Sophie is amazing. Let's start with athletic ability. I don't know where she gets it. Her dad played sports but even he admitted he wasn't speedy. Sophie is. What she lacks in height she makes up for in speed. She will never be the tallest girl on the court, field or track, but she doesn't let height be a limitation for her. She just works harder and moves faster.
Now, as you all know, I'm no athlete and I didn't play your typical sports in high school. My basketball "career" ended abruptly in 8th grade when I suffered a broken wrist. My softball career lasted all of a season and a half when I realized that starting in right field was a sign that my team was probably better off without me. Some of us aren't meant to be athletes, every team needs a stat girl right? I did discover that I could throw people. Being a farm girl had it's benefits I guess. Combine the ability to throw someone with rhythm and a few dance moves and you get a cheerleader. (Cheerleading is to a sport.) But what I can do pales in comparison to watching Sophie take on any sport she attempts.
Ask her what her favorite sport is and she will tell you volleyball. She plays volleyball from August to May between "school ball" and "JO". For those who haven't experienced the joy of all day, all weekend long JO tournaments, it is a "junior olympic" team. I never played volleyball. I know virtually nothing about how to play volleyball. But I've watched a LOT of volleyball, so I'm kind of an expert. Really. I know all kinds of terms and half the time use them correctly. So I feel completely qualified to say, Sophie is awesome. I love watching her serve. I love watching her hit. And I love how much hustle she has. There is something that can't be coached into a competitor - the drive to win. Sophie has that and then some. She took to volleyball like, as they say, a duck to water. I can't wait to watch her as she gets better and better. This past weekend she was MVP of the gold division at a JO tournament in Kasson for the 14U division. I wish I had been there to see it, but I probably would have embarrassed her by crying. I do that when she makes me proud. A lot.
I think my favorite sport to watch Sophie play is basketball. I can't believe that basketball season is over already this year. The better the girls play, the more I enjoy watching them. This year they really started putting some things together and I couldn't imagine a better way to spend Tuesday and Thursday nights. There was one night when the ref even commented to me as I stood at the end of the court taking pictures, that number 30 was on fire. (The ref may have been her step dad but still....) I think that night she scored 23 points. She had over 200 points for the season, but that isn't what I love most about watching Sophie play. I love watching Soph play defense. She gets a lot of steals and she is always, always going for the ball. She plays almost the entire game so there are games she gets a little tired, but it is so worth it. She also is very aware of the court. Being that she gets a lot of steals and that she plays point guard, she is bringing the ball up the court a lot. She is always looking to see who is open, which teammate has the best chance at scoring for her team and giving others the opportunity to take the shot. I love that she's a team player. I cannot even explain how proud of her that makes me.
On the way home from games, basketball and volleyball, Sophie loves to talk about her teammates. She loves to talk about which player had a great game, how this or that player had a cool basket or awesome block. She talks about how her teammate is improving or said something funny. She talks about how she hopes this teammate makes their goal or that teammate is such a nice person. And don't talk bad about her teammates; she will shut you down. She will remind you that they are trying or that they are new to the game. She does have her moments of frustration, but 99% of the time, they are with herself. I have never seen someone as hard on themselves as Sophie. She takes each match, game, tournament as her personal duty to bring her team to victory. Sometimes so much so that I have to remind her that she cannot do it all.
But it doesn't stop at basketball and volleyball. Sophie has played softball since she was in 3rd grade. Oh my goodness, those first couple of years were so darn cute. I love watching softball. Maybe it is because of my time as an outfielder. I have a few softball memories and actually know a little about that game. Plus I love that most of the time it was summer league so the weather was nice and it was time outside. I love the crack of the bat, watching her stare down a runner on third (as catcher) and watching her steal bases. Dang that girl can run. About the only thing I didn't love watching was her pitching. Not because it wasn't great pitching - she was/is a pretty darn good little pitcher. But when Sophie pitches, she takes all the responsibility for the game on her little shoulders. She puts way too much pressure on herself to pitch strikes every time. Sadly, Sophie has decided that she's not going out for summer softball any more. No more sunflower seeds and sunshine for these folks. Judging from the texts, emails and phone calls, I'm guessing her coaches are bummed Sophie isn't going out this year too.
Lastly, Sophie participates in track. I'd say she runs track, and she does do sprints, but her passion is pole vaulting. She wants to try a new event this year and try the triple jump too. My favorite to watch her in, other than the pole vault, is the mile. She claims she hates distance running, but this kid runs with all heart. There was a varsity meet where Tim threw her in the mile. When she crossed the finish line in second place, I was so proud I teared up (shocking). As she came by I told her how awesome she did and her response, "That sucked, I am never doing that again!" When I told her she got second and that was amazing, she yelled at me! "Mom! I feel like I'm going to throw up. I felt like I was going to throw up the whole last lap. I told Tim too on the backstretch and you know what he said? Okay - but keep running!" It was impossible not to laugh. Good coaching Tim. Puke and rally, puke and rally. Being a distance runner myself, I have to agree, it does suck in the middle sometimes, but oh how great you feel after! Worth it. Sophie has big goals for her track season. She made 7 feet in the pole vault as a 7th grader, so her goal is 8 as an 8th grader, 9 as a 9th grader, etc.... Can't wait to see her work towards her goals as 12 feet seems pretty much impossible to me. I learned a long time ago not to tell Sophie something was impossible.
So yeah - to say I'm her number one fan is an understatement. I am incredibly proud and, as we always joke, I love watching her play. It just keeps getting better and better as she gets older.
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