Playing high school softball in Minnesota is pretty much unlike competing in any other state.

It can be zero degrees out with a foot of snow on the ground, but the diehards in the Land of 10,000 Lakes stiill find a place to practice and hones their skills.

So says Auburn-bound Justus Perry, a junior infielder from Prior Lake High (Minn.), who had a great summer in 2014 capped off by helping her Birmingham Thunderbolts 97 team finish in the top 10 at the PGF 16U Nationals.

In today’s blog, she explains how tricky it can be to stay sharp and even the struggles to find a place to play.

Justus is rated as a top 30 rated prospect in the 2016 Hot 100 and is one of the dedicated and passionate club softball players in the country.

She travels across state borders to practice with her club team as she and her father, Mike, regularly travel the 2,000 mile round-trip to and from Birmingham, Ala. to practice and play with the Thunderbolts.

Perry has been an “AAA” All-State selection the last two years for one of Minnesota’s top high school teams.

It was at the 2013 PGF Nationals where we first met the talented sophomore and learned about an unusual talent she has for being able to take any word and immediately repeat it backwards! Check out this video to see Justus in action!

Also, be sure to follow Justus’ blogs and all those from our other great bloggers!

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The end of February/beginning of March in Minnesota means it is still snowing, temperatures dip below zero degrees, and a new high school softball season is about to begin.

Here in Minnesota we have no control over the weather, but school administrators do have control over the ability to help softball players have the same opportunities as baseball players.

This week at my high school, we start Captain’s Practices. The two other captains and I start the process of helping young players understand what a high school practice is like.

It’s my responsibility as a Captain and leader to help the younger players develop their skills and get in softball shape for the new season.

This year, like years in the past, a scheduling mishap and lack of available training space for softball players shows all too well that we have a lot of work to do to get on an even playing field with baseball players.

At our high school, we have two large gyms, but neither of the gyms can be used for training by the softball team. We also have two Junior High schools in close proximity. Both of these schools have two older gyms, and the softball team normally uses two of the gyms at one of the schools.

We also share one of the gyms with gymnastics and have to clear out their equipment when they’re done with their season. This ends up wasting one full day of training we could have used.

This year’s Captain’s Practice starts on Monday and goes for two weeks.

However, a scheduling mishap means softball cannot use the gym for five of the days during the two-week period. After two weeks of Captain’s Practice we start one week of tryouts.

We have approximately 50 players trying out for four softball teams. Again a scheduling mishap has the softball team starting the first two days of tryouts in three small pitching tunnels in a hitting facility in another city, 20 minutes away from our school.

As far as baseball is concerned, they are using the dome and hitting facility in our community for their after-school practices.

This doesn’t really cause tension between the two sports, but it shows that the administrators and schedule makers put boys baseball first in their minds and girls softball a distant next, when it comes to the use of the better practice facilities.

It is my hope that one day soon, our administrators and schedule makers will see the need for both sports to be on an equal playing field.

There are too many issues pulling young softball players away from the game of softball and lack of practice space should not be one of them.

All in all, our girls are very excited for the season. It’s a new team with new goals and higher expectations!

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” enoon sdeeccus tuohtiw troffe. Esoht ohw deeccus ewo rieht sseccus ot ecnarevesrep .” – Ramana Maharshi

–Justus Perry (@Justus_Perry18)