by Nanci Arvizu

Created on: April 17, 2008

Girls Fast Pitch Softball

This year will be the last we will see Women's Fast Pitch Softball at the Summer Olympics. As of right now, we are not sure that it will be returned in the future.

What does this say to the young girls playing the sport today?

My daughter has played fast pitch softball since the age of 8. She actually started playing baseball, with the boys, in kindergarten at the age of 5, but because she turned out to be better than them, she was teased about it in school. She decided that she'd rather play with the girls than play with the boys who couldn't accept that a girl could be better than they were.

Since the first time she took the field she wanted to be a pitcher. She started taking lessons and would practice every day. Learning the fast pitch mechanics is not something that can be learned in a couple of weeks. It's not even something that can be perfected within a couple of months. It is a skill that takes years to perfect in order to be consistent.

It took her 3 years to get to the place where she could consistently throw strikes. That year she took her Bobby Sox team to the League Championships and had the time of her life doing it. People at the park, parents and kids alike would stop to watch her practice. She would throw 100 150 pitches a day, 2 or three times a week, and that was outside of practice and games.

By the end of that season she knew that she wanted to take her game to the next level, which is Club Softball. As the new season approached, we posted her information to the ASA board in our area and were able to secure her 7 tryouts with teams in her age group.

Club Softball is a whole other world compared to a Park and Rec. League, Bobby Sox or Little League. Most of the teams were started by dads who felt that their daughter should be the starting pitcher and wasn't being given the chance to show her stuff on another dads team. Every coach that I spoke with, his daughter was the starting pitcher. The assistant coach's daughter was either the second string pitcher or played another infield position.
Another shock to the system was the parents. Instead of being supportive and friendly, most were suspicious and rude. Their concern was that this new kid could take their kids position on the team. I was disappointed in the comments and conversations I heard as my daughter tried out for teams.

After a few try outs, she was done. She picked a team that had just been formed, so there were no "core" or "original" members, and each girl

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>