Whew! What a fantastic, exciting, stressful yet satisfying week!

A whole week of softball, featuring U/16 Girls from each state playing off for the title of U/16 Girls National Championship.

New South Wales has been victorious for the last 7 out of 10 years, including the last 4 years in a row. Last year, ‘Miss A’ ‘s team played their way into the Grand Final but sadly, lost in the final inning with a score of 3-2.

But boy was this year different!! This year, Queensland came from fourth position to beat Victoria in the Semi-Final and face off against NSW in the Grand Final. The score was again 3-2 but this time, QLD were the VICTORS!!!

Oh, a week of softball at this level is like riding an emotional roller coaster as we cannot interact with ‘Miss A’ for 9 days; no phone contact and only a few minutes per day in which to encourage her in the game.

I have been amazed at how much strength and endurance (both physical and mental) can take place over the course of 12 months. There are simply some things that cannot be rushed…there are some things that cannot be ‘taught’ 100%, they must be experienced in order for true understanding to occur.

‘A’ pitched 11 out of the 14 innings on Saturday and she remained in control of herself, physically and emotionally during all that time. I had wondered how she would go as she had been announced Co-Captain of the team and I think this is a double load for a pitcher, but she held up beautifully.

So as the parents of the victorious team we looked forward to the State Dinner, which is a time for all team players and participants to relax and enjoy each other’s company. It is always a delight to watch the girls but the double whammy was when ‘A’ was awarded the Most Valuable Player for the 2007 U/16 Girls National Tournament. Oh, to say we were very proud of her would be an understatement.

People were offering their congratulations to ‘A’ and us, as parents…and while it was a most joyous event we would still be incredibly proud of her regardless of winning an award. It is a beautiful privilege to have the opportunity to teach and guide a young person through the journey’s of life, and to see them slowly take hold of those values for themselves and embrace them as truth for the truth they are, not simply because Mum and Dad told her to.

Seeing and experiencing this has given me fresh encouragement…vision to continue to develop bonds with my children and share my walk through the journey of life with them.