Throughout my life, my dad has been the one person that has always been there for me supporting me, and encouraging me to be the very best I can be. When it comes to sports, he’s the one who’s there to push me and always helps me fix whatever it is that I’m doing wrong. He’s the one person that I look up to more than anyone and without him I feel like I wouldn’t have accomplished as much as I have.

When I was younger, we used to do every single thing together. Softball was something that began to bring us together even more. We were always out in the front yard playing catch, or having batting sessions. I loved every second of it. He always wanted me to practice more and more.

As I got older, I wanted to become a pitcher. Every now and then, just messing around, we would practice it, but the more I practiced, the more determined I became. That’s what I wanted more than anything and I wasn’t going to let anything stand in my way.

A few years later, I began practicing on a regular basis. I had gotten pretty decent at it by then. I started going to pitching camps over the summer, anything I could possibly do to improve.

My freshman year was the year I needed to prove myself. I wanted that stating position so bad and I wasn’t going to settle for anything less. Every day, I would get home from school and my dad would tell me, “If you want that starting position you’re gonna need to work at it and start practicing every day.” At the time, I didn’t like the sounds of that. I wanted to practice when I wanted to, not when someone was forcing me.

Softball season finally came around. I was the first week of practice and I was filled with a big ball of excitement and nerves. We started warming up, throwing the ball against the wall. Between pitches I would take a deep breath, always reminding myself to relax and focus on hitting my spots.

My coaches had always told me that nerves can bring out some of the worst performances. From past experiences, I had found this to be true. I sure as heck wasn’t going to let that happen this time.

Our coach began watching us, studying our motions. I was worried I was going to mess up and blow my chances, but then a spark of confidence came over me. I began throwing as hard as I could and I was actually hitting my spots.

After practice I was feeling pretty good about how I did. A few days later, I was informed that I would be starting. I also had been asked to move up to varsity every now and then when they needed an extra pitcher. I had just gotten everything I worked so hard for and more! I have my dad to thank for that. I couldn’t have done it without him always pushing me to practice and supporting me to go for what I wanted.