uniform, so I'm trying to figure out Camryn vs Annabelle vs Sweet Pea....who the heck is Sweet Pea? And what were the parents thinking? It is literately impossible to force these batting helmets on over pigtails! Then I have to take my life into my own hands, by sending them out to practice their swing without hitting me, the fence or taking out the returning batter. All of this while I'm holding 5 pairs of sunglasses, hats and visors. Setting on the bench was wishful thinking, let alone keeping them all in the dugout...Good Luck. It seems like they are running in and out at any given time. Surely the parents in the bleachers are watching them...I hope... Then somebody comes to me and has to pee. I look down in despair, and ask, Who are you?... Are you even on this team?... UGH!

During all this, I barely get to watch my little All-Star at bat. Notice her form? She's a natural. She is starting off with a winning number, George Bretts and Albert Puhols, #5! I referred to this as T-Ball, but it is actually coach pitch. They get 6 balls to try to hit, after that it is put on a Tee. I thought that his was going to be like the soccer league I checked into. Practice on Saturdays 30 minutes before the game is played. OH NO! This is practice 2-3 times a week and now 2 games a week. Are we working towards scholarships??? Of course, I didn't figure this out, until after I paid them my money. Oh Well, she is enjoying it and that's all that matters. Right?


She is an aggressive player, she goes after every ball, regardless of where it is on the field. She can usually hit the ball without the Tee, but she forgets that she then has to run the bases, and the order in which to go. Her first attempt at base running, she went to 1st, and kept going past 2nd, to the home plate in the field behind us, then to their 1st, then to a discarded base laying off to the side, back around to our 3rd base before anyone could catch her. To her defense, it's hard to see and hear in those batting helmets. Speaking of which I don't remember helmets and cleats when I played ball! I played for 6 years, only a mere 37 years ago!


As for Dennis, he is the proud father, standing back, as far from the other parents as possible. Then he steps to the dug-out fence and corrects her form and tells her she needs to hustle.



Later, she comes to me and asks, "Mom, is hustle anything like whistle?"
SCHEDULE:
Thu., May 29 6:00 pm OGSA F4
Fri., May 30 6:00 pm LEP F5
Thu., Jun 05 6:00 pm LEP F5
Fri., Jun 06 6:00 pm OGSA F2
Tue., Jun 10 6:00 pm OGSA F7
Fri., Jun 13 6:00 pm OGSA F3
Wed., Jun 18 7:15 pm LEP BD
Fri., Jun 20 6:00 pm OGSA F1
Wed., Jun 25 6:00 pm OGSA F7
Thu., Jun 26 7:15 pm OGSA F2

2 comments:

Colleen said...

I wish I was there to come watch her because nothing cheers me up more than watching preschoolers play t-ball. I never played t-ball, I went straight to little league, and I would have gotten in sooooooooooooo much trouble had I done half the sh$% that Jackson did when he was playing, so I had to keep reminding myself that he is only 3! I am sure my grandpa would have died had he seen it, but lucky for Jackson he was not there!

Kiera looks FANTASTIC out there! Hopefully someone will step up as team mom one of the games so you can enjoy what a great game she is playing!

Karissa said...

OMG! I was laughing SO hard as I was reading this. I can totally see you looking at the poor girl who had to pee and asking if she was on the team. Also, they also didn't have carseats when you were younger, we have come a long way in safety. LOL! Can't wait to see her play on Friday!