Scoutmaster's Minute & Coach's Corner
as part of a Mountain Top Experience

"At the Grant School I liked to play softball, even though I was not adept at the sport. We played on a gravel playground; lawn was out of the question. It always disappointed me to be one of the last boys chosen by the opposing captains when they selected their respective teams. This was because I would invariably drop the fly ball if it came to me or strike out when at the plate. I was always put in the outfield because fewer balls would come in that direction than at second base or shortstop. I envied Sheldon Gortat, who batted left-handed and who could hit the softball as far as the roof of the Grant School itself. I can empathize with boys who are thin, who are not coordinated, and who do not excel in competitive sports. However, two years later a change occurred in my life when, while playing softball at junior high school, one of the boys who was a local hero hit a long fly ball to center field. As I ran backward to attempt to catch the ball, I heard him say, "I'm safe! He'll miss it!" For some reason I cannot explain, I caught the ball. It was a moment of exhilaration and a turning point in my athletic prowess. Once I knew I could catch a fly ball, I made this the center of my athletic activities. I developed the ability to hit the ball as well. I thought it poetic justice that, in due time, I moved from the last to be selected to the first to be selected or captain of the team, and could hold my own hitting or fielding, even pitching, in the sport of softball."