Women’s softball team looks to extend legacy to youth Published Aug. 4, 2008 By Walt Johnson 21st Space Wing sports reporter COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The last chance for people to see women softball players in action at the Olympic Games will occur in Beijing at this year's games. The legacy of women's softball will live on however in the hearts and minds of teams such as the Peterson women's varsity softball team. The Peterson women's varsity team completed play in the Colorado Springs city league June 30. The team finished the year short of its goal of winning a championship but calling this a losing season would be to miss the boat completely on what women's sports meant to the team and the base this year. Peterson hasn't had a varsity team for the past seven years and this year's team accomplished a lot for women's softball and for the young men and women that will one day take their place in the adult softball league according to Patricia Monday, a valuable member of this year's team. Mrs. Monday said she will be watching this year's Olympics with mixed feelings. She said she would have the pleasure of watching women athletes show how competitive they can be on the athletic field. Conversely she said a valuable asset to young people may be lost with the games not recognizing women's softball after this year. "This is the last year for competitive Olympic softball so I think we are going to lose an important part of women's sports," Mrs. Monday said. "I think it is so important to have women's sports because the players can become role models for so many young girls. It's very important that the little girls today have someone they can look up to in sports. We need those role models like Jenny Finch, Michelle Smith, Stacy Newman and Liz Hernandez." "I like the fact that women's sports have come such a long way I the past few years," Mrs. Monday added. "We have the (Women's National Basketball League) and other sports were women are being seen in such a positive light. It's great for young women to see that they can have a career at the most competitive level of sports. In the past before we had the women's sports leagues it was like we were being cut off at the knees after we reached a certain level in women's sports." Jan Driscoll, a member of this year's Peterson team, said the importance of women's softball and other sports has been slow to be recognized by the general public. She said there have been too many times in her life that she felt the women's program has been relegated to second class status in the past but slowly people are starting to recognize how valuable a role athletics plays for women as they take a role as leaders and team members in everyday life. "The young people that come to our game tonight got a chance to see us battle back when we were down," Mrs. Driscoll said. " We played as a team tonight, we never got down on each other and we trusted each other and that is something good for the kids to see how a team works together. They walk away saying look how hard the team is trying because they know we give 110 percent every time we come out here. That is what they need to see because in the future they will be out here playing and they will realize that this is a great game and that they will accept the fact they need to play the way we are now and keep this going." Melissa Sanchez said anyone who views women's sports as insignificant are doing themselves a disservice. She said as women take their place as leaders and team members it is going to be important to learn the valued lessons men have learned from playing in team sports. With the advent of women's and co-ed teams men and women are learning new ways to be good teammates it becomes a win-win situation for all involved. "Women's sports are very important because I can see where it helps in areas outside of sports," Mrs. Sanchez said. "For years I would see how the men would go out and play sports and have tournaments on the weekends and how that helped them bond. I have been here for a few years and this is the first time Peterson has had a women's softball team and I think it has been very important for morale that we have had this team. It has given us a chance to do something that we like to also which helps us feel better about being prepared to do our job for the Air Force." "I think it's equally important for young boys and girls to see how we can be competitive in sports and how we approach the game. What we can do is lead by example and the people coming up need the same example we had coming up. They all need to learn how to team build and watching us will benefit both boys and girls," Mrs. Sanchez added. From the beginning of the year Angela Young, Peterson varsity softball coach, said this year success would be a journey not a destination and that is exactly what the players said the season was for them. To a player the team said it was a great experience and a great time to play for the base though the results were not exactly what they would have wanted in terms of winning and losing. Still the players said they look forward to future years of playing women's sports and the opportunities they hope it will afford a new generation of women. "I think this year was the beginning. I think there are going to be women that come out for the team in the years to come that is going to make this team better and better. My expectations for this year were this was going to be a year to build a team and I thought we did a good job of doing that. I thought we met a lot of my expectations and I think it can only get better from here. We are getting ready to go to worlds and I think we will do well there. I think it can only get better from here," Mrs. Sanchez said. "We are always going to be a team that will not have the same players each year because of our military commitments. The teams we played have been together for years and they have developed good chemistry. Military teams have players that deploy and other things that make it harder to develop that unity the other teams have. We're working on it and hopefully it will get better in the future," Mrs. Sanchez added.