Ever since I was 4 years old, softball was my sport. I grew up in the mecca of softball. Southern California breeds softball players and the girls end up being the best of the best and going off to college at the big schools to continue with the sport they excel at. Although I did not continue my softball career in college, I do owe the sport and thank it for many things.
Thank you softball for the calloused hands, the broken bats, the hundreds of dollars spent, the long weekends out in the sun, the days spent driving to Hemet, Calif., and the insane farmers tans. After 14 years of the sport, at the age of 18, I feel like I am in the body of a 60-year-old. Thank you, softball.
Towards the end of my softball career, I started to become very unhappy with the sport. I had no social life, I was yelled at all the time at practice, and no matter what team I was on, I was not happy. I forgot why I began the sport when I was young and why I kept playing.
Quitting softball was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made. Although I say I quit softball, I didn't really. I fell out of love with the sport but I was not able to let go all of the way. I quit travel ball after my junior year in high school but continued playing high school with my best friends and I am even playing club softball in college. Quitting travel ball was the best decision for me.
Because I played my senior year, I was able to focus on having fun. Finishing my senior year with the girls I had grown up playing the sport with made me happy. I remembered why I played the sport and why I had put so much effort into it. Even though I rode the bench the whole year, it was the happiest I had been with the sport in years.
Softball was more than a sport to me. Softball was a lifestyle. The 6 a.m. practices, the long weekends in tournaments, and the 20 or so hours of practice a week were all worth it. Softball was worth it to me. It gave me lifelong friendships, amazing coaches and mentors and the strength to push myself. I am more mentally tough because of the screaming coaches and the intense game situations. I have the confidence to do anything and I owe it to softball.
So, softball, thank you. Thank you for the friends, the amazing families I met, the coaches, the second family, and finally, for the memories, I will forever cherish.