I played softball for years, seven years to be exact. I loved it, I thought I was going to stick with it and continue it all through college. Boy was I wrong. Growing up, I played lots of sports. I wanted to try them all out to find one that I liked. I tried softball, volleyball, cheerleading, soccer, basketball, dance, and field hockey. I would try them out, love some and hate others, but it was all about the experiences I gained along the way.

Softball was my go-to all the time. It was a stress reliever for me. I played for three different teams and I loved every one of them. When i played slow-pitch I was a catcher and pitcher, and when I played fast-pitch I played third base and shortstop. Some would consider me to be an infield all-arounder, I tried it all.

Let's back it up a little though, when I was younger, I only started playing softball because my best friend's parents were the coaches and I felt obligated to. I honestly didn't want to play, my mom thought it would be cool for me to be able to play with my best friend. She wanted me to get social and meet new friends. I'm glad she did sign me up though, because if she didn't, I might not have met some of the amazing friends I have in my life now.

Softball was my first true love. I would go to practice three days a week, come home and practice some more, and go to the batting cages whenever I had the chance. I even tried to get my mom to buy me an at-home batting cage so I could practice without having to leave the house, that didn't work. Apparently, batting cages aren't as cheap as I thought they would be. My whole life revolved around softball, I loved it so much. My life motto was eat, sleep, softball.

My mom signed me up for dance at a very young age, two if we're being exact. I loved it from the start. That's where half of my attention went while the other half was towards softball. I would wake up, go to school, go to dance, go to softball practice, go back to dance afterwards, go home, eat and shower, then go to bed and wake up the next day doing the same routine. I did that for several years before I finally realized I couldn't do it anymore because it was taking over my life. I had to do something about it.

I sat for several days trying to figure out what I was going to do about this whole "I'm too busy to do everything" problem. No matter how bad I tried to avoid it, I knew I was going to have to quit one for a while, either dance or softball. The thought of it made me sick to my stomach. How was I supposed to quit one of my two true loves just to make more time in my life? After a while of thinking, I finally made the decision. Without thinking of my future, I decided to quit softball. I didn't even think about the fact that I could have improved and have potentially gotten an athletic scholarship for college to play D3 or D1. Don't get me wrong now, I love dance and still do to this very day, but I miss softball more than anything.

Playing softball was one of the greatest decisions I've ever made. It taught me so many skills that I still use to this day and will forever like teamwork and problem-solving. I thank all my coaches and teammates I had every chance I get for all the great memories and times we had together on and off the field. Some may consider softball to be the greatest women's sport of all time, I of course have to agree with that. It may not have sparkled, but let me tell you, I guarded that diamond with my life. I lived in the infield pretty much. To this day I still play softball for fun whenever I get the chance.

I'm in college now and you know I brought my catching glove and batting gloves with me so I would be prepared. One of my favorite things to do on campus is get a small group together and throw the ball around on the quad. It brings back so many memories from when I played. All the plays I made and the two home runs I had. Lets say I was a better fielder than batter. I tried, that's all that mattered. From the long practices in the rain, to the whole team sitting around the pitchers plate learning chants and cheers for games, to long tournaments at LC Bird Sports Park, softball was the greatest. There's 4 bases, 3 outs, 2 teams, and 1 winner in the greatest sport out there.