Many firsts and an official third

The JV softball team and I went to Dubai this past weekend to play in the big tournament of the season. Four other schools from Kuwait, Cairo, Dubai and Doha, joined us at the Dubai Softball Fields nestled in the heart of the urban beast. Each school brought both a girls and boys team, which made for a lot of teenagers in a very enclosed place.

It was a little like playing softball in the middle of a giant erector set. Eight buildings were under construction surrounding the fields and skyscraper-sized cranes towered above the action. Around 4 p.m., the heads of the construction workers (mostly east Asian guys) would appear over the nearest fence to watch the final game of the day. The Dubai fields are well-groomed and well-used. Adult leagues often play far into the night, but the JV scene must have been a new sight to see. Although the weather was surprisingly reasonable (high 80s and low 90s most days with limited humidity), no one except schools plan to play softball during the day in late April around here.

It was my first tournament as a coach, and I was not prepared for the toll it would take, emotionally and physically. There were the ups and downs of the two games per day we played (three on the last day), along with the ups and downs of daily life with a 8th, 9th or 10th grader x 14 members of the team x the 12 hours/day we spent together. We had tears in the dugout and a few fits of angst before and after tough games. We had injuries both real and psychosomatic. All of these were followed by fits of giggles, a string of private jokes I only partially understood and the endless thrill of speaking actual words to boys from the others schools. It is safe to say that no girl ever went to the bathroom alone--or anywhere else for that matter. They all traveled in a green-and-white (our school colors) pack of emotional variability. We've all been there, but it's always eye-opening to go back, even by association.

We came in third, which I supposed I should have said at the beginning. It was satisfying, because we were the third best team there. I'm not very competitive, but I like us to do our best. I would have been disappointed if we had blown it at the end. As it was, we had to play three games on the final day in order to get third. Fortunately, we beat both teams we had defeated previously in order to bring home a banner (1st-3rd place get the coveted banner to hang in the gym). The girls were happy, too--about the games, the excursion to one of the many local malls, the Doha boys pitcher, the tacos at the snack bars, even the Gatorade purchased by one of the several moms who provisioned the dugout and kept the team going between games. You get the idea...

I also saw other teams in action and realized the huge impact of good coaching--and how much more I need to learn as a coach. The assistant coach, a dad with Little League experience, saved our bacon by training his daughter as a back-up pitcher on the weekends. When our starting pitcher's arm went out, we could finish the game. Without that move, we would have been completely out of luck. Next year will be very different, though after the saga of this weekend, I'm glad it's a whole 364 days away.