Last softball season, after Coach Papandrea retired from coaching the Softball Team, the girls welcomed their new head coach, Mr. Hayes. The team last year had a good season, making it to the first round of the playoffs. The girls were excited to be part of the playoffs, but were unhappy to see themselves leave very quickly. FDR lost to the Juan Morel Campos Secondary School, with a score of 10-21. Coach Hayes stated that his team was not as competitive as the other team, but this season they are going to turn it around.

Q&A with Coach Hayes:

1.What specific coaching philosophy do you use?

Have fun, make the best of everything, learn as you go, and be good teammates. 

2.What is your biggest challenge as a coach?

Teaching the girls all the things involved in softball, all the different aspects of the game, and keeping them motivated throughout practice.

3.What is your team’s biggest goal this season? How will you achieve it?

We want to end the season with a winning record and advance far into the playoffs. How would we achieve it? Hard work and a lot of practice.

4.How are you getting ready for your first game?

We do a lot of different drills. We start with warm ups, catching, throwing, hitting, and just trying to mix everything around with drills. We also work on base running situations and fielding situations, throwing to the right spots, making sure we don’t throw the ball wildly around the infield, and making sure we run to the right bases.

5.What are some strengths and weaknesses of your team that you have noticed so far?

Strengths would be the commitment and the positive viewpoints of many of the girls. Some of the girls have joined the team without any knowledge of the game, so teaching them all about Softball is probably the biggest challenge we have.

6.How can the girls overcome these weaknesses?

Practice! Practice on the field, practice at home watching YouTube videos, and watching games.

7.Are here any current and up-and-coming players to watch for?

Sure! We have a lot of seniors who are going to graduate. Sad to see seniors like Ely Charcopa, Keylee Rivera, Lizeth Morales leaving the team, but there are great sophomore players like Briana Dobra, Chayrina Feliz and others. Cipattli Dominguez and Celine Lara are doing very well. I had them as freshmen last year, and they started to really develop into good players. The freshmen I have this year look like they are going to do great as well. It looks like a lot of positive things coming in the future!

Good luck to Coach Hayes and the Girls Softball team!