Name: Brittany Horne
From: Manchester, New Hampshire
Grade: College junior
School: University of New Hampshire-Manchester
Votes: 23 
Why
I Volunteer
I am a volunteer at a softball league, Manchester Girls Softball League
(MGSL). I wanted to be a part of something greater than myself and
share the passion I have for softball. At MGSL I am a board member,
a coach of 10-13 year old girls and a coach of 5-8 year old girls. I
chose to be a part of MGSL because I am a student at UNH-Manchester
and there was no softball team for me to play on. I wanted to be on
the field. I chose to pick up coaching; shortly later I was asked to
join the board and this year I was asked to take on a second team. I
love being a part of the community and giving back to the girls and
sharing the same passion of softball that I have with them.
I am in charge of the two teams, coaching practices, games and
improving the girl’s skills. As a young, female coach I feel that
it is most important for me to be a proper role model for the girls,
particularly the 10-13 year olds at such a vulnerable preteen age.
As a board member, I am a member at large, I attend monthly meetings,
help improve the league and put extra time and work into the fields.
I put in anywhere between 6-15 hours a week at the field, during the
season and 6-10 hours a month during off season. The biggest
challenge for me is dealing with the young ladies’ parents. I am
much younger than they are and do not have a child in the league.
Often times I have to inform them of who I am and establish a rapport
with them in order to gain their initial respect. The challenge is
realizing I am young, but I do know what I am talking about and
getting that across to people in a respectful manner. The second
biggest challenge for me is thinking of different ways to coach the
girls. Some items I coach need to be explained differently.
The biggest satisfaction of doing this is watching the girls grow and
develop not only into softball players but nice young ladies as well.
I have learned so much as volunteer at MGSL, from communicating with
many different people and ages, to how to manage time more
efficiently and most importantly how to work with a large number of
people for the greater good of everyone.
In the future I hope to have kids but this volunteering will help my
communication skills and mu out of the box thinking. I hope to change
the lives of each of the girls I coach and hope to see them enjoy the
life they were given with healthy bodies and attitudes, I believe
that each and everyone of the people contributing to this league has
made a difference and the differences will be seen for years to come.
