Dynamite Sports!

Yippee! I just received permission to write about my upcoming trip! I'm going to Chicago the week of June 6th for training. I'm attending training that week for a company called Dynamite Sports. I'm so excited about the trip and the opportunity of working with Dynamite Sports as a speaker. My personal training actually begins on Thursday, June 2nd at a Dynamite Sports event taking place at Mililani High School here in Hawaii. I'll meet Michael Nadal, Dynamite Sports Director of Speakers/Operations on the 2nd and he'll be speaking at the event that day. I can't wait to get started as a speaker and am looking forward to my trip!

10U softball news: My daughter took part in elimination play with the 10U team on Saturday. She actually played in an 8U "goodwill" game that morning, then changed uniforms and participated in the elimination portion of the 10U tournament. She batted again ~ this time in a game the team was winning ~ yay! She still didn't get on base, but didn't strike out this time. The whole team was so excited that she hit the ball they all lined up at the opening of the dugout to congratulate her as she came off the field. My daughter didn't appear all that excited, after all, she got out. Of course, being her mom, I felt proud! She also did great in her 8U game earlier that day. The 10U team played 3 games that day so we stayed at the park for 4 games, from 7:00am - 5:00pm. Whew ~ What a day! You softball parents probably know all about that sort of day at the park. Needless to say, my son, 5 months old, got rather cranky as the day wore on. Heck, I was getting cranky too ~ LOL. We both needed a nap!

Almost

Well, the 10U team had another game yesterday. My daughter didn't get to play, but it was such a great game. They lost by 1 run in the bottom of the last inning. It was a tie game with our 10U team on defense with 2 outs and 2 strikes on the batter (runner on 3rd base). The batter hits a dinky ground ball that end up in the lane between the third-baseman and the pitcher. They weren't able to pick it up cleanly to get the out at first so the runner from 3rd scored to win the game for the other team. That's okay ~ it was only pool play ~ double elimination starts on Saturday.

DD is having fun being with the team, wearing the uniform, and cheering! She is also learning about the game as she watches so it's a good experience for her. Plus, she looks so cute with the visor and everything. Her 8U team played with the standard, long black softball pants, jersey, and hat. This team plays with shorts, sleeveless tops, and visors so it's something different.

A photographer at the tournament took team and individual pictures last night after the game so we'll probably buy a couple since she's never taken pictures with this team in this uniform before.

My slow-pitch news ~ one of my teammates just asked me if I'm "in" for the Aloha State Games. Surprisingly, I actually look forward to playing. Before I was just going for the exercise, but didn't really look forward to playing because I knew I was rusty with a capital "R"! Now that I'm getting back into it, my body doesn't hurt so much, I'm hitting the ball better, and it's a lot more fun.

In website news ~ I actually updated all the pages to my live site this morning! Yippee! You can check them out at www.AllAboutFastpitch.com.

10U and website news

As promised ~ I am back with news about my daughter's first 10U experience. I found out that, in the tournament, the 10U team does not have to bat all players on the lineup. However, my daughter did get to bat once. I was surprised, but their team was behind by quite a bit, so the coach decided to give everyone a chance to see game time ~ even my daughter.

She struck out on 3 straight pitches but I am proud of her as only a parent can be. :) She stepped into the batter's box showing no trace of intimidation even though this was her first time playing with these girls who are all bigger and probably older than her. Not to mention, girls that have all been playing at the10U level all season. She swung at the first pitch which was a little high and probably would have been called a ball, but it was a good, strong, level swing. The next pitch she let go because she, and everyone on our side of the field, thought it was low, but the umpire called it a strike. My daughter is small, but even for her, I think it was a ball ~ but then again, I'm her mom. The next pitch came and she took another great cut at the ball, but missed. Even though she didn't get on base, I'm happy because I know if she continues to bat with the poise and "go get 'em" attitude that she displayed yesterday (while choosing pretty good pitches to swing at), it's only a matter of time before she starts doing well. I know she will be just fine next year when she competes in her first full season at the 10U level. My daughter turns 9 in late October.

