Softball update

We had a couple of good practices this week and it looks like we have a solid, well-rounded team. And special thanks to the coaches who stuck around and worked with the girls on Thursday after I had to leave!

Practices: On Monday we'll be practicing on the junior varsity field--with a skinned infield and dugouts--up at Mountain View High School, located at Brown and Lindsay, up in Mesa.

Above is a map showing a couple of ways to get there (click on it to see a MUCH larger version), as well as the location of the field on the Mountain View campus and some places where you can park. We'll also set a regular practice schedule on Monday--probably once a week up at Mountain View and once a week at Finley Farms--depending on what will work best for the most people. (You can download a larger copy of the map as a PDF here.)

I'm hoping everyone can be there on Monday--I'd like to break the team into a couple of squads and scrimmage for the last half hour. Also, a reminder that everyone should bring a water bottle (or something to drink) and a hat or visor to practices. That setting sun is going to be a problem for anyone playing on the right side of the infield (1st base and 2nd base), as well as the right and right-center fielders.

Parents: I'll have the sheet where you order pants and socks with me on Monday--bring your checkbooks if you're ordering those or having your daughter's name put on the back of her jersey.

I also need a team parent--it can be a mom, dad, grandparent--someone who can take charge of getting the uniform order filled out and dropping it off at NYS, putting together a snack schedule for games and upcoming practices (thanks to Coach Andrea for bringing the sports drinks last time--we'll bring some on Monday), and to organize (or get a group together to organize) trophies (or medals--we've done both) and an end-end-of-season party.

And Tami, I need contact info for Alissa and her folks--could you forward this to them?

Coaches: Ever since we moved to Arizona, I've been amazed by how many knowledgeable and experienced coaches we have among softball parents here. I'd like to use that to the girls' and team's best advantage. So I'd ask each of you to think about what YOU think we need to spend time on--we should be able to squeeze in four more practices before our first game on Oct. 17--and then we'll rotate who runs practices (or different parts of the practices) as we go forward.

One of the most embarrassing things I ever experienced in softball was having a guy as an assistant coach for a whole summer up in Michigan and later finding out he was a lot better coach than I. From what I've seen, any of you coaches could run this team, so we need to get all of you out front more and teaching and coaching the things you know best.

See you all Monday!