We are now at the point of softball travel ball where the season is winding down and teams are playing their final tournaments. It looked like such a long summer ahead back in May, yet here you are with just a few games left to play.

For many players, their thoughts have already turned to tryouts for next year. In fact, many of you have either already gone through the process or are in the midst of it.

But there’s one special group of players who aren’t thinking about next season: those who are playing their final season of travel ball. Those are the ones I want to address today.

It’s sure been a long journey for most of you. Maybe you started when you were 8 years old without a clue as to which field was right and which was left.

Maybe you started when you were 10. You played a couple of seasons of rec ball and then someone said, “Hey, you should try playing at a higher level,” or your friends were doing it so you thought you would too.

Or maybe you were kind of late to the travel ball party, starting around high school age. You had a lot of catching up to do but the effort was worth it

Whatever road you took to get here, you all ended up in the same place – the final games of your travel career.

If you’re not playing in college next year this is most likely the last time you’re going to play fastpitch softball at a truly competitive level. Sure you might join a club team if you go to college, or a slowpitch team that plays on a weeknight.

But it won’t be the same. The intensity of practice and the level of commitment required will be far less, and the overall atmosphere will be more laidback.

And even if you are continuing to play in college it will be a whole different world. No more spending 12+ hours at the ballpark with your team as you play five games in a day.

College teams play one game per day for the most part. About the only time they play more is if there was a rainout or a rainout is expected the next day. Then they will play two.

Unless you’re in the Women’s College World Series playoffs there won’t be dozens of other teams around either, sitting on the sidelines under canopies listening to music on earbuds or trying to catch a little nap. Just you and your opponent who come to the ballpark, play, and then leave.

It really is the end of an era for you, which is why it’s important to take a few moments as your travel ball career winds down to appreciate this very special time in your life and appreciate the journey.

As you go through these last few games, don’t just treat them like another day in a long series of days. Take a little time to appreciate the whole experience:

• When you’re warming up for your first game of the day, stop and sniff the air. Our sense of smell has the strongest connection to our memory. Even a faint hint of a familiar scent can trigger powerful emotions. So take a deep sniff and notice the fragrance of freshly mowed grass, a sweet breeze on a hot summer afternoon, maybe the hint of rain in the air, the charcoal coming from the grill at the concession stand, or even the leather in your glove. Someday, when you’re much older and making your way through the world, these sweet fragrances will take you back instantly to a time when your biggest care in the world was hitting your spots or not getting suckered in by a changeup.
• Take a moment to appreciate a freshly dragged and lined field. See the beauty of the chalk as it outlines the field of play, the world you’re about to inhabit for the next couple of hours. Enjoy the contrast it makes with the playing surface. (This also applies to turf, just in a different way.) You’ve been here a million times, sure, but have you ever really noticed it? The (hopefully) smooth surface and straight lines give promise to endless possibilities, It’s the perfect metaphor for what your life is about to become. See it and think of all the fields in all the places you’ve played, because soon the field won’t be yours to play on anymore.
• Enjoy the camaraderie of your teammates and being part of something larger than yourself one last time. When you first started you were probably among friends you already knew. Now, perhaps, you’re among friends you’ve made along the way, essentially by necessity as you all came together for a common goal. You will probably not remain close with most of them, but at some level you will always have a bond that time and circumstance cannot break. Years from now if you run into them you will talk about all the good times you had, and you may even be transported back in time for a few moments to when you were young and playing softball well seemed like the most important thing in the world to you.

Life rarely gives us a heads up as to when this will be your last time to do something you love. Parents never realize it’s the last time they will pick up their child. School friends rarely know it will be the last time they all meet at the playground.

This one, however, does have an expiration date. Take a little time to appreciate the entire travel ball experience one more time.

And when the final out of your final game comes and the cheers die down, win or lose, take a little extra time to soak it all in for as long as you can. Such days as these will rarely come again.