I remember breaking out in hives and wiping the sweat from my brow as I nervously awaited my chance to walk into the brown room and hear if I made the varsity softball team. Some of the girls before me sulked and walked away with defeated stares, leaving me in a panic.

This year girls don’t have to face the fright of being cut as only fourteen people tried out for varsity softball, and eleven for junior varsity. Only two of the fourteen on varsity were returning seniors, and everybody will obtain a spot on a team.

What does this say for the softball program at JC? I remember my freshman year. The JV coach was cutting sophomores who had made the team as freshman because so many people had tried out. This year, the coaches are struggling to put together teams.

The decline in the number of girls who actually play softball differs greatly from the number of girls who would like to play softball. To me, softball has always been something to look forward to. It was my sole purpose in life as a preteen.

So now you may ask, why is it, that I am not playing softball my senior year of high school? This is supposed to be the glory year, right?  There’s only one answer. The fun of the game has been hit out of the ball park.

As we get older, sports switch from a Saturday morning social event to a lifestyle. You must devote every ounce of spare time to practice and training, leaving no time for homework or friends.

This normally would not have been a problem. I often think back to my days as an underclassman on JV, the good ol’ days that included rolling down the hill in between hitting and fielding, joking around with the coaches, and organizing social events with my teammates.

The varsity sports don’t seem to benefit from this type of amusement, causing many girls to abandon their former regimes. Softball just became another thing in my life that became more serious as I grew older. This is the case for other people also.

To me, sports are an important part of every childhood. It brings out a sense of youth that a kid wants to experience. If high school sports could maintain this youthful spark, the number of players would increase greatly.

It disappoints me that my favorite pastime is now a time of my past, but if high school coaches could learn to lighten up, this trend could end with me, and possibly many others.

Leah Polakoff is a In-Depth Editor for “The Patriot” and jcpatriot.com.