Buy Fastpitch Softball Gear

Yay ~ the Buy Fastpitch Softball Gear link is up and running on just about all of our web pages.

Check out bats, gloves, shoes, batting gloves, and other fastpitch softball equipment at our new Fastpitch Products page.

We will continue to update it and add new products as time goes on.

Sharing Softball Team Picture

Just wanted to share a picture of our team during a post-game chalk talk. This picture was taken back on November 30th, 2005 after our first regular season game. Image provided by Replay Images. Yes, I'm the one carrying my son. :)



Click on the image for larger view.

You never know!

This week of playoffs we are going through right now for HS softball just goes to show, on any given day, you just never know what's going to happen. We lost a 1-0 game to a higher seed that we had an excellent chance to win. Another team that was #5 seed in the West division in our conference beat the #1 team on the East. That #1 seed had only lost 1 other game this season. The #1 seed in the West who we lost to twice during the regular season played the team we lost to 1-0. I thought they'd be able to handle them ~ the #1 West team also lost to them 4-2. Next weeks State tournament is wide open ~ there's no real dominant team. Just depends on who comes to play.

No matter what, never give up. Yesterday our team was in an inning where we had two outs, no one on, and two strikes on the batter. That batter, and the next 4 put the ball in play. There was one error along the way, but that 4th batter hit a base-clearing triple and we score 3 runs! I just hope the girls remember that and know that even if it's the 7th inning and they are down runs with two outs, they CAN score!!! But going into it with defeated, "we-got-no-chance" thinking just about insures defeat.

Read the Stories
Kailua Advances to Semi-Final - Honolulu Advertiser
Kailua gets all it needs to beat Kapolei - Honolulu Star Bulletin

Kailua reaches OIA Softball Final - Honolulu Advertiser
Defending Champ Mililani Out of OIAs - Honolulu Star Bulletin

Rain, rain, go away!

It stinks to get all hyped up for a game only to have it cancelled! Thankfully, our game today was playable, put two of four conference play-off games today were postponed due to rain.

Tomorrow, we travel to Kailua to play ~ that part of the island is typically rainy, so I'm skeptical that we'll get to play, but hopefully, weather permitting, we'll get to play ball!

Everyone do the "sun dance." I'm off of work tomorrow so it's the perfect day to have an away game. There's no problem arranging to be on the bus with the team. Now if we have to wait until Thursday, that'll be a challenge because I do work on Thursday. Rain, rain, go away!

Why being a softball player is cool

Aloha, I just wanted to share this article on why it's great to be a softball player or any female athlete!

Self-esteem Builds Female Athletes

By: Dorothy Lafrinere

Beads of sweat roll down her forehead as she rubs a very prominent muscle in her calve. Her breathing is deep and hard but steady as she regains her focus to another place in order to numb the pain. She reaches into a place in her mind where she has stored an energy that only a dedicated athlete has come to know. An energy that will take her that extra distance to her finish mark.

This is a female athlete, a women that is not only strong, willful, and dedicated but has invested most of her youth and/or adulthood to get to this height of excellence. This women is a competitive professional athlete. In the world of men's sports, these women have had to climb mountains and jump very high hurtles to get even a small fraction of respect as competitive, serious athletes.

These women are exemplary in there show of positive self-esteem. A positive self-esteem has given them strength to never give up on their dream. Their dream of becoming a true world champion female in the sports world. Through their years of excruciating training they have learned a few very important positive characteristics such as:

-setting goals
achieving a dream that for many become unreachable
learning to perform under pressure
understanding the meaning of a team player
learning how to earn and achieve through hard work
how to accept failure and appreciate succession.

Other very positive things come out of women making sports a big part of their lives.

Females in high school do not have time to get pregnant.
As little as four hours per week of physical exercise helps to reduce a teenagers risk of breast cancer by up to 60%.
Breast cancer effects 1out of every 8 American females.
It has also helped to reduce the amount of females suffering from osteoporosis(brittle bones).
Females engaging in sports are less likely to experience depression.
Female athletes are also very much more positive in regards to their body image, again a show of positive self-esteem.
They are trained early in life to respect their health and nurture their psychological well-being.

These character traits are a must in achieving the limits that are needed to compete as a professional athlete. These women have to be on the top of their game, so to speak.

With that in their focus they glow with positive self-esteem and confidence. They also need all of these positive attributes to get them where they want to be in regards to their workplace. About 80% of women that are in high executive positions were athletes during certain periods of their lives. This is a good thing. Through their training and disciplined lifestyles, they have succeeded not only in sports, but also in their careers. These female athletes also made a mark in history and continue to do so, against all odds.

