It’s now time for me to go into my off-season workouts. I think I had a pretty good season; a lot of pitches on this old arm, but no worse for the wear.

As someone who has spent the better part of my life in this profession, you wouldn’t expect a newspaper professional to have an offseason. But, now that Sarah Cameron has fallen in love with softball, there is definitely an offseason for this guy.

Since well before Christmas, there has been a day or two each week spent throwing the softball, pitching in a batting cage and hitting ground balls.

There have been long toss, fielding work and hitting pop flies.

Lately, as the youth softball season approached, those day or two a week, have turned into a few days each week, and with the later days, the length of those times in the yard has inched ever longer.

But, like I said earlier, it’s off-season. Practices for teams with the Vicksburg Girls Softball Association and other youth leagues have started, moving the responsibility of hitting grounders to those far more experienced to do so, the coaches.

Now, as part of the off-season regimen, my job is to play chauffer to and from practice, play lead wrangler for two little boys who would rather wrestle with mud puddles than watch their big sister practice and play and invest heavily in the success of the park’s concession stand.

Last year, when living in Alabama, Sarah Cameron fell in love with the game of softball. It was her first year playing, and for her mother and me, it was our first year as ballpark parents.

For years, I had covered youth sports, spending hours at the ballpark covering games, interviewing coaches and observing over-zealous parents.

Then, last year, I quickly became one of them.

Never in my life did I think that I would be biting my nails, wearing a path in the area behind the bleachers pacing and feeling my heart-rate increase over the ins and outs of a youth girls softball game. There was a moment where I thought I needed help.

As we get ready for this season, I know Sarah Cameron is excited to play. She has so much fun getting between the lines and playing a game that she quickly found a passion for.

As for us, her mother and me, we will now move into our roles of supportive parents and interested observers, and bank rolls for the two boys and their concession stand desires. And, as for my throwing arm, I now thankfully have a few weeks to recover.

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Tim Reeves is publisher of The Vicksburg Post and can be reached by email at tim.reeves@vicksburgpost.com or by phone at 601-636-4545 ext. 122.