My Daughter Plays Baseball (Not Softball)

My daughter has been playing baseball since she was six years old. Not softball, baseball. She tried softball once and did not like it. She wanted to play the game she watched on television.

The reactions we have gotten over the years have ranged from enthusiastic support to barely concealed skepticism. Why is she not playing softball? Is she good enough to play with the boys?

Here is what I have learned.

She is good enough. She has always been good enough. At every level she has played, she has held her own and then some. The boys on her teams have, with very few exceptions, been welcoming and respectful.

She loves baseball. She loves the game itself, the strategy, the competition, the feeling of a well-hit ball. She does not want to play a different game because it is more convenient for the adults around her.

So she plays baseball. And I stand in the stands and cheer, and I am proud of her in ways that have nothing to do with the score.

If your daughter wants to play baseball, let her play baseball.