How Has Softball Impacted My Life Essay

How Softball Has Impacted My Life

To describe all the ways in which softball has impacted my life would simply be impossible, nonetheless to minimize them to a single essay. The following essay is a highlight reel on the effects softball has had on my life.

The decision for me to play softball was made casually on a winter afternoon. My dad called me towards his computer and asked me if “I wanted to try softball, it’s pretty much like what Nick plays but for girls.” Having attended many of Nick–my older brother’s–baseball games and having the completely unwarranted confidence of an eight year old, I responded with a simple “sure.” Looking back on this memory, I truly had no idea of the extensive commitment I had just agreed to nor how this

As years and seasons passed, I recognized the importance of practice, specifically practicing without a team. This is what separated me from my past teammates. I realized that I wanted to play better and began to address my weaknesses in the game. For a player on a town travel team, I began to surpass some of my teammates. I continued to get more passionate and determined to do better. With the encouragement of my dad, we decided that it was time for me to move to a team that would face better competition and have players of a similar mindset to myself. In the beginning of 8th grade, I had moved to my first club team after being on a town travel team for four years. While this was the right move for me, it was definitely a shock for me to realize that I was no longer the best on my team. I struggled through multiple winter training and conditioning workouts before the season had begun, though I tried to remind myself that this was only helping me in the end. When the first game of the summer season arrived, I was somewhat surprised to find that I was not in the starting lineup or in the field. This was again a shock for me as I went from a team where I started and batted four consistently, to watching other players fill a role I thought was mine. This is the first time I hit my first real mental block. I greatly disliked

I realized that I wouldn’t make every play or hit every ball, but that shouldn’t stop me from playing freely. While failure was not welcomed, I had accepted that it would occur. I stopped playing with the fear of making an error or striking out. This was one of my greatest achievements as a player. I soon realized that this mindset should not be exclusively applied to softball. There would be times in my life where I would be in a stressful situation but if I acted scared it would only be more difficult to have success. Accepting that failure would occur helped me build confidence as a player and as a person. I began to feel more comfortable in situations that used to scare me, such as public speaking. In high school I took various classes that required me to speak in front of large crowds. Accepting that failure was a part of life and growth allowed me to succeed in situations that used to scare me, softball allowed me to do