We're off to the field again today for another pool play game ~ hopefully the team has a better game today.

In website news ~ I did a bunch of work on my site today. I updated the home page so that it's a little less generic. I took away some ads that I felt took away from the focus of the site, and I revamped my meta-tags. I just analyzed them today and found out that they were all messed up! No wonder I'm having problems getting ranked on the search engines. Hopefully the work I did today will help and more people out there will be able to see www.AllAboutFastpitch.com and enjoy what they see there. I couldn't believe that I had never noticed the problem I found today. I feel like such a dork, but at the same time am very glad that I got it fixed. Now I just have to ftp the updated pages to the live site and see what happens.

Too long

Yikes! It's been way too long since I posted anything in this blog. Well, today my oldest daughter will have her first 10U softball experience. The game is set for 5:00 pm. It's only 9:45 am and I'm already nervous! When I asked the 10U coach if my daugher could join them once her 8U season was over, I thought it would be a cool experience for her. She could sit in the dugout, cheer with the girls, and wear the cool uniform.

Then I went to a 10U game and found out that everyone bats! Eek ~ what if she has to bat today? Will she know how to keep track of her count? 8U is coach pitch, so they just get 7 pitches in any given at bat to try to hit the ball. At 10U the players pitch and they go by balls and strikes. If the ump tells her the count is 2-1 will she know that means she has 2 balls and 1 strike? Or will she get it mixed up? She doesn't even know batting signals. She's been to a few 10U practices, but never learned signals. She is rather petite and short though....maybe they'll just walk her all day because her strike zone is so much smaller than the other players. Maybe the coach can just teach her the "take one" signal before the game and give her that all day long.

Then what if do walk her and she actually gets on base? Will she know when to run and when not to run? At 8U you don't leave the base until the ball is hit. At 10U you take your lead off the pitch. She's practiced this a few times before, but I don't know if she'll remember it. I've quizzed her on different base-running situations and she seems to know the answers, but since she's never really had to think about them before, I don't know if she'll remember them in a game. At 8U you can almost run on any hit and be alright. Every once in a while someone will catch a pop-up, but even if they do and you are off the base, you still have plenty of time to get back.

*sigh* ~ Watching her play 8U was so much less nerve-racking. Maybe, since this is tournament play, they won't need to bat all players and my daugher will be able to just kick back, cheer, and enjoy being with "the girls".

I guess I'll just have to wait 'till 5:00 to find out. *fingers crossed*

I've got a new blog!

WooHoo! Now I have a hosted blog. How cool is that? Well, this weekend I played slow-pitch again and actually HIT the ball. Finally! It took me a while, but I'm getting better, and my muscles don't hurt quite as much as they did after that first weekend I tried playing. :)

My daughters have their very last 8U game this Saturday, May 21st. They're both asking if there's "another softball" after this season ends. I explained that another season won't start until next year. However, I did tell them that I'm looking into Hula lessons which both of them express interest in, so that lessened the sadness of softball ending for this year. My oldest will go on to join a 10U team for the remainder of their season; more for the experience than for any actual playing time. The moms of the 10U team invited me to their "Mom's Night Out" on Saturday so I'm looking forward to that!

As far as the website goes ~ I'm updating just a few things, trying to get the code "trimmer" so the pages don't take as long to load. I also have another subject I'd like to right about in the blog, but I'm going to check with the other party involved if it's okay for me to do so. I've been so busy lately that I haven't really been able to work on the site, but I still have ideas floating around in my head on what I can add and how I can improve, so hopefully, once things settle down here, I'll be able to put those into action.

Well, that's about all I have to say for now. Hopefully I'll be back soon with another entry!

