Girls Select Fastpitch Softball

I have two daughters, ages 15 and 17, who play select fastpitch softball.This time of year they play "fall ball" and travel to several out of town tournaments for college exposure, meaning college coaches come to watch them play and recruit for their college teams. We live in the Seattle area and the girls will travel to Texas, Florida, and California this fall to play. My older daughter has been invited to visit a college and she leaves next week. I hope things go well. They have offered a good package - between her academics and athletics about 90% paid!

This year both my girls are playing on the same select team - it's the same team my youngest daughter has played on since she was 9. My older daughter joined the team this fall which makes it very exciting as I never have to miss one of their games!

While my older daughter will be visiting her potential college, my younger daughter and I will do a local tournament - about a 2 hour drive.

Both the girls are also cheerleaders for their high school so they are having a lot of together time this year. And of course, they will both play for their high school softball team too.

We play in all sorts of weather - we'll be heading to central Washington this weekend so I'm hoping the weather will be a little warm. We have played in 40 degree and 100 degree weather! We'll play three games and turn around and come home - a long day. I have written a Squidoo lens about Packing for a Day at the Field - take a look - through experience, I've learned what you'll need to keep warm, stay cool, and be nourished during a long day at the field.

Stay tuned!

As I mentioned, we've played softball in all temperatures.

A few years ago we played and the only thing I remember is the weather - probably the only thing most of us will remember. I know we still talk about it several years later! With the wind chill factor, it was in the 20's! You could stand up holding a blanket against you and let go. The wind was so fierce it kept the blanket pinned to your body.

As my daughter wrote in a school paper, "The bad thing about the game was the weather. The temperature was below freezing and the wind was almost unbearable. I can't really explain how I felt. All I know is that it was the coldest weather I had ever played in. We came out with the win which was good but by then it didn't really matter."

That about sums it up! As someone who has sat, and is willing to sit through some pretty miserable weather, all I wanted to do was leave. It was no fun. And this was with plenty of clothes on and a blanket! The poor girls.

Now on the other hand, the weekend before, I got a sunburn! Really! A sun burn, not a wind burn. It was in the high seventies and it was gorgeous! the perfect softball weather. The next day we had typical northwest weather so of course by this weekend, the little bit of color I got on my arms will have dissipated! Such is softball life.

People in California would think we were nuts, I'm sure, as we in the Seattle area play in the rain! One day we played and the night before there was 2 to 8 inches of snow in the area. You see, if you don't play, the tournament directors don't get their money, so it's play ball at nearly all costs, and temperatures!

We live in Kirkland, a suburb of Seattle. Each year we host the girls Junior World Series. Both my girls have had the opportunity to play in this exciting event. Normally to play in the World Series, you must win Districts, State, and Nationals. But because we are the host, all we needed to do was win Districts. Quite the shortcut for the host team.

Both my daughters' Little League teams experienced a high level of success, as they both won State as 9 and 10 year olds. My older daughter was one game away from going to the World Series one year - so disappointing to miss going by one loss!

Anyway, select softball is fun, but there's something extra special about playing Little League and going to the playoffs. There's lots of hoopla, and TV coverage. There's never that kind of recognition at the select level unless you make it to Nationals, which both of my daughters have had the good fortune to attend - my youngest daughter was only 9 when she went to Tennessee to play in the 10U Nationals. My older daughter played in Oklahoma at the 16U level as well as in Indiana.

We've done a lot of traveling to play softball. The girls have seen places they never would have if they didn't play, so if your daughter is just starting t-ball, you soon may be on to places you never dreamed visiting!