She picked out a pink bat. She has a pink helmet, complete with sparkles that match the facemask. It all fits neatly into her pink Louisville Slugger bat bag. She’s ready for the big leagues.

I’m talking, however, of my 5-year-old daughter. She is about to embark on her very first season of t-ball as part of the Audubon Recreation Association’s (ARA) spring league.

She is playing in the “Girls’ Softball 6U” team, meaning those 6 and under. She is almost a foot smaller than every other girl out there. But, what she lacks in athletic skill, she makes up for in enthusiasm.

It is still unclear if my darling children will be as athletically inclined as their mother. Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t play in college or go pro or anything, but I loved sports. I enjoyed every moment of volleyball, basketball, softball and track throughout my high school career.

I got to be a starter on the first girls’ basketball team to go to the State level from my high school ever. Our town closed down the streets and escorted us back to our high school, complete with fire trucks, horns and sirens blaring.

I remember breaking the high school record for high jump. The fact that my body used to be able to propel 5-foot-4-inches over a bar is mystifying to me these days. But, then, that was a long time ago.

The same gangly, spindly, lanky athlete I was in high school faded into a curvier, older, more motherly woman. While my body is no longer often up to the challenge, my heart still loves the start of a new sports season.

Introducing my kids to the games I loved as a child is even more enjoyable. I am no where near as girly as my little girl, but she at least seems to have my passion for the game.

I may not have donned colors that more closely resemble Pepto Bismol than a sports’ team, but I’ll take her heart being in it over the look of it any day. She isn’t the fastest. She isn’t the most athletically inclined. She’d just assume look pretty as sweat, but nevertheless, my little girl was out there doing her very best. And, honestly, that is all I ask.

She got dirt under her finger nails. She let her tussled hair get covered in a baseball cap. She even got mud-covered knees in the process. But, my darling little princess loved every minute of it.

It seems the family has a new Queen of Diamonds. She’s excited to do her best, at least, and as her mommy, I couldn’t be more proud.