Field Work.

Two words that make me want to curl up in a hole and hide until I know it's done. I've never had more appreciation for landscapers till I got to college (a sentence I never imagined myself saying). Maybe I was a spoiled brat before I came to Flagler, maybe I had great field workers in high school. I don't know. What I do know is that I would rather be a spoiled brat than have to do field duties anymore. 
Alright, I guess I should explain exactly what that means. "Field Work" is any maintenance the field needs. For example, raking the uneven parts of the field, tamping the batters box and pitcher mound, putting up wind screens along the entire outfield fence and both foul line fences. It might not sound that bad but it grates on my last nerve. 
As a pitcher I'm in charge of raking, watering and tamping the pitching mounds. Not that bad, right? Except I have to do the three mounds in the home side bullpen, the mound on the actual field and the one across the field behind right field that is the away bullpen. Which means I have to carry the 50 pound tamp, the rake and a watering can filled to the brim with water all over the damn field. Then make sure the mounds (which are usually in god awful condition, no thanks to me) are game ready and able to be pitched off of. 
Never before in my life have I wanted to pay someone my own money to do something I could do myself. But on a grueling Florida afternoon after a double header, the LAST thing I want to is move dirt around with a rake, water it and pound it back into the ground. 

There's No Crying In Softball*

I mentioned last week about keeping your composure while on the field and how certain things can hinder your ability to do that successfully. Recently there have been some internal issues on my team, which should come as no surprise to anyone who has played a sport, whether it be little league, varsity, collegiate or beer league. People disagree and arguments will occur.
I've noticed recently that it seems to be much harder for girls to get over these issues in a timely manner.    This year my team seems to be focussing more on the drama and the gossip on campus then the actually game of softball. It's interesting to me to see us struggle to play as a cohesive unit all because of outside issues. When we are all getting along we are unstoppable, but when there's one little underlying issue we begin to fall apart.
There's a quote that goes something like this "Boys have to play good to feel good while as girls have to feel good to play good." As a feminist, this use to outrage me but it's truly hard to argue with when looking at my team. There was actually a time when our season was hanging in the balance because all of the issues we had. Whether we make it into the conference tournament or weather we have to say goodbye to our season in early April depends if we can get past a lot of bullshit. Thankfully we are on our way to a better record and will be in the tournament.

You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile

One of the hardest things in the world for me to do is hide my emotions. So as an athlete you can imagine how that might be a conflicting issue. Keeping a straight face through each bad call, booted play and worst of all every disagreement with a teammate or coach. It's not an easy thing to do and since I'm a pitcher it's my job to be entirely emotionless, even more so than anyone else on the field. Not only because an umpire can make or break the game you are pitching so it's important to make sure it seems you agree with his calls (which is THE hardest thing) but also it's my job to ensure to never let the other team think they've gotten in my head, that maybe I've started to crack.

Someone one gave me some of the best advice I've ever received as a pitcher, which was; "Always smile, an opposing team hates nothing more than a pitcher who is happy." I had never realized it before but that saying is very true. My team can’t stand when a pitcher is doing well and smiling on the mound, or even worse smiling when she’s not doing well. It somehow seems to mess with batters heads, the idea that somehow the pitch knows something they don’t, maybe they have the upper hand.

Needless to say if I’m pitching and I’m pitching well, I’m smiling. If I’m not pitching well, I’m forcing a smile till my cheeks hurt. Throughout most of my softball career, opposing teams have not liked me, hated me even, without ever even meeting me. I guess the smiling pitcher theory continues to work.

Mid-season Crisis

There comes a time in the season when you begin to fade. You’re tired constantly, school work increases and you feel like you’re so weighed down with stress you might actually be crushed. This usually happens a little more than half way through the season. I’m unlucky enough to be going through that now… Midterms have come and gone (the stressful part is getting my grade back), final projects are beginning, and finals are just around the corner. As far as softball goes, we’ve just began conference and already there are only 3 weeks till the tournament, which Flagler is hosting this year. It’s beginning to feel like I’m overdosing on everything softball; practices, games, bus rides, eating on the road, my teammates, everything.

The only thing that keeps me going is the idea that it will end soon and I’ll be bored. It seems contradictory but it’s true. During the year I never stop moving, going from class to practices to games. Then when it’s over I find myself sitting down, relaxing for a while but eventually itching for something to do. There is a good part about this midseason craziness. I might feel like I’m deflating but that means only one thing. I, as well as most of my teammates, find their second wind.  We get past the being exhausted, the overload of school work and quite frankly, the crap that we all deal with from being sick of each other. We remember why we started playing, we come together to win. It happens every year and I must say that this year I’m especially looking forward to it.  It’s my favorite part of the season.