Unfortunately as in any thing we deal with in life, there is the reality of abuse and stereotyping. Many woman fear the label of being called a lesbian, or fear that they would come into contact with lesbians in the sports world. Sexual harassment, verbal abuse, emotional abuse and even physical abuse are also very common negative realities in the sports world. We need to shout out as loud as we can to get rulings to protect all athletes in the sports world.

To make life even more unfair, after they have trained and suffered much pain to win many championships and meet the challenges that come with being an athlete, they continue to battle nonsensical enemies such as the media. Oh yes, our great media strikes yet again. They have taken pictures of female athletes and turned them into sexual objects. Sporting them in magazines, scantily clothed as if they were posing for a pornographic magazine. They have robbed them of their achievements as serious female athletes. They have offered them up as sacrificial pieces of meat to satisfy the male appetite. They rarely if ever show the reality of the female athlete. Rarely if ever do you find a picture of a disabled athlete sporting the front of a magazine, but there you have it, even in the sports magazines they have to use sex to sell. They cannot even depend on their own merit anymore. In fact the media continually shows just how cheap they can be. They show no respect for the reality of people anymore. The media has totally blinded the world as to what a competitive female athlete is all about.

The female athlete is all about:
strength
skill
power
ability to achieve a goal
pure self-discipline
desire to achieve excellence
determination to win
the drive to push against against all odds

Women of the sports world, I commend you for your courage and ability to reach your destination. You show all the women of the world today that we can do it. You show us how very important it is to have a positive self-esteem. You show us professional female athletes at their best. For that, I thank you!

"Desire is the most important factor in the success of any athlete"
Willie Shoemaker

Article by:
Dorothy Lafrinere Owner/Operator Website- www.womensselfesteem.com Forum- womenselfesteem.proboards29.com

Number of visitors continues to grow!

Wow ~ last month we had a high of over 1800 unique visitors to www.AllAboutFastpitch.com. I just checked stats this morning and we are already at 2000+ unique visitors and 24,000+ total hits for the month of January with over 10 days left in the month. Unreal! Thanks to all of you who visit and give us motivation to continue to make www.AllAboutFastpitch.com better and better. Big thanks to all of you who like the site and recommend it to friends and family. We appreciate it!

Jennie Finch Fastpitch Interview Posted!

Alright! I'm happy to announce that the January Fastpitch Interview with Jennie Finch is now posted at AllAboutFastpitch.com! Jennie Finch took some time to talk with us about softball, the Olympics, life, and more. I hope you enjoy it!

Read now ~ Jennie Finch Fastpitch Interview

Feature - Fastpitch Softball Coaching Book

Coaching Fastpitch Softball Successfully-2nd Edition is now available at Human Kinetics.

Field a winning fastpitch softball team year after year with the knowledge and insights of a coaching legend!

"If you are a youth coach just starting out or an accomplished collegiate coach, this book will help you improve every facet of your game. It provides excellent practice templates, breakdowns of technical positions, game strategies, conditioning programs, mental preparedness, and goal-setting strategies to assist you in building your program. It is by far the best softball book on the market!"
Sue Enquist Head coach of the UCLA Bruins, 11-time national champions

Table of Contents
Part I Coaching Foundation
Chapter 1. Developing a Softball Coaching Philosophy
Chapter 2. Communicating Your Approach
Chapter 3. Motivating Players
Chapter 4. Building a Softball Program

Part II Coaching Plans
Chapter 5. Planning for the Season
Chapter 6. Preparing for Practices

Part III Coaching Offense
Chapter 7. Hitting Fundamentals
Chapter 8. Hitting Drills
Chapter 9. Offensive Strategies

Part IV Coaching Defense
Chapter 10. Defensive Fundamentals
Chapter 11. Defense Drills
Chapter 12. Defensive Strategies
Chapter 13. Pitching Fundamentals

Part V Coaching Games
Chapter 14. Preparing for Games
Chapter 15. Handling Game Situations

Part VI Coaching Evaluation
Chapter 16. Evaluating Your Players
Chapter 17. Evaluating Your Program

Regular Price: $19.95

Click Here for more information on this book.

Fastpitch Softball Fundraising

Many new fastpitch softball seasons are starting up this time of year. One thing that comes along with that is the need to fundraise for your team. Don't forget to check out some of our Fundraising Ideas for help with this part of the game.

Best wishes to everyone just beginning a new season! Have fun!

Revamping Fastpitch Products

We are doing a complete re-vamp of the Fastpitch Products section of our website. Once it's up an running we'll be sure to let you know! Shop online for gloves, batting gloves, bats, fastpitch books, helmets, catching equipment and more. Check back with us within the next few weeks for the live link to the Fastpitch Products area of our site.

Fastpitch Softball Drills

If you're looking for a resource for softball drills, don't forget to check out Defensive Softball Drills by Jacquie Joseph. Get over 60 drills for different areas of the game ~ detailed illustrations and instructions to get the most out of each drill.

Click here to learn more.