Wanna win? Play hard, have FUN!

We at the Bedford Girls Softball League have a simple underlying philosophy when it comes to girls softball - it has to be fun.

Some of the most successful men and women in the world work at what they do far longer than they have to - because to them it's not work, it's fun. 
When we tell the girls 'make sure you're having fun' we mean different things at different ages. For the younger ones softball games are more like a pillow fight, as they get older the 'fun' gets more competitive. The flavor matures, but in the end, it still has to be fun.  Some adults are lucky enough to have a job that we would do even if we didn't get paid for it, or volunteer to do something we love,  for the fun of it. 
After the Red Sox won the 2013 World Series Shane Victorino talked to Chris Berman of ESPN about his year and the series - the difference for him in 2013? He decided to 'play little-kid' ball - just go out and have fun.
Winning is important to us too, and becomes more so as the girls get older - they are expected to play harder, understand that they are playing for a reason and an outcome and not just to kill a couple of hours with their friends. We value success, we value effort even more. But it still has to be fun.

The Monday after the Super Bowl, Peter King reported in MMQB: "This is what I saw during the week: a team having fun at practice, like it was some dance party..."  Any guesses on which team he was referring to? In the same article Seahawks fullback Michael Robinson offered this:  “Football is a game.  A game. Pete has figured that out. He makes football fun. All aspects of it—practices, games."

If it's good enough for a World Championship caliber professional football team, it's good enough for us.

So when we ask the girls to take to the softball field, we ask them to "Play Hard. Respect Others. Respect the Game." And most importantly, HAVE FUN.