While it's great to have insurance, sometimes the wheels can turn slower than we would prefer. After about 4 weeks of waiting, I finally got insurance approval to schedule an appointment to get measured for my custom-fit ACL brace (last Friday). I've been waiting impatiently, because I'm not supposed to start practicing soccer or roller-blading until I'm wearing it.
I thought the technician would slather my leg with plaster, but it turns out that things have improved! He simply took some mesh (looked similar to dry wall tape) that was coated with substance - when submersed in water, a chemical reaction begins, resulting in a slow hardening. I got wrapped up and we rubbed the tape (which got warmer), and then finally, it was rock hard within a matter of minutes. Very cool! It took only another couple of minutes to cut me out of the cast, which is now at the brace-making factory (I should be receiving it within another week). The technician also told me that the facility now has a body scanner so had my appointment been a little later (a few weeks?), the machine could have scanned me just standing there and the brace would have been ready within 3-4 days. I'm constantly amazed by the quick pace of technological improvements!
Mika had her third tournament this past weekend in Indio. In case you didn't know, this city is hideously HOT! Most of the team stayed at a hotel over the weekend, but we were loathe to do so, for a variety of reasons - mostly because we had just returned from Scottsdale and didn't want to deal with the expenses or hassle of packing/unpacking. It turned out to be a good idea, because at least we could escape from the heat! Mika's team lost in the last inning of the championship game (again) against the very same team that beat them at the last tournament. On the bright side, at least they got a medal this time!
Mika was moved to right field (a disappointment to us, if she was being punished) and we were very puzzled as to why - until we saw the stat sheet (the scorekeeper is keeping track on a mobile app for stats). The scorekeeper is assigning errors pretty harshly, so if Mika throws it in but whoever is receiving it doesn't catch it (for whatever reason), it's an error recorded against Mika (and only Mika). We were not pleased to see how many errors had been scored against her (at least half the time, whoever was catching it should have caught it), although yes, she has had a few. While we don't begrudge her being punished for her lack of perfection, being sent to outfield should not be used as a punishment AND perhaps more importantly - we are detecting a significant level of favoritism on the team (Mika is not one of those specially favored). There isn't anything we can do about this, because if we say something and get labeled as a troublemaker, that may result in our girls not being selected in future years.
What also bothers me was seeing Mika looking depressed and unhappy, after she was sent to right field. Actually, it broke my heart! You could just tell it was bothering her, even though she denied it. Once we saw the stat sheet, we were sure she was being punished and told her that her shift was a result of her errors (she didn't know what an error was or that they were being recorded against her - it's kind of brutal to be scored that way, when you're only 7-9 years old, if you were to ask me). She was in shock and started crying. We think that Mika's very talented at softball, but she doesn't like to push herself to the limit - so this was a lesson to her that she needs to try harder and even during practice, she has to push herself. Only time will tell if this is a lesson she'll embrace or ignore.
I should point out that we talked to Mika about this Tuesday evening after practice. Thursday - before practice - she told me that at Wednesday's practice, the scoreekeeper had told her, "I put you in right field because you can play there before than anybody else." That was sweet of him to do, but I don't believe him. It made her feel better at least, I suppose.
Some good news - Mika has been batting really well with "Buster, the Green Monster" - she's batting something like 0.520, or fourth highest on the team (the two leaders are over 0.700, which is incredibly good!). She also has only THREE strikeouts for the entire All Star season (the lowest for the team), which is excellent (the person with the highest has 16). DaddyDude is really pleased with her batting stance and I'm proud that she's not intimidated by any pitcher so far!
To brighten Mika's spirits and to alleviate Marika's boredom, we decided to hire a pitching coach to get Marika started on pitching (she's been asking for the past couple of months). Mika is taking the lessons with her sister, even though we are doubtful Mika will be a good pitcher - ONLY because she is very emotional (something a pitcher can't afford to be). We told Mika this and challenged her to prove us wrong - I'm hoping she will start to calm down and be able to focus better, even in the face of adversity.
Both girls were giddy with excitement, before their lesson. We liked the instructor (who has a very impressive resume, I was pleased to see) and after the lesson, the girls wanted to practice, practice, practice! I liked that the instructor broke down the mechanics of pitching to a few steps - the girls only learned the first few and are pushing to do the whole movement, but we are telling them to go slow and only work on what she taught them. We don't want them learning any bad habits, since those will be hard to break. I think it's interesting (and telling) that the girls are so willing to practice pitching, whereas I KNOW I would not see this same reaction if I were teaching them the piano!
Only a few more weeks until the last softball tournament, but we're already getting ready for soccer over here. I've officially committed to coaching Marika's 8U team and have volunteered to coach Mika's 10U team as well (still waiting to hear back from that commissioner). I'm excited! Coaches are allowed one player request, so I took a former player from Marika's team last year (and her younger sister) and Mika will be playing with one of her classmates - whose parents we are good friends with (and are extremely helpful) - and who is an excellent player. Woohoo!
