My daughter and her softball traveling team have finally been able to start playing games! YAY!! We were not sure if this season was even going to happen.  We were all so happy! The first time they got to run out on the field was the end of May.  This was just a round-robin in Indiana where they played 3 games, and it was only for one day.  What a different world out there.  During the time of the tournament, there were no strict rules at that time as far as wearing masks, social distancing, etc.  Everyone was on their own to make sure we kept our girls safe and everyone around us safe.  The girls had such an awesome day and they didn’t skip a beat.  The girls played in another round-robin in Indiana the following weekend.  These games were considered their practices since they were not allowed to practice once the pandemic hit. 

As COVID-19 affected cities and states differently, some of our previously scheduled tournaments were canceled.  That was tough to handle since we were looking forward to getting back to some kind of normalcy.  The good news is that we’re able to pick up other tournaments in other states where the pandemic wasn’t as bad as it was in other places.  We were allowed to play in Kansas, Tennessee, Ohio, and Indiana.  We had our national tournament scheduled in Colorado the first week in July, but, unfortunately, that was canceled.  However, we were allowed to play in Tennessee that week.  I was bummed since we’ve never been to Colorado, but I was so happy to be anywhere at this point to watch our girls do what they love to do.  We were also allowed to play in Illinois for our regional tournament at the end of July.  As we were traveling and practicing our own measures of sanitizing, distancing and using extra precaution as we traveled, we not only remained healthy but we were able to win the championship! Between their camaraderie of the girls during the games and the maturity and responsibility they demonstrated in being safe, we are so proud of our girls!!

There were a couple of hotels we stayed at during the summer that required us to wear masks while walking around inside.  All businesses and restaurants everywhere we played had a mask policy that required us to wear the masks when we entered  The fields where they played had signs all around reminding everyone to wash their hands, keep 6 feet apart, and to wear masks where social distancing might be a problem, like when going to the restrooms.  Some of the umpires in the tournaments wore masks which was good to see.  Everywhere we played, the teams held off from hand-shaking and high-fiving the other teams when the games were over.  They just waved at each other from a distance.  We also made sure our girls used hand sanitizer at all times.  What a different world we live in!

Our girls will be starting their fall season the first weekend in September, which is just around the corner.  They will be playing mostly in Indiana and Illinois, Kansas City and hopefully, depending on the COVID-19 pandemic, we will end the season playing in Tennessee, Florida, California, or Alabama. These girls have worked very hard to come together as a team and to play in these tournaments is what they strive for. We obviously hope that the coronavirus pandemic starts to decline soon so we can play, because at the end of the day, the safety of our children, and those around us, is part of the starting lineup.  

We at Sterk Family Law hope you and your families all stay & healthy during this difficult time.  To all of the softball and sports families out there, we’re all in this together! Let’s play some ball!! 

Written by Jennifer J. Hanik

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