The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
By Suzanne Kafas, Somerset.
I was very disappointed in your reporting of the Lady Warriors game against Montgomery on April 8th. Although your photographs were fantastic, the story did not paint an accurate picture of our team, as it generally focused on their weaknesses that day. I would like to fill your readers in on why our Lady Warrior softball team is absolutely amazing.
I have been a Warrior parent for 8 years, the last 4 as the proud parent of our team’s catcher and I can say with complete certainty that this team is comprised of some of the toughest, most determined girls I have ever met. They have the unfortunate disadvantage of being in a division that consists of far more experienced girls. Their opponents’ teams have had community feeder programs since the girls were young. For example, Montgomery’s Girls Softball League – which is not part of their public school system – begins at 6 years old. Franklin’s feeder program is the middle school team, which means that many of our girls are playing the game for the first time when they are 12 years old. (For the record, many of our girls play for the first time in high school.)
Additionally, most of our opponents’ pitchers have been privately coached and groomed for years. They have competitive pools of pitchers to choose from. Our pitchers are relatively new to the game and have had little to no private coaching. They are learning now – as they play against these very talented and experienced opponents. Can you imagine the raw courage and strength of character that must take?? Our pitchers reflect absolute devotion and loyalty – to the game and to their teammates. I am in awe of them.
Our girls have come a long way since I have been a spectator. Their hitting and fielding, of course, have improved tremendously. But most of all, they demonstrate camaraderie and pure grit that are far better measures of who they are than the numbers reflected in your article. And this, they have always had. The girls and their phenomenal coaches deserve that recognition.
I would like to believe that you agree with these points but at the very least I urge to remember that these are, ultimately, kids. Kids who are having a great time playing a game they love. They may have lost the game to Montgomery but if you looked hard enough you would have seen and heard what makes this team extraordinary. I look forward to reading about those things in future articles about our amazing Lady Warrior Softball team and I am sure they do too.
