We have tried. For years we have tried, but she hasn’t really cared.
She has liked to hang out with her friends and classmates. She has enjoyed screaming the motivational chants. She has really liked going shopping for helmets, gloves, and bats. But when we ask her to play catch, practice hitting, or participate in softball in any manner outside of the formal setting, she has been downright resistant. Last year, she was hesitant to even sign-up.
This year we signed her up without asking. She would later be disappointed to learn that she would have a new coach after the same mother of a classmate had coached her the previous 2 years. She wouldn’t know that many girls on her team because most of her classmates had moved up to the next level. Those girls love softball, play in the spare time, and attend private clinics to refine their skills; Victoria hasn’t practiced enough and doesn’t care enough about softball to do any of those things.
But last week, Victoria came home from her second practice excited! The coaches had learned that, by virtue of being one of the oldest and tallest players on the team, Victoria was one of the only girls who could under-hand toss the ball to home plate from the mound and she was going to be one of the teams pitchers. From that moment, everything has changed.
Victoria is asking to practice every night that the weather is suitable and we are the ones holding her back so that she doesn’t overuse muscles that she has never used. She is getting dressed for practice without prompting. Heck – she was ready (dressed and packed) for practice 15 minutes early this week and reminding Keith that they needed to get moving. This is unheard of. Unprecedented, even. This girl is never early for anything. NEVER.
Yet here she is, early, excited, and (most importantly) happy … and we’re happy for her.