Maddie “Mac” McCallister, a 2027 C/UT for Lady Dukes 14U-Fouts, is at the USSSA Select 30 National Training Camo this weekend in Florida for the second straight year.
Here’s her blog from Day 1, Friday, Jan. 13, 2023.
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To start off the first day at Select 30, I went to register at the front of the Space Coast Stadium. There was hundreds of girls my age lined up behind me. While the 2028 graduation year players were already on the field in the stadium doing their testing. This year for testing, we had OnDeck Softball doing the Allister Index measurements. The Index consists of grip strength, overhand throwing velocity, hitting exit velocity, 10-20-40 yard dash, and the 5-10-5 shuttle.
The next part of our day was when we met our teammates and coach. Sadly, I was unable to meet my coach today, but tomorrow I will get to meet her. Other than that, I got to meet my teammates. They were all easy to get along with and we all meshed extremely well. We exchanged socials and phone numbers while we waited for the final ceremony to start.
The final ceremony was when we met the keynote speaker. This year, our keynote speaker was Delaney Spaulding. She is a former collegiate All-American, medal-winning Olympian, softball shortstop. Tonight, she spoke about her passion for softball and when it all started. She told us that it started for her at a young age when she went to her older siblings’ tournaments. Her most memorable part of going to their tournaments was taking naps on bleachers and being the bat girl. She would sit on buckets near the coaches and give her opinion on when the players should bunt.
Then she started talking about when she tore her ACL and her meniscus. This was a problem, considering the 2020 Tokyo Olympics were in a few months. She was very nervous and did not know what to do. Taking the tragic injury into account, she turned herself over to God and put all trust into him. Thankfully, she completely recovered. Another good thing, is that the Olympics were delayed a year due to Covid-19. Fourteen months after the injury, she fielded her first ground ball in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The whole thing about passion, that she wanted all the players to really hear about, was when she was injured, but didn’t quit and give up, thinking she would never be as good as she was ever again. Another and final point she wanted to get across was that she wanted to not only be known for softball, but also her faith. 💪
I am extremely excited to continue these next three days with my incredible teammates and coaches by my side. Tomorrow we do lots of skill work, and I have my first game at 2:45 p.m. ET. Stay tuned!🔥🔥🔥🥎🥎🥎
— #130 Maddie “Mac” McCallister