Bringing post over from my old blog

Tuesday, 3 May 2005
Mood: rushed
As you can see, I'm not keeping up with this blog. Life is so busy. Even though I only work 6 hours a day, between that and the girls softball, and the 12 puppies our dog just had....phew ~ we're busy. Not to mention this nasty virus that the kids keep passing back and forth to each other ~ yuk! Anyway, my daughters had a less than average game on Saturday. It's "coach pitch" and their coach almost had a no hitter. That's not a good thing. Girls that normally hit just fine and get on base all the time were having trouble even connecting with the ball. Needless to say, the other team scored more runs, but that's okay. The girls had fun and there were bright spots to the game. My 5-year-old hit the first pitch at one of her at bats! My 8-year-old caught a line drive on her backhand side, I was, of course, impressed. Last week I missed the game because I had to work. My Father-in-Law said that she made a diving catch to her backhand side in that game. Hard to imagine, but that's what he said. I couldn't even dive and stop a ball until I got to college. These young athletes nowdays are amazing aren't they? It stinks that I missed it, but that's the way life goes sometimes. At least I still have a chance to see their first homeruns right? I attempted to play slow pitch again. Didn't do too badly. I actually got a hit once and threw someone out at first from right field, but I also strained my quad and couldn't sprint so I didn't play much after that. It was still great to see everyone and socialize with the other ladies. As far as www.AllAboutFastpitch.com goes ~ I'm still updating and adding. My latest thing is Google AdSense ~ we'll see how well that works out. Or doesn't ~ LOL. Whether it works out or not, I at least learn something from the experience. :)
Posted by Stacie at 1:59 PM HDT

Tuesday, 19 April 2005
Mood: incredulous
Topic: Playing Softall
Okay, so finally, someone talked me into playing softball again. I realize now why I usually decline those offers/suggestions. I'm in no shape to be playing right now! LOL ~ I wouldn't even call what I did this weekend "playing softball". I mean, yes I was on the field, but when you can't even get to half the balls hit in your direction, and then bobble half the balls you do touch, it's hard to categorize as "playing ball".

For those of you returned to a sport after a long hiatus, you know probably understand what I went through. My mind knew what to do, but my body just didn't quite carry out the action. I suppose I should go easy on myself considering I just had my fourth child 4 months ago, but still, when you're used to doing something well, performing below average just sort of blows your mind. In addition, I'm now walking like an old lady because, two days later, my quads and hams still feel the effects of all the running and various other moves performed this weekend. When you haven't sprinted in over a year and only on occasion in 8 years prior to that, I suppose you shouldn't expect the strength or speed of your youth. Right now, my 8-year old, in her first year playing, fields and hits better than I do. I suppose I should allow her to instruct me at home in the yard.

Anyway, at least my family had fun watching me play. My daughters, who never did see me play softball before, enjoyed the day at the park.
Posted by Stacie at 12:43 PM HDT Updated: Tuesday, 19 April 2005 12:46 PM HDT

Tuesday, 12 April 2005
The Game
Topic: Softball Parent
And the softball parent returns! As promised here's another entry from the "softball parent" side of me. We enjoyed beautiful softball weather this past weekend as my daughters got to play another game.

The first thing that stands out in my mind is that both of my daughters got on base each time they came up to bat. Yippee! I'm learning about what it's like to be a "softball mom". Routine things accomplished by your child lift your spirits and bring a smile to your face.
The second thing I remember most about the game is how my 5 yr old was in the worst mood before the game. She was "tired" ~ she didn't even warm up with the team, but stood on the side in silence as the coaches attempted to coax her into all the "fun" the other players were having. Their efforts beared no fruit as she insisted that she was "tired". Granted the game was in the middle of the day - not an ideal time for 5 yr olds. Giving in to the reality that I may not see my 5 yr old play that day, I encouraged her to sit in the dug out and cheer for her team.
Being the home team, we were out on defense first. Needless to say, only my oldest played during that defensive turn while my younger daughter remained in the dug out and cheered for her team. In the 8U age division, everyone bats, so even though my 5 yr old didn't play on defense, she could still had a turn at bat providing she would actually want one. According to our "team mom", my 5 yr old kept declining her chance to bat, but just before her turn, she changed her mind and put on her batting helmet. I remember looking into the dug out and seeing her wear her helmet ~ I was going to see her play after all! So my 5yr old got up to the plate and stood ready in the batter's box. After unsuccessfully swinging at the first 6 pitches from her coach, my daughter faced the 7th and final pitch of her at bat. If she swung and missed again or fouled the ball off, she would be out. The pitch came in from her coach a bit high, but she swung and, what do you know? The bat hit the ball and she started running to first! The throw to first got by the first baseman and my daughter was safe!

