UCLA camp

We drove down on Thursday after I went to work for a few hours. Peyton started UCLA camp on Friday. We stayed in a hotel in downtown LA, and walked 1/2 a mile to Grand Central market for dinner. P was nervous, but it was actually quite clean and relatively few bums. Especially compared to SF. The streets were pretty clean, but she held my hand tight while we walked. We each had our own meals; Peyton and I split a seafood stew, while Brandon had fish and chips, while Dave had street tacos.


We took a little tram up in the middle of downtown, then walked back the rest of the way.

We went to sleep early, as we knew we’d have a long day the next day. We checked in at the earliest time to check in, and then we had to wait another full hour before opening ceremonies.

Dave caught this pic when p had to go potty. Aaliyah Jordan, Zoe Shaw and Stevie Wisz.

Coach I (Kelly Inouye-Perez) fired the girls up and gave them a pep talk before they were released for lunch.

We headed to lunch, then they came back for some station work.

They were evaluating girls to see their skill levels before dividing them into teams. They did finally split into teams, came up with a team name, and also a skit to present the next night. The coaches took down contact information for the kids who had phones. Peyton learned to be responsible for her gear, her meal ticket, and being on time from meals. She was a bit nervous for lunch, since she didn’t have a team yet, but she texted me that some girls asked her to sit with them. I was happy for that. She even met another girl named Peightynn. We found her again on the field for the evening. They took metrics that first evening. She sent me this text:

We drove back to the hotel after this day. On Saturday, she went to get breakfast, but wasn’t feeling very hungry. She got two muffins, and also got me one. We walked up with her to Easton stadium, where they got to play on the actual field the softball team plays on.

They also got to check out the locker room. One of the coaches told us we could take her out on the field and take pictures of her. We snuck her out on the field and had her in the dugout and in various places. When we returned, the girls had already packed up their stuff, and were heading out. They were wondering whose stuff it was, and we were guilty. We walked down with her coach, and she was walking with us, and told us, “She’s good. How old is she?” We told her she was 10. She said, “If she’s this good now, I can’t wait to see what she’ll be like as she gets older.” She did mention, “She’s silent, but good.” We didn’t know what to say! I mean, we know she works hard, but it’s validating to hear it from someone else. Her coach is a player herself on CSUN. I saw her tap Peyton on the shoulder and try to talk to her.

I asked her later about it.

We continued down the hill, dropped her off at her own lunch, then we headed to lunch in Westwood. We joined another mom who was lunching already, waiting to meet up with the girls again. It was a long lunch, at least 2 hours. We didn’t know what else to do. We headed back to the field after stopping for Diddy Riese cookie sandwiches. Now, they were scrimmaging each other. I had warned Peyton of the schedule, and that she shouldn’t eat too much. She wanted to eat ice cream in the dorms when she found out that we were eating it.

We watched her scrimmage against the other team her age/ability. She was the starting short stop, but she did have to switch out to outfield with the other girls to make it fair. They alternated innings. But whenever she could, she would position herself there. She hustled up even though it was pretty warm out there. We were under umbrellas and still pretty warm. We then broke for dinner. We headed out to Beverly Hills for dinner, picking up some food to eat back at the stadium, as the girls were watching a movie after skit night.
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Peyton’s skit required very little speaking, which was perfect for her.

The movie we watched was “Coco”. While we were leaving the stadium, another coach gave P a high five and said, “I remember you! You had 5/5 on your accuracy!”

We went home that night, as there was little traffic expected on Sunday. We still did leave by 7 am to get there with plenty of time to spare. She went to breakfast, and this time, she stayed in there and ate with her friends. She lasted at least 25 minutes this time. She even went to visit a dorm room of a friend of hers. I asked her how it was. Her response, “It was small. With bunk beds.” Her last station was another skill building with Bri Tautalafua, the third baseman.

She had them doing challenges, both infield and outfield. Surprisingly, Peyton did better in the outfield drills, coming in second for her team. She did run faster than the girl who beat her in the drill though, and Bri had to throw her a ball she didn’t think she’d get to end the multiple round tie-breakers. Finally, the girls had their last lunch, and this time, Peyton went all out. She didn’t have any more softball after lunch, so she had pizza, pasta and salad. And ice cream. They ended their day with shopping time in the student store, and fun and games, with water balloon toss. Coach I ended with closing remarks and then each coach presented their “Camper of the week awards”. I told Dave I was going to record. He thought it was presumptuous. I told him, if she didn’t get it, then I dump the footage. But on the off chance she got something, then I’d have it recorded! And I’m glad I did!

At the end of camp, she had made friends, namely a girl on her team from one of the strong LA teams in the area. She made an impression on the coaches, and had fun doing so. We didn’t get to see her coach after camp, as she went back to the field to clean up. We had Peyton text her thank you. She responded right away!

Next year she’ll go back and stay overnight! She’s ready now.

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