Coach Julia Meyn is ready to kick off another exciting softball season, as she welcomes athletes to tryouts with a focus on teamwork, skill development, and competition. With years of experience and a passion for the game, Coach Meyn is eager to evaluate each player and see who will rise to the challenge.

Maddie Foster, the team’s leader and captain, shares her excitement for the season ahead. She’s looking forward to building strong connections with her teammates and pushing everyone to perform at their best.

Foster says, “For tryouts I’m most excited to see everyone come out and compete to be on a team and be able to give all they have to prove they belong. For the season I am most excited to have fun on the field everyday while being surrounded by amazing friends and coaches. I’m ready to compete and really bond with all my teammates.”

Meyn says, “The tryout process includes a complete warm up of each session the athletes will  be scored for such as fly ball warm ups ground ball warm ups, then multiple coaches score based on skill level.”

The skills that Shadow Ridges Softball Coaching Staff looks for the most in tryouts would be fundamentals and seeing all the girls hustling on and off the field 

“There are fundamental daily drills expected of each athlete, such as everydays, the QB drill and many more to help focus on endurance exercise and mental strength,” says Meyn.

Having a good amount of experience is important when evaluating as Shadow Ridge competes at a level that includes safety precautions.

Meyn says, “Intramurals prior to tryouts are where we include a game situation to see an athlete’s softball IQ to take less pressure off of us coaches when it comes to tryouts.”

Shadow Ridge’s softball coaches evaluate a player’s emotional resilience by watching her recovery after she makes an error, such as keeping her head up after an error, not stopping communication, and just going after the next play that she gets a chance to make.

“Advice I would give to new athletes to the game would be to watch the sport prior to stepping on the field to see if it’s for you and something that you would like to be a part of,” says Meyn.

The athlete should be in good health and have endurance prior to tryouts so that she is ready to compete for a spot on the field. 

Meyn says, “I am most excited to watch my athletes work as a team and play at their peak each game.”