Sophomore catcher, Maddie Westmoreland, encourages and coaches a Smithville clinic attendee. Members of the Indiana Softball team like Westmoreland volunteer their Wednesday nights for Smithville softball where major lesson taught is having fun and swinging hard!

Junior infielder, Katie Lacefield and Junior pitcher, Emily Goodin, (left to right) get energetic for the clinic to start.

Clinics have been in session all fall run by staff and players of the Indiana Softball team.

Sophomore outfielder, Kayla Ferrari, chases a Smithville girl with a water balloon. Part of the clinic was spent having fun with water balloons by throwing them at each other and practicing front toss to pop the balloons by swinging.

A Smithville player pops a water balloon in Wednesday’s water day. The girls were each able to pop a few water balloons and practicing their swing simultaneously.

Junior catcher, Bella Norton, high fives a Smithville player during the baserunning portion of clinic. The clinics mostly consist of games to get the girls competing against one another such as the baserunning competition which tests who can get around the bases the fastest.

A member of Smithville little league takes a swing off of a tee in Wednesday’s game. Besides just instruction and drills, the little league players also participate in games led by the Indiana squad.

Lacefield coaches players from third base in hopes of helping them with situational plays and baserunning tips.

Goodin poses with a Smithville girl on her back. The clinic has allowed the two softball teams, Indiana and Smithville, to bond and gives the Smithville girls, ages 5-13, players to look up to.

Players participate in a scrimmage at the end of each clinic while being coached by members of Indiana Softball. Part of the clinic is spent with intrasquad competition to improve the skills of players with real life game situations.

Some of the Smithville girls pose at home plate with Indiana staff members at the conclusion of the clinic.

Softball is a sport where members of a team must work together to be successful. Whether it be on the physical side of the game: getting hits to score runs, or the relationship side of the game: working cohesively to accomplish a goal, nothing in softball can be done without the help of a teammate. All age groups are prone to this, as shown in the Smithville Wednesday night clinics hosted by the Indiana Softball team.

Throughout the Fall, staff and players of IU Softball have been spending time with girls ages 5-13 who are members of the Smithville Little League. It not only has been a way for IU to grow the game of softball, but a way to give back to the community and to the young girls who look up to players on the college team. For a couple hours out of the week, the Indiana staff runs drills, plays games, and teaches concepts of the game of softball to participants of the clinics. Drills can range from teaching outfield drop steps to working on having quick feet in the infield, but a main focus throughout the clinics was an emphasis on base running. By playing games like who can catch the most fly balls or who can run around the bases the fastest, competition is enforced then affirmed with a friendly scrimmage separated by age group at the conclusion of each clinic. The most important part of the clinics, however, is to have fun and create a bond between the college players and the girls attending each clinic.

Indiana softball player, Katie Lacefield, says that “It is great to make an impact on girls who really look up to you as a role model to them. Every week we would come out and work on drills with them, and they are so willing to listen and copy what we do, so by week four it really showed.”

The bond that is created between college girls and Smithville girls has been evident by week four as well. The players are able to share laughs and memories together such as having a water balloon fight for the last day of clinics.

“Being able to work with the Smithville girls reminded me of when I was a little girl with dreams of playing college softball. Through the Smithville program we are able to create special relationships with the little girls, and we have even seen them at some of our games.”