Published: August 09, 2006 10:35 am            

All in the family for Irish softball team

Many coaches and players say a team is like a family.

That was the case — literally — with this season’s Prince of Peace softball squad.

Of the 11 girls on the roster, six were the daughters of the two coaches.

Assistant coach Mike Ryan had four daughters on the team. Lauren, an all-state pitcher, will be a junior this year while triplets Rachel, Katelyn and Colleen will be freshmen.

Head coach Troy Dodd had two daughters on the team. Emily will be a junior this year and Samantha is going into ninth grade.

Both coaches say the biggest benefit of having daughters on the team is familiarity.

“You know what your own kids are capable of and know what to expect from them,” said coach Dodd.

“You get a feel for what their moods are and what they can and can’t respond to,” added coach Ryan. “I think you know just how far to push them. I’ve coached all of my daughters over the years. The only unusual thing is seeing them all on the same field at the same time.”

Opponents have certainly noticed the volume of Ryans and Dodds.

“I remember playing Andrew this year,” recalled coach Ryan. “Lauren pitched the first game and Rachel and Colleen pitched the second game. The Andrew coach said, ‘This is like that ‘Star Wars’ movie, ‘Attack of the Clones.’”

“I’ve got some friends who play for Northeast,” added Lauren. “When we were playing against them they were asking, ‘How many Ryans do you have on that team?’”

Every now and then, the triplets have even been mistaken for one another.

“Coach Dodd has called me Katelyn before,” said Colleen. “But that only happened a few times. For the most part, people could tell us apart pretty easily.”

Have the girls ever considered the uniqueness of their situation?

“I remember one time before a game we started talking about how many of us are related,” said Katelyn. “There are just a few girls that don’t have at least one relative on the team.”

“It’s pretty unusual,” added Emily. “When you consider we have the Ryans and Dodds, plus the fact that the Ryans are cousins with (team member) Emma Nelson, it seems almost all of our team is related.”

The girls say there’s a comfort level to playing with their sisters.

“I’ve seen my sisters play ASA softball over the years,” said Lauren. “So when they came up to join our team it wasn’t that tough of an adjustment. I’m comfortable having them play behind me.”

The younger girls say their older sisters have been role models.

“Lauren has been a great leader for us,” said Rachel. “She’s always looking out for us.”

“With my older sister on the team, plus Rachel and Katelyn, there’s always someone there to give you support,” added Colleen. “That helps a lot.”

“Emily helps me out, but she doesn’t force her ways on me too much,” said Samantha.

Of course, the girls admit they aren’t different from anyone else when it comes to one time-honored tradition of siblings — fighting.

“As sisters we fight a little bit,” said Katelyn. “We get frustrated with each other, but for the most part we get along.”

“We’ve had some bickering and we get on each other’s nerves,” laughed Lauren. “But when it comes to games we usually set it aside and go out and play.”

“Oh yeah, we definitely get into it sometimes,” added Samantha. “But we get over it.”

Like the girls, the coaches agreed that fighting is kept to a minimum.

“I’ve told the girls from day one not to bring stuff from home to the field,” said coach Ryan. “You’re always going to have squabbles among your kids. I think they did a pretty good job of not letting that carry over to the field.”

“Every now and then you have to step in and say, ‘Knock it off,’” said coach Dodd. “But that’s just part of how things go.”

The girls enjoy having their fathers as coaches.

“It was a little different at first,” said Samantha. “I’m usually not used to talking to a coach outside of games or practices. I can talk to him at home about things I’m wondering about the team. He’s there if I need help with something.”

“I’m used to it,” added Colleen. “I’ve played with Rachel and Katelyn over the years and our mom (Cindy Ryan) was coach. Now in high school our dad is coach, so it’s basically going from one coach to another.”

While the Ryans have been coached by their mother over the years, the Dodds also have been given support by their mom (Margaret Kuhl).

“Last year we were on four different teams, so she had a lot of games to go to,” said Emily, referring to herself and her siblings. “This year, with Samantha playing with me, it was a little easier for her since there were only three teams to go watch. She made it to almost all of the home games.”

Despite having their fathers coach them this year, softball doesn’t dominate family conversation.

“Sometimes on the rides home we’ll talk about the game, especially after losses,” said Lauren. “But once we get home we pretty much put things behind us.”

“We talk a little about the games afterwards, but usually it’s pretty quiet — especially after a loss,” added Rachel. “We all know how the game went.”

“We don’t really talk much about softball,” said coach Ryan. “During summer there’s so much going on. When softball is over, they hit the pool or whatever. I found out a long time ago that it doesn’t help to talk too much after the fact, especially if things didn’t go well.”

“I’ll sometimes ask my dad what I need to work on and he’ll give me some advice,” said Emily. “But other than that we don’t talk much about softball outside of games or practice.”

“We don’t discuss it much,” added coach Dodd. “If we have a game coming up, the girls may ask what a certain pitcher is like. But other than that we don’t take our work home with us. Once we leave the field, we’re done for the day.”

Even with so many daughters on the squad, the coaches say they treat the girls just like other team members.

“As a coach, it’s critical that you don’t show any favoritism towards your kids,” said coach Dodd. “Actually, you probably end up being harder on them than the other kids because of that.”

“I told the girls way back that the kids of coaches are held to a different standard,” said coach Ryan. “They’re often scrutinized more than other kids. I don’t want there to be a perception from anyone else that they’re getting by with something.”

The only downside to having so many children on the team?

“I’ve noticed our road crowds are way down,” laughed coach Ryan. “Last year we had about 10 sets of parents at games and this year we’re down to about four. I remember our first road trip I was looking around and wondering where all the parents were. Then I realized they were pretty much all there.”

As for a major benefit to having so many Ryans and Dodds on the team?

“If we ever cancel practice or have rainouts, it takes just a few phone calls to inform everyone,” coach Dodd said with a chuckle.

        

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