By ABBIGALE MERRITT
Sheridan High School Student
The Sheridan Student Column is brought to readers by Sheridan High School’s 10th grade English class, taught by Abby Williams.
Softball is a sport of failure. No matter how hard you try, work, or play, you’re being set up to fail. What really matters is being a team player and picking each other up every time you fail. You can’t play a team sport and not be a team. It just won’t work.
Abbigale Merritt plays on the Sheridan softball team. (Photo provided)
The failure part of softball is the worst part. You will always have an obstacle to overcome when it comes to softball. Whether it be a hitting slump, you can’t field a ball some days, or your team just can’t break their losing streak, you and your team have to push through it. You have to be able to accept the failures, embrace them, and then you’ll find your way toward success. If you can’t accept the fact that you’re going to fail sometimes, then you’re not going to enjoy what you’re doing. Eventually, you’re going to hate it and maybe even regret it.
When playing softball, there will be more negatives than positives. There will be people who are going to hope you fail so they can have your spot. There are going to be times where you can’t seem to do anything right, but you just have to work through all of the negatives to eventually get to the positives. The positive part isn’t necessarily winning every game, it’s forgetting about the error you just made and focusing on the next play. Or it’s doing your best and playing as a team no matter the outcome.
Failing can also take a toll on your mental health. If you’re playing softball every day and you’re not enjoying it, or you’re stuck focusing on the errors you made in the last game, it’ll hurt you mentally. Playing softball in general can take a toll on you physically. So you have to make sure your mental health and stress levels are good. On top of softball, you still have school work and grades to maintain. If you are able to keep everything lined up, you should be able to manage it all.
Softball is an even harder sport if you make it hard for yourself. If you keep a good mindset through it all, it won’t be hard. Having a good mindset not only benefits you, but also your team. So if you can accept your failure and even embrace it, you can have a good season.