That Feeling

I know for a few weeks now I’ve been talking about the hard times and the terrors of being a student athlete and all of it has been true. There are times when being an athlete is so frustrating I want to pull out my hair and scream. I know everyone must be asking themselves “Then why do you do it? Why not just quit?” Trust me, I ask myself that a lot, I’ve thought about the answer long and hard. Although it’s something that isn’t easy to describe, I’m going to do my best. 

It’s hard to explain because it’s a feeling, the best most wonderful unexplainable feeling in the world. The glory of winning, the confidence of running out to the field, the laughter you share with some of the best friends you will ever make. Playing a sport isn’t easy, you work non-stop, always breaking your body down, constantly tired but you do it for this feeling. The bragging rights after you’ve won a championship, you walk a little taller, smile more often and the world is just a little better. 

It’s honestly memories I’ll hold onto forever, the best one I have being the time my high school team won the New Jersey State Championship. It was the first time in the history of Indian Hills softball history that our team ever even made it to the finals, let alone won it. I was lucky enough to be the pitcher for this wonderful team and even more lucky to be the one up to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning in a 0-0 game, bases loaded. The most nervous I have ever been and probably will ever be in my life. I had a full count after fouling several pitches off and watching balls go by. The pitch came in... Ball four. I sprinted down the first bases line, touched the first base bag and turned to see my whole team running towards me. Dog pile. It was the happiest moment in my life. 

Some people ask me why I play a sport in college, being that it’s so hard and time consuming. I answer them with this; no matter how hard it gets, no matter how beat down, sore or exhausted I feel, none of the bad will ever out weight the good, the great, the fantastic, unexplainable feeling of winning for your team. 

On the Road Again

So this past weekend was the first of many overnight road trips with the softball team. Let me tell you there is nothing like 4 hours stuck in traffic on I-95 with 18 other people after playing 5 games in three days to make you wonder why you do this to yourself. Here are some tips for traveling on a bus full of softball player, or really any sports group:

• Bring sound canceling head phones- The best way to feel like you've escaped is to not hear anyone else's snoring, bad jokes, and whispers (which sometimes turn out to be a lot louder than you'd think)
• Bring a pillow and blanket- 2 reasons for this one; once you've put your head phones on you're gonna want to force yourself asleep (falling asleep in one city to wake up in another is the best, narcolepsy comes in handy.) The second reason is that for some reason no one can ever make up there mind on whether it should be hot or cold on the bus. So when we enter the bus it's stifling and 10 minutes into the trip, I'm looking for penguins as it seems we've entered Antarctica. 
• Bring a form of entertainment. Make sure your phone is fulling charged, bring a book, TRY to get some homework done. There is nothing more frustrating then when I let myself calculate the amount of hours of my life that have been spent on bus trips, knowing that I was wasting my time. When you can't fall asleep it's all the more evident, so bring a distraction. And pray to God you get a bus with WIFI.

Overall the best advice I can give is to just relax and try to zone out. Remember that you're lucky to be going somewhere different even if it's just for a few days. Some of the best memories I have with my team and friends are those on the road. When you start to feel like you've been on the bus so long that you're literally delusional just let it happen, be silly and laugh. That's what makes the trips bearable. Oh, that and dramamine.

Are you on the List?

Since last week I spoke about how beaten down my body is and how athletes are always pretty much broken, I thought this week would be a great time to give a shout out to those in charge of constantly fixing us. You would think, being that I am a college student “in the prime of my life” that I spend most of my life socializing at parties, drinking at bars, or maybe even being a good student in the library. Nope, I spend the majority of my free time in the athletic training room, with the people who are responsible for maintaining my physical health. 

Now this may not be true for every athlete here at Flagler, seeing as how I am definitely injury prone, I spend a lot more time in the training room than most. There are others like me, everyone knows who you are because as they walk into the training room you are already hooked up to a machine, getting ice, or being poked and prodded at by one of our three trainers. The trainers joke about who wins the award for most time spent with them. (I’ve been told I’m the 2011 winner. Thank you, thank you.) 

But even if you’re not an unlucky injury prone person like me, you’ll find yourself in the training room every so often. The newbies are the most fun to watch, worried about what injury they might have, confused about what a stem machine is. Then there are the regulars who know are probably doing leftover homework, gossiping and helping the trainers set up the machines we know all too well.

It may sound sad but I have a lot to thank the training room for; it’s made me better when I was sure I might never play again, it’s full of people who really know what they’re doing and because I spent up to three hours a day, every day of my freshman year in that room it’s actually helped me make a lot of the friends I have. The training room is like the athlete’s own little club house.