Monthly Archives: August 2015

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Louis Park, Stockton, CA

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We have played softball games several times at Louis Park in Stockton, CA.  The things that come to mind immediately about this park is the hot weather (duh..Stockton!) and several police cars and police officers in motorcycles going around and around while the games are in progress. Doesn’t make you feel comfortable to see that.  Two of our parents cars were broken into at this park at two different times.  So, I can understand the police presence.  Please make sure not to take any valuables with you when you go here and if you do please don’t leave it in your car.

I have never been to the other areas of the park besides the softball fields.  The City of Stockton says that besides the 4 softball fields in a circular pattern, there is 1 baseball field, 4 tennis courts, 4 handball courts, 19 horseshoe pits, 40 picnic tables, 20 BBQ pits, and a remodeled Boat Launch Area.

Louis park
Louis park

LP Boat Launch

 

The snack shack is right in the bull’s eye of the circle.  Here is the menu of available snacks available.

Menu Louis Park
Menu Louis Park

The times we have played here has always been very hot.  The dugouts had some shade which was very much appreciated by the coaches and kids and the seating for parents and other spectators also had shade depending on the angle of the sun.

Louis park dugout

Louis park seating

Ending on a positive note.  Every once in a while you see a nice big boat/ship/sail boats pass through the canal and it is quite a sight to see. The younger siblings get excited to see that.

Louis park ship in back
Ship passing by in the canal with a big letter A

Enjoy your games and stay safe!!!

 

 

 

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Tryout season for Travel Softball

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Hello folks,

Have your kids ever wanted to take that next step and get into travel softball?  Well you’re in luck right now.  It is tryout season for many teams.  Now that the busy season of summer travel ball is over, several travel ball teams are currently offering tryouts for various positions in their teams.  Please check out the Travel ball websites to see when their tryouts are.  Specially if your girls are young in the 10U and 12U age group, they have a very good chance of making the teams if they have played softball before and show that they are excited enough for travel ball.  This is the best age group for your kids to join a team and make mistakes and learn to be a good travel ball player.  As the girls get older specially 14U and up, a lot more is expected from them to be part of the “A” ball team.  Also the older girls tend to be set in their ways and it is harder to change their habits of hitting, throwing or pitching to the correct form if they have developed bad techniques at a younger age.

I know my 10-year-old’s team is looking for more 10U players and having an open tryout on 8/15 and 8/16 from 9 am to noon at Brookvale Elementary school, 3400 Nicolet Ave, Fremont, CA 94536.  So if you have a 10 year old who wants to try travel ball, please check out their team website.  Even if you are not sure but thinking about it, you can just come by and watch the other girls practice and see if travel ball is for you.

If you have a favorite team or a travel ball team that is close to where you live, please go check out their website and see when their tryouts are.  A lot of tryouts are happening this month.   There are many teams in the bay area and you have to try out to see if a team and their philosophies will match you and your child or not.  It is a trial and error process for many families. Most times the best way a team will fit your kids is to imagine the kids are new to softball and let their coaches figure out their skill set and see how they fit in their teams.  You can always note in the tryout forms what position they like to play.  In our team for example, the kids are trained to be good in several positions (not just the one they like to play).  This will come in handy when they get ready to go to college and their favorite college team only has certain positions that they are looking for.  In any case, no matter which team you try out for, good luck with it.  And as always thanks for reading and good luck to your kids.

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12U ASA Nationals-We tied for 13th place

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12U-ASA-NationalsWow..what a week our team had, sizzling in terms of heat and games!  108 degrees cannot be explained in words.  You get instant head ache when walking in the sun.  At least I did.  The girls survived until Saturday which was great.  Not a lot of parents thought our team would make it this far because of the extreme heat. It was double elimination games and it was a lot of ups and downs but the girls played their best ever under extreme weather condition.  Very proud of each and every girl in the team for putting their best effort.  Ultimately in these types of games, it all comes down to which team has the stamina to last game after game.

I was unable to go to the opening ceremonies since I had to work but you can check out all the happenings at the 12U ASA Nationals 2015 facebook page.  They had parades, coaches dance off, raffles, speeches by former Olympians There were three Team USA Olympic Gold Medalists (Womens’ Softball) present: Jenny Topping (Jenny Topping Softball) Michelle Grainger, and 3-time gold medalist, Leah O’Brien-Amico.  Lots of contests and winners.  55 of the best softball teams from all over the US arrived at Roseville, CA to compete.

Here is the Final order of finish. My daughters team is Strike Zone Red.   They did great considering this is their first time playing at the Nationals.   Very proud of her and her teammates.  The girls (each and every one of them) practiced well and played hard in the intense heat.  Sometimes kids do surprise us, this time by showing us parents that they are good enough to play at a National level.  I remember the time when in 10U recreation softball team, I had to bribe my daughter $5 for every slide she can make since she was afraid to slide.  In the Nationals she slid so hard that she actually ripped her softball pants.  Good that we had black sliding shorts so it didn’t look bad.  But it is funny to see how far she has come.  I would have posted a pic of the big hole in her pants but she wouldn’t have liked it 😉

The parents who couldn’t take a week off of work to go to Roseville, were able to see the game play-by-play by logging on to Game Changer.  It is a neat website where you can follow your team and your player stats for each game.  Stats of batting, pitching, fielding etc just like for the pros.  Not sure how they keep track of every single play of every single player who plays.  It is amazing!  My daughter and her teammates got a kick out of watching their own stats.  Pretty cool!

There was also a Photo truck by YSPN who took excellent action shots of the kids during the games.  Overall, it was a great experience for the girls and a glimpse for us parents into the real world of travel softball if these girls are going to be competing at this level of tournaments.

Congratulations to Texas Sudden Impact for their well deserved WIN! Way to go!!