Janine accepts her dare

Monday, 8 June 2009

I got up at about 8.30, went in and took my chem final, and rode home with Jessy at 12.10. Stephen was working all afternoon-- which was just as well. I lay out back with Jessy for a while and I actually had a bit of a nap, but the Bugs would be coming over to the field by 3.30 and I had to get dressed and make my appearance.

The Ladybugs, if you haven't read, are the 8-9-10-yr-old softball team that Daddy founded and endowed with a gorgeous new stadium and workout facility in the section of land adjacent to our home. In keeping with the castle architecture of our house the stadium has permanent seating, three rows about 50 feet long with workout rooms and a snack bar and toilets and showers underneath. In the centre just to one side of the backstop is a two-storey tower similar to the ones on our house. So the stadium is called Castle Field.

Two months ago when this team started we were all joking round in our beautiful new locker room and I said, mostly teasing, that I had got a bikini swimsuit in red with white polkadots that sort of matches the Ladybugs' uniforms. They girls thought this sounded cute and wanted to see it. So I, typically, opened my mouth and said maybe if we got to the playoffs we would have a practice day on which we could all wear swimsuits and have a pool party at our pool afterwards, and I would wear that one. When I tried it on it sort of required about six weeks of working out on the rowing machine first... but I am down to a decent size and shape now and felt pretty confident of wearing it on the off chance that a brand-new team playing in a brand-new facility actually beat out nine other teams and got to the playoffs.

Well-- we are in the playoffs, with a record of 10 and 6 which is actually second-best in the league. So we will skip the first round and play at home for the second, which if we win we will play at home for the final on Saturday. And-- today I had to wear the red-and-white polkadot bikini to practice.

I did wear sneakers too, of course-- I typically don't wear cleats because as coach it's not my role to take off and run bases. And I wore socks. And I wore a headband, one of the red-and-white ones with the team logo that Mother designed and had made for the players and even to sell to fans in the snack shop. And I put on SPF 30 bug spray. Jessy offered to accompany me and I collected my glove and the keys to the gate and buildings and we walked over.

It's about 200 yards from the side yard to the cleared part of the field, through mostly tall grass that can be laden with bugs in this season. Daddy cleared a path wide enough to drive the tractor mower through. When I came through I saw cars in the parking area. That was about 3.45. Well-- so the parents would see me opening up and greeting the girls in my bikini.

Three of them were already in swimsuits too, and socks and cleats-- a cute combination. Jessy and I threw and caught with several of the girls till Mike and Michelle arrived and we began the practice with a jog round the track. Then we had tight fielding and some batting practice and after 16.30 we divided into two teams of seven, Jessy and each played on one side to make eight each, and we played what turned out to be four full innings of scrimmage. I think that was really a valuable way to prepare for playoffs. Coach Mike kept yelling 'Tighter! Sharper! Harder!' and so on, always trying to get that last 2 or 3 percent of perfection out of everyone. By now we all know the routine. Some of these girls are angelic-- there's like a switch that Coach Mike can turn on in some of them. For example if Amy's pitches are going a little wild he will yell, 'We gotta end this inning, Amy! Turn the strikes on!' And little Amy-- 9 years old-- will nod gravely, adjust the goggles, pull back the hat, wiggle her bottom, and sting the batter with three strikes in a row. It's like that. Mike will gesture with his arm, making some half-underhand throw, at Grace or Gina and the next ball will be snagged cleanly out of the air and slung hard into second and there's a double play no one else could have expected. But Mike, Michelle and I expect it, and we tell the girls that. They're depended-upon, and they know it, and when the pressure rises their commitment level does too. They really are the best kids in the world.

I am so out of practice at actual playing that I was only about on the level of girls half my age, you know. But I got a few good hits including one that ended up as a home run-- over the fence on a bounce-- and felt so easy coming off the bat that I really had to rethink why I gave up playing at all!

By 5.30 we were all pooped. I locked up the place, we formed up in two rows, and I paced in front of them like an army general-- in a bikini-- inspecting the troops. Most of them wanted to giggle. 'All right, you lot,' I said, pretending to be stern, 'I saw some pretty fine practice here today. But do you think it's enough that we practice well? NO. We need to play well. We need to nail these next two games. Thursday and Saturday-- your fate lies in your hands. How will we play it?'

The all looked blankly back at me.

'Huh? Are we going to win these games or what?'

'Yes!' some of them said.

'I didn't hear you....'

'YES!'

'Go, Bugs!' I shouted at them.

'GO BUGS!' And we all broke up giggling.

'Enough of that!' I yelled. 'Ladybugs-- right face!' And they turned, not neatly, but who cared? 'Ladybugs-- forward, march!' And two-by-two all fourteen of them started for the far side of the field where the path was.

Jessy skipped along ahead of them, hopping half-backwards, and cheered, 'Last one to the pool is a sweaty mess!'

And they all squealed and wailed and ran after her.

It's 9.00 and the last of them left half an hour ago. Mother had served up hot dogs and macaroni salad and potato crisps and then pudding. The pool was looking pretty yellow from all the ballfield dirt-- most of these girls had no reluctance about sliding into base in a swimsuit and at least one was torn-- but as Daddy says, 'That's what the chlorine is for.' Lisa and little J.J. joined us till it began to get dark.

We've got another practice tomorrow. I will 'drill' them with pep talk and politeness. Mike and Michelle will keep up their skills. I probably won't wear the red-and-white bikini again-- there were enough photos taken for the team FaceBook site to last me a lifetime! But we all had fun and we are on the way to the end of a terrific season.

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