Exactly one year ago today we put up the first article on this site, StudentSportsSoftball.com, which was actually the second version of the site, which originally ran from 2006-2008 (thus all the “From the Archives” that we pull from that time period).

Looking at SSS.com II over the 365 days, here are some stats of note:

• 700 posts (written, videos, photo galleries)
• 13,383 reader comments
• 225,253 different visitors

One thing I’m proud of is the variety of content we’ve been able to put up—from videos to Hot 100 lists, player blogs to articles submitted by athletes and coaches, Q&A’s with college coaches to player and team spotlights.

But my favorite type of content deals with the human interest stories… getting to know the subject and learning the compelling story behind the success.

Wearing the hat of writer, editor, photographer and site producer, I don’t get to do in-depth stories like this as much as I’d like because of the time it takes to bring it all together, but there have been some times where I’ve been able to roll up the sleeves and get into a subject that was too good to pass up.

Here is a list of those that I enjoy the most primarily because the subject is so interesting.

Let me point something out: we’ve had fantastic articles and blogs written by athletes and coaches, but I’m not including these because I don’t want to include some while leaving others out!

If I would have, though, one of the best would have to be the one by Jen Schroeder who told us about Reggie Harrison in the article Tragedy hits Arkansas softball (2/26/14). Reggie’s father, Steve, passed away suddenly in February with a heart attack and he was her last surviving family member.  The fear was the freshman at Arkansas wouldn’t be able to pay for his funeral expenses, but the softball community came through in a big way and tripled the originally desired dollars need to pay for the adoring father’s funeral.

It was also the highest trafficked article done over the last year because the softball community got the word out and helped out, showing what’s so great about this job–having a front-row seat to being around a wonderful group of people: you, the softball player, parent, coach and fan!

So what you’ll see below are articles that I was privileged to write myself…

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My Top 10 Favorite Stories Over the Past Year
Note: articles listed in order of most recent to oldest.

Aidan Falk: A Sister’s Greatest Gift (5/27/14)
Noteworthy: Aiden Falk from New York is a top player going to Michigan but she put aside her burgeoning softball career to donate bone marrow for her sister, Emma, who was battling leukemia.  This wasn’t me writing the story as much as piecing together info and quotes from the family in what became a great tribute to sibling love.  My favorite part of the piece and my favorite quote of the year comes from Aidan who was in great pain for a while and out of service for nearly six months, but shows the quality of character she has by saying, “The pain was absolutely worth it because of how much the transplant helped Emma, and I would do it a hundred more times if she needed it.”

Texas Bombers honor fallen soldiers (5/26/14)
Noteworthy: Scott Smith has had a long career in the Army and runs his Texas Bombers organization in military fashion.  He came up with a brilliant idea—pay tribute to fallen soldiers by putting their names on the backs of players’ jerseys who are from the same geographical area as the athletes.  It’s been a respectful way to honor the fallen and raise awareness and appreciation by the Bombers’ athletes of those who give the ultimate sacrifice.

To Those Who Defend Our Nation… (5/25/14)
Noteworthy: A rare first-person article, this was posted on Memorial Day as a tribute to my father and the others who server and have served our country.  I shared my insights to my father’s military background and also told of going to France, Belgium and Luxembourg where I got to experience first-hand the stories of past battles and how American soldiers were involved to the point of love and respect from those who benefitted from their dedication to fight overseas and sometimes giving up their lives in defense of others’ freedoms.

Coach Corta: Close to the Heart (5/25/14)
Noteworthy: This article spun out of another one we did called A Season of Adversity about standout player Bradie Fillmore who had a medical issue that threatened to end her career.  Fortunately, everything turned out good for her, but her Eagle (Idaho) High coach Doug Corta was diagnosed with a brain tumor and is battling for his life.  His team, showing their love and support, wore wristbands inscribed with his initial and a heart.  The community got together, even rival schools, to raise money in support of the coach.

