“She discovered softball and we watched her blossom.” When a girl plays softball she finds a purpose, develops self-discipline, learns to deal with success and adversity, forms bonds with kids who were far different from her normal crowd, and goes on to become a wonderful young lady. People usually receive more benefits than they expect from participating in sports. They get attention and respect that they may not receive elsewhere, and participation provides them with opportunities for leadership and socialization, as well as the development of skills for handling success and failure.

This is what happens when you give a girl a ball and a bat:

She learns to be a leader —The purpose of a softball team is to build character in the lives of young women. You learn to be reliable and dependable. You learn to work hard towards common goals that are shared by the members of the team. You learn to celebrate with your sisters in their success and to encourage them when things don’t go quite as planned. You learn the mental side of the game necessary to execute the assignment at hand. In short, you learn life lessons that serve you well the rest of your life.

She learns self-worth— When softball players realize their skills are improving, they feel a sense of empowerment. Through teammates, coaches, and the support of family, softball provides a better chance of succeeding, not only on the field, but in life too.

She learns how to be a “team player”—In most jobs nowadays, employers want their employees to be able to work well together. What better way to accomplish this than put a girl on a softball team. If you can’t learn to work together with teammates while playing a sport you enjoy, how will they be able to work with co-workers they may or may not like while performing a job you may or may not enjoy?

She learns time management—From an early age you learn to juggle school, homework, friends, family time, personal time, softball practice and games. Time management builds dependability—a trait that will last you a lifetime. Being late gives me anxiety, and as an athlete, you learn that if you are on time, you’re late, and if you’re early you’re on time. Being late means you are making others wait on you, and that’s selfish.

She learns to never give up—Softball teaches us a work ethic that makes us forget failure and forget people around us who may not believe in us. Having a dream and goals are important in order to succeed, and softball teaches us to chase our dreams and to stay motivated even if we are down. We will always fail at softball. We will always fail at something in life, but it is how we react to this failure that defies us.

In the words of Rocky Balboa, “It ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!”