Here we go again :)

Seriously. I would like to know where October came from. Last time I checked, it was mid-May and I was preparing for my first tournament as a head coach. Bah!

Anyway. We're at a really good place right now. I'm not as nervous to post this entry -- at least, not as much as I was last time -- but I am anxious to see how my girls play this weekend. We've had a few really great practices under our belts since our last tournament, and everybody's feeling good.

We've got one girl on the injury list, but we've got 2 guest players helping us out this weekend. So, here I am on a Friday night, trying to figure out my plan for tomorrow. Good thing we don't play until noon tomorrow...

You have to admit that travel softball is different than any other sport. Not only do we play more than one/two games in a day, there are specific girls who can't play the same position for all those games. For example, I can't expect my catcher to catch all three games (plus play the 2+ games on Sunday); I can't ask my pitcher to pitch all three Saturday games, then come out and perform at the same level on Sunday.

Luckily, I've got a versatile group of girls. Many of them play more than two positions. In any other sport you'd worry about these girls becoming "jacks of all trades and masters of none" but that's not the way it goes in travel softball -- if you can't make yourself reliable in more than at least one position, you're liable to find yourself on the bench. A lot of my girls have made themselves reliable in more than one position. It's nice.

So with my line-ups penciled out now, I think I'll make my way to bed and sleep easy. Tomorrow (like any other day on the field) will be a big day for us, and I'm hopeful that we'll play our best and come out on top.