It was a chance to see what the sport is all about.
Last week, girls who are rising third graders through rising eighth graders had the opportunity to attend the Commerce Tigers Softball Camp.
CHS softball coach Pam Canup, along with several current and former CHS players, gave about 35 girls a taste of what playing softball is like.
“We worked on hitting, throwing, catching and base running every day,” Canup said. “We spent one day on fly balls. We spent one day on how to set up as a catcher. We worked on how to hold the ball for pitching, and actually going through some of the warm-ups that a pitcher does. We showed them some of the drills that we do in middle and high school as well.”
Canup said the camp was not just for middle school players who wanted to keep their skills sharp, but also for girls who may want to know what playing softball entails.
“It’s a chance to come out and learn, and kind of see how things are done,” she said. “You get a chance to meet some of the players, and actually work on some of the same things. You get an idea of whether you like it or not, but it’s not in a game in front of a bunch of people.”
Canup said it’s not hard to keep the kids in attendance focused on the task at hand.
“The real little ones, they run to the field and they run back off,” she said. “Even after you’ve been there a couple of hours, they’re still running and going. As long as you change activities pretty often, they’re pretty focused. As you get (to the older kids), it depends on if they are there to actually learn, or if they’re just checking it out. Some are very, very serious, and others are trying to see if it’s something they want to do.”
Canup says there are certain things she wanted the girls to leave the camp with when it wrapped up this past Wednesday.
“That it does take some work and some skill,” she said. “We talk about little things, like having your elbow high when you throw. There is hard work, but you can have fun too.”
