Yarralumla Primary School has had an enthusiastic involvment in the Woden Valley Softball Association Saturday morning competition since 2010, when our first team,the Yarralumla Yahoos, registered for Diamond ball. More and more YPS children have discovered the fun of teeball and softball since those early days. In the 2014-2015 season YPS was represented by 3 teeball teams and 1 softball team, and came first in both competitions. In 2015-2016 YPS was represented by 2 teeball teams and 3 softball teams.
The sight of 40 or so happy noisy children throwing, catching, batting and generally having fun on the YPS oval has become a familiar one on Friday afternoons in the spring and summer terms, with parents endeavouring to organise the kids, impart a few skills, keep the training area safe, and get some exercise themselves at the same time. The YPS teeball and softball teams include all in the school – from Kindergarten up to year 6. Anyone who wishes to play is made welcome, INCLUDING children from other schools who do not have a team to join. Teams need 9 players and a couple of reserves if possible.
Friendship requests are considered, but no promises are made – teams are as balanced for gender and ability as we can make them.
All involved in the sport have seen how the children go from strength to strength as they play the game. They learn to be part of a team, to be responsible for each other, to follow rules and to play safely. They acquire a range of skills - throwing and catching, batting, running, active listening, active watching and strategy. All this while having FUN!!!!
The team equipment has been purchased primarily with the generous assistance of the YPS P and C Association. All players must get their own gloves however, and we encourage parents to have an adult sized glove, a ball and perhaps a bat and tee at home for practise purposes. Alternatively these things can be borrowed from the team kit, with the coaches agreement.
The YPS teams are all coached and managed by YPS parents, and parents of all players are expected to contribute to the running of the Friday afternoon practise sessions and the Saturday morning games in some way or another. On Saturdays each team needs a scorer, someone to “herd the sheep” (players must always bat in order), someone to check that the batters have a helmet on when they are called up, and two “base coaches” to tell the kids when to run. Fortunately, as the kids get older, they do become somewhat more responsible for these activities themselves! Finally, about twice a season each team has to provide 2 parents to assist in the canteen – if they don't, the team loses a point in the ladder!