Archive for the ‘Apparel’ Category
So Much Stuff!
My daughter started playing softball last year, and it’s amazing how much equipment is required for beginning a new sport. I never realized how expensive it is to get into a new sport. Before her first practice, I had to buy her more than $200 in supplies. She needed softball turf shoes, a helmet, a gear bag, a uniform, knee guards, and countless other things.
When she found out she would be the catcher, I was happy for her. But I was soon saddened to hear I would have to purchase her even more gear. It turned out catchers needed chest protectors, leg guards and a special face protector! On top of that, during the first game my daughter’s right baseball turf shoe got chewed up by our family dog and I ended up having to buy her a new pair!
In my youth softball days, the other girls on the team nicknamed me “Rickey Henderson.” I took that as a serious compliment seeing as how Henderson set every significant stolen base record in the major leagues and also scored more runs over his career than any other player in history. I admired him for his willingness to take risks, his hard work ethic and lightning quickness.
My own success in softball had little to do with God-given talent, however. From the time I started T-ball, my dad started coaching me on the art of the bent-leg slide. At the end of every softball game, I would be the player with the dirtiest softball pants – the one who wasn’t afraid to be scratched and bruised if it meant leaving the diamond with a victory. The real Rickey would have been proud.