Wacky Blog

An end of an era…

Twenty-one years ago, this little guy took to the fields, ready to be an all-star.  The caption on the back of the photo states I was happy to see his pants were zipped up for the picture.  He thrived in sports. In his freshman year, he thought it was a good idea to play football, basketball, track and soccer. He wasn’t excellent in any one sport, but he loved to play every sport with a decent amount of natural athletic skill. After buying four separate kinds of athletic shoes, I pleaded with him to pick ONE sport; he ended up playing hockey his junior and senior years. Don’t ask, I don’t know why.


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This little cherub decided that soccer involved too much running so she also picked up a bat. At the time, she much preferred making piles of grass in the outfield topped off with a dandelion. She stuck with it and ultimately developed into a pretty good pitcher, playing on the same competition travel team for six years, as well as earning respectful kudos while playing varsity through high school.


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Our caboose had an advantage – she literally watched her brother and sister play hundreds of ball games. By the time she took to the field, she knew what to do. When she was nine, she tried out for a newly formed comp team (an assistant coach found her at the batting cages as she practiced with her big sister). She stayed with this team for nine years. Following her sister’s footsteps, she was also recognized in region, all-area and state for her impressive play on the field.


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If you want a good chuckle, visit this link  to hear Brian Regan’s version of playing Little League. It’s hilarious!

So, for twenty-one years, I have spent every single summer (spring and fall, too) pulling wagons, coolers, umbrellas, sunscreen, cameras, etc. from one park to another. I’m not able to say I made every single game, but pretty dang close. Let’s not forget driving to practice at all hours of the day and running to a sporting goods store for an emergency pair of cleats, sliding pants, batting gloves, socks, and one time to purchase a replacement jersey because we forgot to bring it to an out of state tournament (was left home in the dryer).  The jersey number was made out of duct tape.

I’ve made life-long friends with other parents from my children’s teams. Carly and Kelsey were especially blessed to have amazing coaches who not only taught them softball skills, but life skills, as well. And they did it with positive insights, patience, integrity, patience, love, patience, humor and patience.  Both Carly & Kelsey’s comp teams have come out to support the Wacky charity softball tournament, by competing and volunteering.  It was because of their softball involvement that we even began Wacky in the first place.  Obviously, the softball community has a very special place in my heart.

Last week, Kelsey’s team, the Bukoos, played in their very last tournament. All but one girl has graduated (she’ll be a senior next year); four have scholarships to play softball; one has a scholarship to play volleyball, one is planning to serve a church mission and the other three have academic scholarships. Superb group of girls! To cap it off, they ended up taking first place, ending their team’s run by going undefeated throughout the tournament. And they did it with class. Kelsey gave me permission to use these photos:


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We will soon be having our final end-of-year party. My contribution will be a video of photos taken throughout the season and a scrapbook. I also asked each girl to write down “What I remember/like most about…” for each of their teammates and coaches. I then compiled comments for each girl onto one page, so they have a sheet of highlights put into their own book. The party will be sad but amazing at the same time, as these young women are all looking forward to their next journey.


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To end, I’d like to share one of the quotes written by a player for her coach, “One of my favorite memories of my coach is from about nine years ago when he told me I could be on his team.”

Perfect.

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