Payton had softball tryouts today. She has moved up from t-ball to 8U Softball. She has been nervous about tryouts. It is tough in the winter to head out and practice at all, so needless to say she was worried that she was not going to do very well. I tried to reassure her that as long as she tried her best, everything would be alright.
We got to the gym early, I wanted Payton to see the round before hers (as well as check the uniform sizes, particularly for Logan, since he is so tiny). The first part of the tryout was grounders. She caught them all, but continues to have an issue with stepping with the wrong foot when she throws. After that they did some pop-ups, she did not catch any of those. After that it was hitting from the tee, which she did okay (granted, she forgot how to swing completely since last year, haha). The final thing was hitting live pitching. She did not connect with any.
Before anyone thinks I am being mean, she did as well as all the other girls. Some got hits, some missed grounders, some threw well, some threw poorly, and some hit the tee. My opinion is this is too early of an age to be doing tryouts. Seriously, I was watching a few coaches write down things about the girls, and it cracked me up. They were jotting notes like they were evaluating potential major league draftees. I should mention there was one girl, I am guessing she was seven, maybe came from a different league. She could throw well, and I think she even caught one of the pop-ups (I think she was the only one). I guess she would be the one to write down a note to try and pick up in the draft. Everyone else? Well they are all even.
I was proud of Payton for overcoming her fear and trepidation. Once she was on the court, and around the other girls, she was excited, and ready to give her all. She had fun. And if she ends up loving the sport as much as me, well that would be a huge win.