Janie’s Inning (4/14/14)
Noteworthy: This was my favorite story of the year, a “feel good about humanity” piece that continues to resonate today. Janie Girouard from Louisiana has Down’s syndrome but that hasn’t stopped her from being a Team Manager and the biggest cheerleader you’ll find.  Her high school team and the opponents create a special end-of-game inning where Janie becomes the star and it’s brought together an entire community to make one great girl feel good over and over again.  At the end of the year, when her team won the state title again, we did an Update on Janie’s Inning (5/5/14)

“Faith Strong”—honoring Faith Anderson (3/21/14)
Noteworthy: No parent should ever lose a child. Ever.  But life isn’t fair and a member of the softball community, Ryan Anderson who works with Triple Crown Sports and his wife Lilly, said goodbye to their young daughter Faith who died in February from cancer.  This weekend, an event at Big League dreams is being played in Faith’s honor.  This article was to tell the family’s story and of the event called Faith Strong.

Elana Meyers: Olympic dreams fulfilled (2/9/14 & 1/3/14)
Noteworthy: One of the perks of the job is getting to interview great athletes and coaches at all levels and when I first spoke with Elana Meyers the week between Christmas and New Year’s, I was impressed with how down-to-earth and articulate she is.  The former slow-pitch player from Georgia was the first recruit in George Washington history and after her softball Olympic dreams fell through she went to another sport where in the last two Winter Olympic Games she’s won medals.  I did the article originally in early January and then updated the week in the Games when she was competing. And now, as updated in a short piece called Elana Meyers: softball to bobsled to ? (4/3/14) she might go after Olympic success in another sport!

Tara Trainer’s Road to Recovery (12/10/13)
Noteworthy: A horrifying car accident that including her being airlifted to a hospital and the subsequent nine month recovery didn’t stop Tara Trainer from Ohio as she returned to her pre-accident status this high school season and led her team to FAB 50 recognition by having an All-American type season.  I also did a follow-up article called Tara Trainer back on track (4/2/14) as she got back into the start of her season.

The 10 most influential people in softball today (9/13/13)
Noteworthy: Nothing gets people talking – and bashing you – more than a list.  In the first go-round of StudentSportsSoftball.com I did the exact same list through the exact same methodology: I sent an e-mail out to over 500 club and college coaches, administrators and event producers and spoke on the phone to anyone I could think of to compile a list of opinions.  Even if this sampling, I got criticized heavily on message boards, but I didn’t care—it was an opinion list and it got people talking and, like it or hate it, that’s a great thing, having a dialog, about anything to do with softball.  One good piece of advice I got which I’ll implement next time: bring the athletes’ opinions into it.

A parent’s perspective: softball sacrifices (8/19/13)
Noteworthy: At last year’s PGF Nationals I was wowed by Jenna Lilley as I watched her play for the Beverly Bandits.  She was amazing at the plate and on defense and as I sat in the stands I happened to strike up a conversation with none other than her mother, Debbie.  I learned that Jenna lives in Northern Ohio but practices with the Bandits in Chicago and makes the 14-hour round-trip drive every weekend when club is in play.  It was a great example to me of the passion and sacrifice athletes and their parents make, so much so that for Mother’s Day I pulled the piece out and reran it as A Mother’s Dedication & Sacrifice (5/11/14) with the same info and link.

 

Best of the Rest:

• The Top 10 Softball Stories of 2013 (12/31/13)
  Noteworthy: a fun and interesting, and informative exercise in looking at what drove softball in 2013.
• The Early Recruiting Dilemma (Part 2) (12/28/13)
  The Early Recruiting Dilemma (Part 1) (12/27/13)
  Noteworthy: a topical piece broken into two pieces because of length on what many feel is the top problem facing softball at the youth level: players committing earlier and earlier which puts undue stress on families and colleges alike.
• Maggie’s Long & Winding Road (9/19/13) 
  Noteworthy: a great example of how perseverance in pursuing a dream, in this case making to a major college, pays off as Maggie Ham went an alternative route in making it to a national power.