TGFSP

TYPICAL GIRLS FASTPITCH SOFTBALL PLAYER
TGFSP
(Typical Girls Fastpitch Softball Player)

The TGFPSP is first and foremost somebody’s little girl.
At one time she looked cute as a button dressed in pink with pony tails.
She played with dolls, helped Mom bake cookies,
and has probably earned a few bucks baby-sitting.
She has been, and always will be, daddy or mommy’s little girl.

The TGFPSP still has all those little girl attributes.
The only difference is now she looks cute dressed in sliders and shorts.
If she is wearing ribbons in her hair, they are probably her team colors.
She still bakes cookies – for the team bake sale;
and has probably earned a few bucks – at the team car wash.
Now she is, and always will be, daddy or mommy’s little second baseman,
or shortstop, or pitcher.

The TGFPSP takes pride in how much dirt she can collect each weekend.
Go to dinner on a night that she is not playing, and it takes her an hour of primping to get ready.
Go out to eat after a game, and she’ll walk right into a restaurant
with a streak of dirt across her forehead, ratted hair, stained shirt, and brownish white socks—
or brown toes with sandals – and yell "let’s EAT!"

The TGFPSP is ready and willing to play softball at the drop of a hat!
If she can get away with it, she will play on two teams (in the same day no less).
She has a huge wardrobe – plenty of tournament shirts, and shorts from all the teams she has played on.
Her parents do her school shopping every weekend at the tournament T-shirt booth.
When you say, "wear something nice", she thinks it means a tournament shirt with no dirt stains.

The TGFPSP is a fierce competitor. She knows you get out of something only what you put into it.
She is not the type of kid to take the easy way out! Standing maybe 5’2" and weighing 100 lbs soaking wet,
she is willing to stand in against a pitcher throwing heat from a distance so close
that even pro baseball players would get nervous.
She is fearless as she plays first or third base at 20 feet from home plate,
saying "I dare you to bunt – just try to drive one down my throat!"
but mostly she is proud, for no matter what size she may be or what position she might play,
no one can tell her that softball is soft –
she knows that throwing like a girl doesn’t mean what it used to.

The TGFPSP is playing the game for all the right reasons! SHE LOVES IT!
She could hang out at the mall, stay home and watch TV,
or spend her summers at the pool.
Instead, she has a tight schedule with limited free time,
hangs out on the practice field with a coach in her face,
and spends her summers getting baked on a 95 degree field with no shade.
But the TGFPSP has her priorities in order:
tournaments, league games, team practices, schoolwork, individual batting practice,
family, private softball instruction, church, conditioning, softball camps, and boys
(maybe church comes before the batting practice – at least on Sundays).

The TGFPSP has more spirit than maybe any athlete who plays a team sport.
At least it sounds that way.
Softball is the only sport where a player’s ability to cheer can sometimes effect roster decisions.
Sooner of later, every fastpitch coach will find a player who can’t bunt or hit,
is a liability on the field, and spends a lot of time on the bench –
but you’ve got to love her because she always wears a big grin and cheers constantly!

The TGFPSP learns many valuable lessons during the course of her softball career, like:
- How to get from home to every softball field within a 100 mile radius.
- Last year’s sunflower seeds from the bottom of her batbag aren’t too bad if she washes
them down with enough Gatorade.
- You can stay at a Holiday Inn for 6 bucks a night if you are willing to go 8 to a room.
- Hotels don’t monitor pool usage and you can go swimming anytime,
whether you’re a registered guest or not.
- The hotel’s continental breakfast means:
3 bowls of cereal, 1 bagel, 2 donuts and 4 glasses of OJ.
- Never wash your socks when you’re on a winning streak.
- Never wash your socks when you’re on a hitting streak.
- Never wash your socks after you’ve scored the winning run, scored any run,
or were close to scoring a run.
- Never trust a Mom who says she won’t wash your lucky socks.

The TGFPSP dreams of double plays, slap bunts, sacrifice hits, and future gold.
Regardless of all the sacrifices, the money, the occasional bad coach,
and the little hardships like having to drink water that people may have put their hands in,
the TGFPSP has a lot of fun every summer – enough to make her come back each year.
While the TGFPSP knows she will always be daddy or mommy’s little girl,
she also know that her destiny is to become tomorrow’s modern woman.



* ( This passage was found while surfing the Internet. We don’t know who the original author is, so if anyone knows him or her, please let us know so we can give credit where credit is due!)