A Dad’s View of Victory
recreation, siegel high school, softball,
My wife, Vikki, and I had the pleasure of watching our youngest daughter and her teammates win their division of the United States Fastpitch Association Women’s Softball World Series in Panama City, Fla., in 2008.
Our team, the Firebirds, competed in the top tier of USFA tournament play: the 18U-43 Gold Division. This division allows girls who have not yet reached their 19th birthday on January 1st of the current calendar year to compete. Pitchers pitch from the same distance their college counterparts do – 43 feet – and many of the players already have one year of college play under their belts.
Unlike many of the teams we played, the Firebirds – composed of high school all stars from all over Middle Tennessee, primarily Murfreesboro – had only one player with college experience, and most were not yet 17.
At 8 a.m. on Saturday, July 26, our team started playing in the final round of the tournament that had lasted an entire week – with the heat index consistently staying above 100 degrees. Just sitting and watching in those temperatures was brutal. It was hard to imagine what the players on the field were going through. As I watched our girls take the field that morning, I reflected on how all this got started for my family.
Vikki and I came to Rutherford County 16 years ago. We came here for all the same reasons that so many other families do – affordable housing, good jobs and good schools for our two young daughters. What we didn’t count on was the opportunity our daughters would have to participate on the national stage as young athletes.
Our oldest daughter graduated from Siegel High School in Murfreesboro in 2006 and has a full athletic scholarship at an NCAA Division 1 softball program in west Tennessee. Our youngest daughter, a member of the Firebirds, is a senior at Siegel High and will also be accepting a D1 college softball scholarship. Both daughters’ successes can be directly attributed to Rutherford County youth league play and great coaching.
My youngest daughter started playing softball when she was 4 years old – fastpitch in particular when she was 9. At the age of 17, she already has more than a decade of experience. Combine experience with the extraordinary competition provided in our area, and our success is easily explained.
On that hot Saturday in July, nine hours after the first pitch was thrown, the Firebirds had won four straight games and captured the biggest win of any Rutherford County-sponsored women’s softball team in recent history.
As our team rushed onto the field for a victory celebration, I sat quietly in the stands with tears rolling down my cheeks. I don’t know if these were tears of joy or tears of sorrow for the end of an era for our softball adventures. What I do know is that God led us to Rutherford County, Tenn., one of the finest places in the United States to raise a family.
Visit www.usafastpitch.com for more information.
Story by Steve Williams
Photo by Vikki Williams
