The Hay is in the Barn!

[Cannonball]

I wanted to share with you a talk I've had the last few years with my daughter and let you think on it some. She plays her first game of the year tomorrow in a domed tournament. She has worked very hard and was able to get her throwing and hitting work in all winter and even did so today. She didn't lift today since she plays tomorrow early. As always, she's so excited to play. I'm sure yours are as well. She will have a definate challenge since the girl that will probably pitch against them tomorrow is considered one of the best in the nation. I've seen her and it is awe inspiring. Well, my daughter sat in the car as we arrived home and I looked at her and said, "The Hay is in the Barn."

The meaning of this phrase is that the hard work is done and time to enjoy yourself and your efforts. I ask her every time to PLEASE just enjoy playing now. I don't know how many times she has ended a game with a loss, been a good sport and shook hands, talk to teammates and then entered the car and fell apart. She's geared kind of high and it scares us sometimes. Again, I'm betting that some of your kids are the same. I told her that the rough, yell, etc. Dad is done now and so tomorrow, I'll be the cheerleader. She doesn't like that much. I told her that if this ever becomes work that she doesn't have to play. I told her we love her no matter what. I told her the type of person she is is a lot more important than the athlete she is. She has gotten better and so, she promised to try to enjoy the moment more. Just for fun she said, "The Hay is in the Barn" and then made fun of my sayings. Something for us to all think about.

[Tucson]

Boy, it seems that she may be putting a lot of pressure on herself. Are you at every game and does she act any differently, if you aren't there?

[Cannonball]

Boy, it seems that she may be putting a lot of pressure on herself. Are you at every game and does she act any differently, if you aren't there?

Great questions. I don't have to be there for her to get this way. She's very competitive. It'd be an understatement that my daughter suffers from being my child. We live in a small community. I've also had a lot of coaching success in multiple sports. There is pressure on her in everything because people expect her to be like me. We went to having her play "select" softball because the Rec league created new rules for her and wanted to make her move up because she was my child. That was a tough lesson for her.

Per my Wife and myself, I'd say just the opposite. We don't care what she does as long as she's happy. Thus, the need to ask her to PLEASE enjoy playing.

Tuscon, I recently resigned my Head Baseball Position so that I could watch her play in HS. She's a feshman this year and our school plays HS ball in the spring. I think she has put more pressure on herself because of that. However, that same pressure is with her grades, with volleyball, etc. Again, it scares us sometimes. I also think that is why she will someday be successful.

Finally, my dd sleeps everynight in a softball T-shirt. She has a life size Jenny Finch stand up poster by her bed. She has a display board that say, "The Dream" with pictures of her meeting the players from the Olympic Team. She constantly tells me that her goal is to play professional softball. When I ask her what she wants to do if that doesn't work out, she says be a softball coach. I guess you get the point.

[The Viking]

CANNONBALL I think your daughter is perfectly normal by not letting herself break down with her team mates if anything it is the right thing to do by holding those emotions back as to not bring her team with her.She lets it out with probably the only person she trust more than anybody in the world -that being her FATHER and that is a good thing.