She played the rest of the game on defense and offense and even hit the ball and reached 1st base safely again in her next at bat. Though my oldest daughter got better hits and made plays on defense that a parent can be proud of, it was just as enjoyable watching my younger daughter play and enjoy softball.
Posted by Stacie at 10:32 AM HDT

Wednesday, 6 April 2005
Mood: happy
As I search for a direction or focus for this blog, I continue my quest to create an entry almost every day. Seeing as how this is just my 3rd entry, however, it appears that I'm not quite succeeding in that particular endeavor. I can only get better right?

I also work to steadily improve www.AllAboutFastpitch.com by adding new information and new features. Yesterday I added a poll to the home page. I definitely want a bit more interaction with my visitors, so the poll is the first step in that direction. Now I face the task of providing interesting questions for visitors to answer. Yet another challenge as I seek to improve my website. Again, any comments or suggestions are certainly welcome.

Now, an update for you from the "softball parent" in me. My daughters had their 3rd game of the season this past weekend (8U). They actually got 3 outs in each defensive inning they played! On a team where maybe 2 players have previous experience, 3 outs in an inning is a big deal ~ LOL. The first game of the season, they managed 1 out per inning. The second game 2 outs, and this 3rd game, 3 outs! WooHoo! I so look forward to watching these young players enjoy the game. We'll play again on Saturday and, whether you like it or not, there will be another "softball parent" report next week. Until then, take care and enjoy softball!
Posted by Stacie at 8:38 AM HDT Wednesday, 30 March 2005

Day 2
Mood: cheeky
Okay, so I'm new at this blogging thing, but apparently it's "more interesting" if I write just about every day. With that in mind, here we go....

My two oldest daughters are playing softball for the first time ~ 8U. Besides seeing them have fun, one of the best things about experiencing softball as a parent is remembering back to "when the game was fun". As a high school coach, I often encounter players at practice with an "I'd rather be on my cell phone" attitude. It's so refreshing to watch an 8U or 10U team practice or play a game. Players hustle and actually try to do what the coach asks. Granted, half the time they aren't quite successful, but the effort is there. Where does that all go? Why does it disappear in the 5 years between 8U and high school? Now, as a parent, I'm faced with the challenge of "keeping the enthusiasm" in my two young daughters. Suggestions from "experienced" parents are welcome!

And what's with the cell phone anyway? I can't believe how many phones ring during practice or during a game. We have to actually tell the girls that the phones need to be OFF or on vibrate during softball practice/games. I guess part of it comes from the fact that players nowdays are raised with cell phones and I was not. Cell phones are so much a part of every day life now that they must be thinking "what do you mean I have to go without my phone for 2 whole hours???" And for me, it's like "Why on God's green earth do you need to have that thing with you 24/7?" After all, no one had a cell phone in school when I was growing up. Gosh...now I feel old. LOL
Posted by Stacie at 9:45 AM HST

Monday, 28 March 2005
Mood: surprised
Well, who'd ever thought I'd be blogging? Certainly not me. I mean, what's the point of blogging anyway? I've heard great things about it though, so I'm going to give it a shot as I work on my website All About Fastpitch. I'm currently working on adding to the site to expand it and give my visitors more information/resources. If there's anything you'd like to see, please let me know. I've already had a request for more PICTURES! So, rest assured, I am working on it. I do love to hear from my visitors so please feel free to contact me or comment here in my blog. Also, don't forget to sign the All About Fastpitch guestbook.
It is a lovely day here in Hawaii. I do hope the weather keeps up for the weekend so that my daughters can actually play their 8U softball game. So far it's been play, no play, play, no play due to rain! Apparently, the weather has been like this all over the country. Rain, rain, go away. :)