Personal Narrative: You Did Not Make The Softball Team

“You did not make the softball team” is a sentence I heard almost invariably. I had just moved to Texas, where I was thrust into a whole new world of sports. Athletes played year round, unlike the north where sport seasons were only six months long because of the cold, likewise, the competition was unlike anything I had ever seen. I tried out for over a dozen teams, from the very best to the very worst and did not make one. Inevitably, there was always a girl who was faster, stronger, and overall better than I was. I was eventually given a choice, to quit softball and pursue another hobby or continue to play softball and refuse to let others beat me. I choose the ladder. “Improve your skills and come back in the spring” said the high school