I have been playing Softball ever since I was 6 years old. Softball has always been a special part of my life, and I never really knew what life was without softball.

I started competitive softball when I was 8 years old. I would be at the ball fields every weekend for a tournament, or at practice everyday of the week from 8 years old till I was 14 years old. I started to notice softball to become my identity and all I could think about was my failure in the sport, even whenever I was exceeding expectations. In my mind I was never good enough and there was always room for improvement.

As a result, I quit competitive softball and focused on high school softball. I was so close to giving up on the sport as a whole and never playing again.

Freshman year was rough. I felt like my talent was overlooked by the coaches and I never got an opportunity to show the coaches. I played outfield at the time, but I wanted to play first because that was my primary position. I never got the chance to play because there was another girl at the position. The last game of the season Coach McKay asked the head coach to take a look at me on first base on JV. Coach McKay took the risk on putting me in that game, even though she has never seen me play first before. That game I did very well and felt I earned the spot as the JV first baseman.

Sophomore year was very unexpected. Multiple people quit at the beginning of the season due to different reasons which left multiple positions on the varsity rooster to be filled. I have had previous talks with the coach on how Sophomore year he was going to train me to be on varsity for my Junior year. Whenever the news came that our previous varsity first baseman quit, I knew it was my time to step up and claim my position on the varsity rooster. Before I knew it, I was a varsity starter as a first baseman. I did very well my first year as a varsity starter, gained many rewards, and found my love for the sport again and was able to have fun and enjoy softball.

Junior and Senior year I continued my journey as the varsity first baseman and held my position and my spot in the lineup. Now, it is coming to the end of my softball career and I am on to the next chapter of my life, and I couldn’t thank Arlington Softball enough for shaping me into who I am today and bringing back my love for softball.