By Staff
WINNING TEAM n Ed Poole and his daughter, Victoria, enjoy each other's company on and off the softball field. Photo by Paula Merritt/The Meridian Star.
By Scottye Carter/The Meridian Star
June 17, 2001
When we are young, our fathers go out into the world every day to make a living so that we can go to school clothed, have a roof over our tiny heads, and have food in our hungry bellies.
But when we are young, we need more than just clothes, shelter and food. We need someone to love us, spend time with us and nurture us.
Ed Poole of Meridian is a project manager for A&B Electric Company. But for his daughter, Victoria, he is much more than that.
Poole coached his daughter and her West Lauderdale softball team this weekend in the under-8 softball competition at State Games of Mississippi.
He said coaching his own daughter was a challenge, but not a big one.
His daughter, Victoria, is a tiny, soft-spoken 8-year-old. She said she'll be 9 in September and that she plays either third base or left field.
In West Lauderdale's game on Saturday against St. Martin, Victoria started at third base. She had two outs in the first inning, and Poole shared a high five with another coach after the second one.
Other than that, he never acted as though Victoria were different from the other girls. He patted her on the back and said "good job" to her the same as he did for all the others.
Victoria pulled at the white ribbon in her sandy-blond hair as she said her favorite part of softball is being able to spend time with her dad.
Her father had nearly the same answer.
Softball is just one activity Poole and his daughter enjoy together.
Poole and his wife also have a 2-year-old daughter named Alex, and Poole said one day he may coach her in softball or whatever she wants to play.
Even though the West Lauderdale team lost their game to St. Martin, the score did not matter. In a few years, no one will remember, not even Victoria or her father, the coach.
What Victoria will remember, though, is more important than any softball game score. She will remember her father cheering her even when she messed up and hugging her after the hard-fought game. She will know that her father wanted to spend time with her, and she will have no doubt that her father loves her.
Scottye Carter is a staff writer for The Meridian Star.