I love the smell of Agrilime in the morning.

[KitchenWitch]

It was opening day for my daughter's softball league. Agrilime is the dirt used on baseball and softball fields, for those that do not know. My daughter is on a 6U team (meaning the team is made up of girls six years old and under). They bat off a tee, they all play in the field, no score is kept, and each girl comes up to bat every inning. Chaos is the order of the day out there.

The coach asked me to be the bench coach, so I am in charge of getting the girls up in the batting order and handing out helmets. At this age, it is quite the feat. They only had time to play two innings today, and I was exhausted by the time it was all over. They all looked so cute in their brand new uniforms.

My daughter had a blast. She told me already that she wants to play next year.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear KitchenWitch!

I wondered how her first day went!

That is outstanding!

Sounds like the kind of game I would have enjoyed, if it had been played when I was that age!

Good for her.....and you, for helping!

[kath]

2. Well, you guys sure had better softball weather today than we did here in OK - it was 17 or 18

degrees when my daughter showed up for warm-up (HA!) at 7:45 this a.m. BRRRRRRRR! She plays 16U. THere were plenty of little ones out there this a.m. I wonder what the ballpark's cut-off for low temps is? Would they have played at 10 degrees? or 5? EEK. I don't think I would have let a little one play in such freezing weather -- would have said "sorry, Coach. Not today".

[KitchenWitch]

3. Yeah, we did.

When we lived in Minnesota, the first year my son played "Traveling" baseball, during the tryouts it snowed, and it snowed the entire duration of the first weekend tournament he played in. He was 9 years old, and it was miserable. We all sat outside on the bleachers with our winter gear on, and wrapped up in sleeping bags.

[Ikonoklast]

4. Does that bring back the memories

My daughter played softball, from slow-pitch in second grade to college fast-pitch (she got a partial ride). She still plays on a womens league in the spring, and a co-ed team in the fall.

When she was in grade school, I helped coach her school team, the summer league, and the traveling team she was on. The girls she played with were a phenomenal bunch. She played with some of the same girls for fifteen years now, right through JuCo.

From second grade through eighth grade, in league play and tournaments, they lost a grand total of one game.

They made mention in a Sports Illustrated article.

Great times, great kids, but if your daughter continues to play, huge drama as the girls get older. Herding cats was easier. Each of our girls was enormously competitive; I guess it went with the talent they had.

We had a great bunch of parents, though, very supportive, and they all pulled together as a team. They kept the girls on an even keel.

I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat. Most fun doing sports of any kind at any level that I ever had, and my daughter taught me that winning isn't the only thing that matters.

Winning BIG matters.

[KitchenWitch]

5. I remember the drama in my son's traveling baseball team.

So far the team we are on in softball is wonderful. One of my close friend's husband is the head coach, and it is all about teaching the fundamentals, and eschewing the pressure at this point.