Every now and then, from just outside the dugout, Donna Glasgow reminds her husband where he”s at and who he”s coaching, especially when the score of his softball game is close, or a practice isn”t progressing the way he”d prefer.
You need to calm down. You need to remember, these are 7- and 8-year-old girls. They”re not your boys.
No, this isn”t one of the youth baseball teams Sean Glasgow coaches.
He has learned this summer how to adjust his coaching style for another group of tiny tykes. Soften up, just a bit (but not too much).
After mentoring The Diamond Divas, a Caledonia-based all-star softball team for several weeks, he has grown to appreciate the differences between the sports and their participants entering Friday”s Mississippi ASA North State Tournament 8-Under Coach-Pitch at Propst Park.
First, softball is a faster game than baseball, a game he played at Brewer State Junior College (now Bevill State Community College). It makes for exciting play around the bases, especially with a team like his which is defensively sound, he said.
Then there is their focus. All coaches love focused players.
“The girls that I have,” Glasgow said, “they”re at the stage that some of them have really determined that, ”I really like to do this,” whereas my experience with the boys is that this is just to have something to do.
“It seems that these 7- and 8-year-old girls, they know they want to play ball, they know it”s something they want to do for a long time.”
You listening Mississippi State? Better start recruiting early. Bandwagon might not have any room by 2020.
So don”t let their team nickname fool ya. These girls have no problems with doing what it takes on the field to win. After all, like coach tells them: Why play in the heat where you”re sweating and bleeding and dirty, and do all that to aim for second or third place?
The Diamond Divas are a new team to the softball scene, having only practiced a few times and played in two tournaments. But this group of 11 players has already enjoyed success, winning a tournament with an undefeated record in Hatley. And last week, the Diamond Divas finished second in a state tournament.
The Diamond Divas start play in the two-day tournament Friday at 8 p.m. against Grenada Team Extreme.
Some of his players include Nealy McManus, who Glasgow nicknamed “Sparks.” She”s a 7-year-old shortstop from Millport, Ala., who joined the team as a sanctioned player from the surrounding area. She”s going to be a dynamic player by the time she gets older, if she keeps growing in the game as he expects, Glasgow said.
McManus tries to excel at everything she does – from left field to second base to shortstop.
“When her feet step across that chalk, she sprints – not jogs – to her position,” he said. “After the inning is over, she sprints back to the dugout. everything you ask her to do (she responds), ”Yes sir, no sir.”
“It”s a pleasure to coach her.”
Don”t forget about first baseman Emma Newman, a solid defensive player who prefers to lead by example, and Cammie Rogers, another versatile player.
“That”s what I like about this group of girls these coaches elected me to have a chance to coach,” said Glasgow, whose daughter, Jada, is a pitcher on the team. He has had to balance softball duties in addition to the two baseball teams he coaches. It”s been worth it.
“All of them, it”s just amazing how these girls from different little towns, you can just see the desire in their eyes when they show up to practice. They can”t get enough of it, they can”t learn enough, they can”t practice enough.
“It”s been a thrill. I have thoroughly enjoyed it. And I know I”m going to try and keep these girls together as long as I can.”
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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