My daughter Danielle played her very last travel fastpitch softball game last Thursday and walked off the blazing hot turf at the Louisville Slugger Complex a champion.
Her Silver Hawks team won four straight games on the final day, knocking off rival Velocity twice in the finals. They went 11-1 in the PGF Midwest Regionals, outperforming 31 other teams in the process.
There were tears and not just from the team’s seniors who realized this group won’t ever celebrate another victory together, much less hang out in a hotel lobby or visit Coldstone looking for a team discount.
The parents realized this was a breakup, too, although there were promises to meet up for a reunion at a tournament somewhere to sit beyond the outfield fence and maybe do the wave.
It’s been quite a ride.
Dani has played travel ball since she was 9, for multiple organizations. The experience wasn’t cheap. Thousands of dollars went to pay for organization fees, hitting and catching lessons, uniforms, gloves, bats, cleats, bags, hotel rooms, gas, $40 tournament passes (per parent), concession stand hotdogs, pet boarding, you name it. In travel ball circles, keeping up with the Joneses has never been harder on your wallet.
In what seems like an instant now, Dani went from drawing pictures in the infield dirt to being an All-State high school catcher and having her college paid for by Division 1 Lindenwood University. She beat the odds and became one of the 2 percent of kids in youth and high school sports who receive a college sports scholarship.
Even if she had decided to quit playing softball after that last victory over a talent-laden Velocity team, I’d have considered it all worthwhile and money well-spent.
Why?
This may sound like an advertisement for travel ball. It’s not. I’ve heard nightmare stories from some parents and kids about their experiences. All I can talk about is ours and truly I wouldn’t change a thing. Playing travel ball helped Dani build self-esteem and helped her learn what teamwork means and what you can accomplish through it.
To all the travel ball coaches who molded her into the player she is, thank-you. That list includes her mom Lori, Joe Rose, Cheryl Bach, Betty Bartos, Kristin Stefek, Jake Nevdal, Lauren McNulty and a host of assistants. Special thanks go to those last two head coaches.
Jake didn’t just teach fundamentals, he explained them. Without him, Dani wouldn’t have become a student of the game who could call pitches like a pro.
When Jake decided to stop coaching, we needed a team. We did our homework and Hononegah alums Kendall Johnson and Brooke Wintlend suggested we give the Silver Hawks program a long look. We kept hearing great things about Lauren McNulty, a former Butler University standout who had become a lightning rod for young players who were more interested in chasing college scholarships than trophies.
We were sold. We liked the practices, even if they were a bit of a drive into the suburbs. We liked the close-knit bond the team formed and we especially liked that Lauren scheduled our team in showcase tournaments populated by college recruiters. Stanford, Oklahoma and Florida weren’t there, but the Big Ten, Illinois State, UW-Green Bay and every other Division I mid-major in the Midwest was, as well as coaches from Division II and Division III. Why travel to either coast to play in tournaments when you really wanted to play for a team six hours or less away?
It’s no secret parents can be a little delusional about their daughter’s ability, but Lauren and the Silver Hawks were not. They gave honest appraisals and suggested legitimate choices. They asked girls to identify their top college choices and make sure those coaches knew it. Emails to those target coaches, college visits, attending camps at those colleges, it was all in the plan to become recruited by a place you felt comfortable academically and athletically.
Sometimes, when you met a coach, toured a campus or a city it was in, that top five changed. You did your research as much as any recruiter. Was the coach a good bet to be around your entire career? What were they willing to offer you? Was the team culture what you hoped for? Was the community a comfortable fit? Dani kept a ledger to compare schools. A grown-up thing to do for sure and it helped her ultimately decide on spending at least the next four years of her life in quaint St. Charles, Mo., playing for the Lions.
Lauren was a lot more than just a softball coach. She was also a guidance counselor, a surrogate parent and a close friend for life. Her parting comment in the final huddle was telling the girls that she would always be there to help them in any way she could. She meant it, too.
Dani verbally committed after her junior year in high school and then actually signed the papers last November. Her Silver Hawk teammate Ava Risum, a buddy since 10U, has done the same thing and after her senior year at Brodhead High School the battery mates will join up again at Lindenwood.
Maybe the whole band won’t be back together, but it will be great to see two kids who’ve shared a lot back on the diamond together making even more memories.
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