Dubai Little League Softball

As Connor was gearing up for his new season of baseball, Kaitlynn was thrilled to be able to join the Dubai Little League (DLL) softball games this fall. She wasn't able to play in the spring because the starting age for players is 9. After much anticipation for the upcoming season, Kaitlynn and several of her friends attended the softball tryouts in mid-October. They visited multiple stations to test each players hitting, pitching, and throwing abilities. Kaitlynn was all smiles amidst the cool backdrop of downtown Dubai.

Kaitlynn was placed onto the Sooners team and immediately became great friends with her fellow teammates. Jeff is one of the assistant coaches along with Coach Matt and Coach Ed. They make their twice-weekly practices so fun that Kaitlynn won't stand for missing a single one! When it was time for their first game, the uniforms hadn't arrived yet but that didn't stop them from having a great game.

For their second game, the Sooners were all decked out and ready to play. They looked like such big girls and official softball players.

With her hard work, Kaitlynn is already improving and making some nice plays. She also decided that she wanted to learn how to pitch, and Coach Matt has given her several opportunities already. About 1 in 5 of her pitches are perfect, so now she just has to work on consistency. This girl is DETERMINED... no doubt she'll get there.

Because Connor attended the DLL umpire training earlier in the fall, he is now able to sign up to be an umpire at any of the games outside of his own division. For logistical reasons, we ask him to sign up only when we're already at the fields. So now he is signing up to umpire for all of Kaitlynn's softball games, like in the below photo where he's making the calls from behind the pitcher. It has been quite amusing for Jeff and the other coaches to give Connor such a hard time during the games. Connor has threatened to have them thrown out but no such luck yet!

I couldn't resist throwing in one last comment about the softball experience. As the team parent, I set up a snack schedule for all of the parents to rotate snacks for the 21 games of the season. This was my first experience with DLL snacks because our baseball team opted out of a snack schedule in the spring. After the first two softball games, I was floored by the parents going above and beyond on their snack duty. Massive XL pizzas from Russo's, sandwich trays from Subway, individually wrapped and labeled bags with homemade goodies...I just couldn't believe how high the bar was being set for these game snacks! When it was my turn to bring snacks for a double-header, I decided to bring a basket of healthier items for the first game and then the yummier version with popcorn and brownies for the second game. I was proud of my efforts (below) until I saw half of the softball team glance at the basket and then head to the concession stand for burgers or hot dogs. Ha!