Softball season kicks off with spring training and opening day

February 27 – March 12, 2005 -- Irvine Girls Softball is underway. Despite a very wet beginning to spring training that delayed practices a week and a half, the season is now in full swing and Sydney is enjoying it greatly. Sydney practices on Thursday afternoons and has games every Saturday.

Each team in her six-and-under age bracket was assigned a uniform color only -- leaving the kids to choose their individual team names. Purple Unicorns was the majority pick among her team. So girly, it makes me smile just typing it. On the 27th of February, she had her first scrimmage (one week after her first practice). The rain-shortened practice schedule meant it was out of the frying pan and into the fire for the team. Sydney's experience with co-ed baseball last year prepared her very well, and she's among the most capable fielders on the team (throwing and catching). The girls get along very well, and as with any team, there is a good mix of skill sets. The parents are also all very nice and supportive -- probably more so than with any of her other activitiies. That's been very refreshing.

One interesting point about parents, it turns out that our team mom actually went to grade school and high school with me. After noticing my U of A shirt one day, Cassie asked about our Arizona roots and, sure enough, she went to Horizon and Apollo with me -- class of 1987 and all. I knew of her, but never really interacted with her. Turns out her husband (the coach) went to high school in Phoenix, too, and they met at the infamous teen dance club Sgt. Peppers I was known to have frequented upon several occasions. VERY small world!

On March 5th, Sydney attended an Easton Softball Clinic at Bill Barber Park in Irvine. Girls from 6 to 16 attended the all-day session and had about a dozen mini-lessons on hitting, footwork, fielding, bunting, and sliding, among others. The clinic was lead by Pam Newton and taught by ex-college standouts, a few Olympians, some international exchange players from Japan, and current college players. It was great to watch Pam drill the 12-year olds, and I look forward to seeing if Sydney stays with softball. The girls at that age were generally team-oriented and motivated, but were still yappy pre-teens. Pam turned them from giggling young girls into attentive, disciplined soldiers in the space of 60 seconds. Sydney enjoyed the full-day excursion, playing with some of her new teammates who also attended the voluntary camp, and just being a little girl.

On March 12th, the season officially kicked off at Opening Day Ceremonies. The entire league paraded their hand-crafted banners around the field (also at Bill Barber Park) and team pictures were taken. I still get a laugh over the name of the orange team in her division: the Orange Kitties. Way too cute! The park is literally right across the street from us, so it really enhances the sense of community the league is meant to engender. In between events, Sydney and Emelie ran around the grass and we got some great pix of Emelie below. Later that morning, the Unicorns opened their official season against the Cheetahs. No score is kept in this age bracket, but it was fun for all. We also began our artistic struggle with chain link fence. Sorry for the blurriness of some of the photos...the autofocus doesn't like the composition too much.

In the two or three games since Opening Day, Sydney's catching, in particular, has really gotten better. She has taken turns at first base, catcher and pitcher as I think her coach realizes she does so well with her glove. The team is set to begin taking pitched balls this week, so that will make for good photo opps, too. Enjoy the pictures. Remember, good seats are still available for all remaining games this season. Come out and support the Unicorns! :)