I have 2 daughters that grew up playing softball from very young. One of them stopped after a year in 14 and under and the other, has continued on through high school. One of the things that was so aggravating during those years on the recreation teams was the politics involved. My daughters were both good players but never seemed to be picked for any of the All Star teams and when the season started were usually down at the bottom of the list for coaches picks. Not because they weren't good players mind you but because they were not part of the "in crowd." By that I mean that many of the Board members and their girls were friends and they would make sure their girls and their friends were on the same teams. Of course we were not friends with anyone on the board and my girls went to different schools than the other girls so that sort of left them out.
I can remember my youngest ball player waiting anxiously for the phone to ring during the time All Stars to see if someone was going to call her to be on a team. Sadly this didn't happen too often. I think in all her years playing which was almost 9 years, she was picked twice. I hated to see her dissapointment and when she would ask my why, I would always say the same thing. I told her that unfortunatley, things aren't always done on a fair manner and not to worry, in life you want to be recognized for what you do rather than who you know. I tried to explain that it is more important to be picked because you are a great player and deserve to be on a team rather than because you are friends with the coach's daughter or because your parents are friends with the coach. As much as I tried, the dissapointment was still there.
She moved on from recreation ball to high school and tried out for the school softball team. She was excited to make JV her freshman year and 2 games into the season, Varsity needed a couple girls to fill in because their players were finishing up the Soccer CIF's. Alyssa was one of the girls that was picked to fill in on Varsity and the coach must have seen something in her and asked her to stay on for the rest of the season. Wow! She was so excited to be a freshman on a Varsity team. The excitement soon turned to frustration as she was put in the outfield. All through her rec years she pitched and played shortstop. We explained that the difference between an OK player and a great player is what you do with the position you are given. We told her that she needed to take what was given to her and make that the best position she could. In time, she became a good outfielder but with so many girls on the team and her at the bottom of the grid, she wasn't seeing much playing time. She went back and forth from Varsity to JV when needed.
Her sophmore year, once again found her sitting much of the time on the bench due to the fact that other girls were seeing much more playing time. She became frustrated and we encouraged her to talk to the coach to see what she needed to do to get more playing time. He explained that she was a great player she just needed to improve on her batting. She worked and worked and hoped that junior year would bring her more playing time.
This year the girls really worked hard all year to prepare for the season. Alyssa started the season bouncing between left field and short stop. Then, in the middle of the regular season, the pitcher injured her back and was told by the doctor she couldn't participate for the rest of the season. In came the back-up pitcher for a couple games but she couldn't continue due to a neck injury. With no other back-up pitchers, the coach, knowing Alyssa's pitching background in recreation softball, asked her if she could step in. Eagerly, she agreed. Now she hadn't pitched in 2 years and she struggled her first couple games. She quickly got back in the groove and not only finished the season but is now taking us through CIF's. We just finished the CIF Second Round and will go into Quarter Finals on Thursday. She is doing such a fabulous job and I couldn't be prouder of her. She's calm, having fun and doing just what she's always dreamed of doing.
I was sitting and thinking the other day and looking back at everything and then it hit me. The girls that were the "all stars" all those years back, are either not doing much these days or not even playing anymore. Alyssa who wanted so much to be an "all star" back then is now shining brighter than ever and at just the right time. Her dream is to move on to college and play softball and now is the perfect time for her to be recognized for that. This is just another reminder of how God waits for the perfect time to do His wonderful works. We just need to remember that we don't always get what we want when we want it but we Always get what we need when we need it.
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