Leadership is Strength by Emily

Leadership is Strength by Emily - January 2026 Scholarship Essay

Leadership defined to me is constantly wanting to show up for your teammates and yourself. I have participated in softball ever since I was 5 years old. When I was little I was a part of the little league which led to the all star team. I played the little league until I could. While I was doing this I was also playing for a local travel team and we traveled around our area sometimes farther and competed in tournaments. This has lasted my entire softball career and I am still playing travel softball. However once my little league days were over I started to play middle school softball with all of my friends. I then moved up with age and started high school softball. I started varsity as a freshman at Floyd Central High School and have continued to play varsity all three of my years. I have not competed in my senior season yet because our season is not until spring. For the high school team I have been a captain the past two years and I have been chosen to be one for my senior year. I also started giving pitching lessons to anyone in my community or anyone who wanted to travel to get lessons for their players. I have been mentoring these younger players since my freshmen year. I have been trying to not only teach them itching skills but also life skills because pitching is one of the most mentally and physically challenging in sports. So I try to lead and coach them to be able to carry themselves on and off the field no matter what they play like. I try to lead the younger girls to not let their sports control their whole life and personality because ultimately these sports that younger athletes play are just games and I think that often gets overlooked. Through this sport I have learned leadership is not something that could be easily defined by words but by actions which to me is showing up not only for yourself but also the people around you who need you.