Travel softball is one of the best things to ever come into my life. The summers that have been spent on the field are some of the best memories of my life. Playing travel ball for almost nine years helps you learn quite a few things.
- Never make any plans for the weekends. Weekends are spent at tournaments. You are at the field at 7 a.m. and probably will not be able to go home or get back to the hotel until 5 p.m., and by then you are so dead from playing three to four games you just want to take a cold shower and head straight to bed. This can suck sometimes because you might miss a party, but you can never get back time on the field. Once you walk off for the last time, you are done. Parties will always come and go. Weekends are for softball and traveling.
- Always buy a tournament t-shirt. When you are heading into your last year and you look through your old shirts and find the one from your first ever tournament, the waterworks will begin. These t-shirts are like memories. They can be good or bad depending on how the tournament went for your team and how you played. Make sure you get your shirt first thing because you do not want to be left with an XL when you are heading home Sunday.
- Keep a roll of toilet paper in the car. I really cannot stress this one enough. When Sunday night comes and your team is still playing for the championship, the port-a-potty or even the regular bathroom is sure to be out of toilet paper. There is nothing worse than sprinting to the bathroom in between innings and finding that there is no toilet paper.
- Act respectful toward the game, umpires and coaches. “Come on blue!” is beyond perfect to say when the umpire rings you up on a pitch that bounces in, but you throwing a fit is not going to get you anything but tossed. I have had my fair share of yelling at the umpires and getting pissed off, but that’s ended up getting me nowhere but the bench. Let the coaches handle it because they are there to get tossed. It is their job to stand up for you and if you have an amazing coach, they will defend you until they are blue in the face.
- Play hard at all times because you never know who could be watching. Coaches talk, and if you want to possibly play ball in college, you have to go all out every game. Sure you may not want to go to the school that is watching you play right now, but if you suck and have a bad attitude, you can almost guarantee that the school that you do want to go to will hear about your actions.
- Do not take any time on the field for granted. You never know when your last time on the field may be. An injury can happen on any play and it may just be severe enough to take you out for good. Play every game like it might be your last. You never know when your last game might be. Go hard 24/7 or do not even bother showing up at the field.
Love the game. Travel ball is such a great experience. Learn from it because there are so many lessons from it that you will be able to carry on with you for the rest of your life.
