The history of softball dates back to the 19th century. Over the years, since its inception, the sport has had a large following in the U.S and is arguably the most popular sport in the country. Research shows that there are over 30 million people who play softball in the U.S. even though softball is predominantly played by female players, its popularity among male players and coed teams has been growing tremendously in the recent past. While the sport is very entertaining and refreshing, there are a lot of other reasons why it has become a favorite sport for Americans.
Read my article “Why Americans Love Softball ?” below for more information.
Health
Softball involves a great deal of physical activity when playing. All the playing positions in the sport require players to be actively engaged physically. From the pitcher to batter and fielder, the players require doing extensive physical exertion when playing. Similarly, training and practicing for the sport also involve intense physical activity. The most fascinating aspect about this sport is that it can be played by people of all ages; the young and the old alike.
Softball players have healthy, well-built and strong bodies that boast of great body fitness, enhanced immunity and general body wellbeing. Players of this sport are able to maintain a robust and disease-free lifestyle.
Relationship Building
Softball exposes players to new people from different walks of life, ethnicities, careers, and cultures. This exposure makes it possible to create new friendships and build relationships. When you play softball professionally or even for fun, you get to travel to new places, compete against other players in tournaments; get to know empires and coaches as well as other people you may interact with while on the field. It is worth noting that these new relationships built through softball can enable you to create a broad network of friends, acquaintances, and contacts.
Playing softball as a team helps in fostering lasting bonds between team mates and other sportspeople. If you decide to venture into a career line or get into a professional career, the relationships you have built through baseball can provide you with rich resources which in turn can provide guidance and reliable help not only in your career but also in other aspects of life.
Team Work
Team work is arguably one of the most important and beneficial life lessons you can learn from playing softball. This is because softball teaches team work with the aim of working towards achieving a common goal. The team work skills you acquire from playing this incredible sport can go a long way in enabling you to lead a team (whether professional or otherwise) towards achieving set goals. Typically, no player in softball can play independently. This is because each player in a softball team has a valuable input that is designed to propel the team to its success. It goes without saying that team work can help overcome most challenges and barriers that can stand in the way of success.
Coping with Failure
Failure demoralizes people and makes them doubtful of their efforts and abilities. While failure is mostly a small setback in the path of success, it can greatly dishearten a person such that it leads to complete loss of motivation. However, this is not always the case with softball players as the sport enables them to understand failure and figure out how to cope with it. Softball teaches players that winning is not always guaranteed irrespective of how good they are in the sport. It helps them understand that there are times they will win and other times they will lose.
With time, failure becomes a very small setback in softball and most players realize that the best way to overcome is keep trying without giving up. This lesson not only applies in softball but also in life. When challenges seem to weigh you down and set you back on your success, the easiest way to overcome the challenges is by being consistent in your efforts without giving up.
Enhances social skills
Softball players are able to comfortably fit in any group. This is because the sport exposes players to people of different personalities, preferences, and moods. As such, it becomes easy for the players to get used to all types of people and embrace each other despite the disparities that may exist between them. Softball teaches players to have respect for other people and accommodate their mutual differences to work together towards collective victory. It is important to note that a setting in which players are able to interact freely regardless of who they are enables them to communicate effortlessly and effectively without any barriers. Such skills are essential for healthy interactions in other spheres of life such as at work or even in school.
Understanding the concept of winning
To most people, winning is achieving the end prize alone. However, this is not the same in softball as in the sport; winning refers to all efforts and contributions aimed at achieving the end goal. In sports, winning is a process and not an instantaneous achievement. Therefore, playing softball encourages the need to work together to achieve the goal as a team and share in the victory equally. This shows that each effort and contribution is as important as any other. This is a very important life skill that can put order and promote team work especially in the present times of excessive competition and greed.
Softball helps in relieving stress
After you have spent a hard day at work or school and need to refresh your mind in a safe and constructive manner, you can consider playing softball. This is because players of this amazing sport are able to release the stress that may have built up during the day and enjoy light moments in the field. Consequently, softball helps in sharpening the mind and in developing efficient hand-eye coordination.
Generally, the fun, enjoyment and excitement of softball lie in playing, competing and engaging other players in team work and not in the final result. This concept also applies in life as the experiences and memories in the journey towards a specific goal are more enlightening and well-rewarding than the end result itself. Softball applies in real life as it advocates the need to enjoy every experience and learn a few things as you work towards achieving a purposed target.
