Taylor McQuillin is a 16-year-old junior softball player at Mission Viejo (Calif.) High who recently committed to the Univ. of Arizona. 

One of the top pitchers in the 2015 class, she’s a standout student with a 4.2 GPA at Mission Viejo (Calif.) High School where she earned 1^st team All-Orange County honors this past spring.

Perhaps Taylor’s greatest accomplishment is she has done all this despite having to overcome birth defects making her completely blind in the left eye and with only partial hearing on the left side.

Here is her latest blog for Student Sports Softball… today, she writes about changing teams, getting familiar with new teammates and using the situation to make you a better player…

Be sure to check out Taylor’s previous blogs and those of our other standout bloggers!

 

 

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Each year is a new year, especially in the world of sports. There are so many teams out there with so many great players and each athlete has to find the right fit for them.

A lot of times, players tend to move teams or switch organizations for many different reasons. When you change teams it might be hard at first and you might be shy or nervous because you have to meet new people and start fresh with a brand new team. The team has to learn how to bond together with the new players that come and figure out how to play as a team with each person’s personality.

Personally, I have played on different teams throughout my time playing softball. I have enjoyed each and every team for a different reason but I feel that the Batbuster organization has done a tremendous job with their program and each team within it.

This is going to be my fourth year being a Batbuster and I am so honored for the opportunities that have come out of being a part of this organization. One of them is being able to play with amazing athletes and meeting people that will stay close to me throughout my life. I am excited to be playing with girls that I had played with my first year in the organization and I can’t for what this season brings.

Our team is already close and we are only a month into the season and I can’t wait to see us at the end of the year when Premier comes around again. I did not change teams this year but our team in itself has changed and I think that it is for the better.

As I have said before, each player changes a team for a different reason. To me the reason for changing a team is not as important as the outcome of the new team they are on. If a player is happy and excited about the team they are on and they feel it is a good fit for them, then that is what should matter to people.

Who cares if someone changes a team? Who cares if they have been on a team for a long time and then decided that it was not a right fit for them anymore?

It is ultimately their decision and their life. They choose to live it as they please and if they are happy with the team they are on them let them be happy with it. If they like it and it is a good fit for them, then good for them. If someone comes onto your team and they play the same position as you, then it shouldn’t get you down. It just means that you work harder than ever before and show what you are capable of doing. It should push you to do your best and to compete for the spot.

No one should ever let someone else control their happiness or their emotions. Only you can control how you feel because you are stronger than anyone else when it comes to yourself.

For me, I have no bad blood or bruised egos for any of the pitchers I have played with because, besides the coaches and mentors I have had, the other pitchers I have played with make me better each and everyday and they push me to my full potential and if anything, they have all supported me and I could not be any more blessed to have played with people like that.

I am honored to say that I still do—and I love having—that support of my team behind my back no matter what position they play. In all reality, your team should be your second family. The field should be your second home.

I have that and I am so thankful for it and every other athlete out there should be able to have that feeling as well.

— Taylor McQuillin