Patriot District Softball Rivals Combine Talents For the Love of the Game

Rival District softball coaches from Lake Braddock, West Springfield,  Robinson,  Woodson, Pope Paul VI, and Fairfax volunteered their talents and love of softball to offer  a camp for young girls from the ages of 11 – 17 who want to sharpen their skills and make new friends along the way. 

JV softball coaches in the Patriot District, along with Pope Paul VI often talked about the need for young girls who want to make their respective varsity squads to work on the fundamentals of softball.  Lake Braddock Junior Varsity head coach, Megan Baney,  along with her assistant, Bill Myers, came up with the idea of offering a joint camp in the summer to do just that.   Coaches recruited girls from their junior varsity teams and feeder schools to attend the camp.   Approximately 25 girls throughout the region participated in the four day camp, with the fifth day being reserved for girls interested in pitching or catching..

Although the intended goal was to improve the fundamentals of the game, an added feature is improving the camaraderie on and off the softball field and developing good sportsmanship. 

While not every coach was able to commit to the five day camp due to job commitments, every district coach participated in preparing for the camp in some way, and every school in the Patriot District, as well as Pope Paul VI had players attending camp.

A special thank you to Club Pilates-Burke for donating water, gym bags, and assorted accessories to the softball players!

From L:  Tom Martin, Robinson JV Coach, Balima Smalls, West Springfield JV Coach, Erin Peterson, LB Varsity Assistant Coach, Megan Baney, Lake Braddock JV Head Coach, Bill Myers, Lake Braddock JV Assistant Coach, Ann Marie Boyd, Paul VI Head Varsity Coach.

Coach Smalls, Coach Peterson, Coach Baney, and Coach Boyd are all graduates of Lake Braddock and all played softball for the Bruins.   Coach Myers is a physics teacher at Lake Braddock.