CrushIntroduction
The Anderson Crush team is a softball travel team, which
basically means a softball team that travels city to city playing
in competitions. My travel team tries to win tournaments for
trophies, recognition and to be able to enter other tournaments.
This is the group I decided to research. I consider softball teams
to be discourse communities because they basically follow the six
characteristics of a discourse community constructed by John
Swales. My team has common public goals. Our goals are to join into
tournaments, like other softball teams, to compete and to
experience alongside our teammates. We also have our own
intercommunication. Anderson Crush has its own way to communicate
between the coaches and players by using hand gestures and short
sayings. Each team member participates in some sort of way to
benefit the team, such as playing in certain positions. The team
has a genre that keeps the members in line and keeps the team
functioning properly, this is also known as the roster or lineup.
This lets the team members know where they are playing and when
they are hitting in the lineup. A teammate will glance or even
memorize the roster, to make sure they are in the right position
for the game. The lexis of the community is the slang and hand
signals that are arranged with the team. Also, in this group there
are a variety of levels of experience such as a coach, who is
considered to have the highest level, and the players, who have
experience but not as much as the coaches. I have chosen my
softball team because it is the only community that I have been
involved with for the most of my life and is a grand example of a
discourse community.Methodology
To truly understand and identify my softball team as a discourse
community, I had to research, observe, interview and analyze. I
gathered information from my father, who is the founder, a coach
and manager of the team. He has kept old copies of liability
insurance. He also kept an official record of the teams roster for
a sanction tournament. The documents show some glimpses of a
timeline of the softball team. These papers display what is
required for some tournaments such as insurance or a roster.I
observed two settings. Theses settings are common amongst my
teammates and I. I observed a training facility and I also was a
spectator of a softball practice. I would observe, practice, then
when break time came, I would write what I found. I interviewed
different people with different levels of experience and expertise.
The interviewed were Brian Schmitt, my father and head coach, and
Rachel Sherwood, my teammate. Both have experience in softball but
the intelligence about the sport is quite different.Results
Observation Account #1My first observed setting was on February
21th. This observation was in a training facility known as Fuel
Performance. When I was looking for the building, I couldnt
recognize it because it was painted a dull grey just like the other
neighboring buildings. The building is quite small for how many
people actually workout inside. When the team walks in, we have to
sign our names on a piece a paper so the employees know that we
showed up to our appointed lesson. All I can smell is sweat like a
gym locker room. At first it is very off-putting but after working
out at this facility for over two years, you get use to the smell.
The speakers that are placed all over the building play music,
mostly something upbeat. When I first walk in I see a small area
with weight lifting machines. Off to the right there is net draping
on wire; those are the hitting cages so the team can practice on
their swings. Finally in the back the floor is covered in turf that
you would see on a football field. It even has the white lines and
numbers from football. On left side, the wall is covered with all
sorts of exercising equipment; bungee cords, dumbbells, exercise
balls, yoga mats, sleds, etc. The facility is like a commercial
workout facility but compacted like a smart car; has everything you
need but does not use as much space. The ceiling has bright
industrial lights that warm the building up like an incubator and
we are the little chicks. Now our trainer, Horace, tells the team
to grab exercise rubber bands and stretch for about 15 minutes very
enthusiastically. We grab florescent yellow 20 pound jackets and
bungee anklets. These are worn during the whole lesson. Everyone
lines up after putting on their appropriate equipment. Chit chat
and mumbling occurs on and off between each set. Then he tells them
what he plans on having the team do today. Of course there are some
moans and faces of disapproval.Go! he shouts.We thrusted our knees
up and down repeatedly until he told us to stop. The first turn
doesnt seem to affect me very much. However, after the third,
fourth and fifth turn, my face started to perspire and change to a
cherry red. It became harder to breathe and it became shorter and
faster the more I moved. Although Horace puts us through some tough
exercise he always encouraged the team. He never stopped cheering
and making positive comments about how everyone is working hard.
Even the other team members are cheering on the ones who were
struggling.You got it, dont stop. All most theregood job, one of
the girls cheered.After a good effort on an exercise task he,
allowed the team to have a 5 to 10 minute break for a drink of
water, using the bathroom or allowing us to catch our breathe. One
of the team members, Allie, looked pale and sickly. One of the
other girls, Sydney, checked on her and make sure that she is ok
and offered her some water and a towel to wipe off the sweat from
her forehead.Hey, you ok? Sydney asked.Yea, I just need to take a
minute Allie replied.After we finished lifting weights and some ab
crunches, Horace then grabbed a metal black sled and added round
weights to it. Sled time Horace grinned.None of the girls looked
forward to this exercise, not even me. It takes all the energy out
of you, thats why he saved it for last, so we would be all
exhausted by the end of the lesson. I grabbed the poles attached to
the sled and used my legs to push the sled across the small
building. The team flew across the floor in the first set but after
that, I could see exhaustion in the teams eyes. After our 5th set,
Horace told us that we were done for the day. Everyone was so glad
it was over. We grabbed our stuff, said our thank yous and goodbyes
to Horace and went home.Observation Account #2The next event was a
softball practice on February 22nd. The team players started to
show up to the field that is normally practiced on by our team.
Some showed up early, some late and some not at all. Everyone
greeted each other when entering the dugout.Hey, whats up? Rachel,
the second basemen asked.Not much, just tired said Sydney.Same here
girl.All the players, including me put on their cleats and grabbed
our softball gloves and picked a partner.Rachel? one looked at
another questioning.Yea, heres a ball.The team warmed up by
stretching and throwing the ball back and forth. Some, like me,
took their time making sure their throwing form is being performed
correctly. Others didnt show that much consideration for their
form. During warming up, most of the girls gossiped about what is
new in their life, like whos wearing what to prom. After warm ups,
we lined up one by one in the fielding positions. The coach yelled
what was going to happen and where we needed to throw the ball. He
hit the ball and I fielded and throws like was routine. The other
girls followed by behavior. It is mostly quiet because we all were
focusing on our personal performances in practice. After one round,
the coach had he team pick the position that we usually played
during the game. We hustled to the spots and crouched ready for the
play.Go first! the coach shouted as he hits the ball.The ball shot
to a fielder and she scooped and threw swiftly, trying to get the
ball to the base as fast and as accurately as she could. Each girl
on the team gets a try to field and throw. I thought, personally, I
did a pretty good job. The catcher is usually the one who is the
most communicative during the game. Since the catcher can see the
whole field, it is her responsibility to make sure that the players
know where to know during the game. When practice is over, the team
gathered up and listened to the coaches talk about certain things
they noticed during practice or pervious games and what they wanted
us to change. I paid attention to the coaches for most of the team
meeting. After the coaches were done discussing about any issues,
the team gathered closer together and placed one hand in the
circle. The catcher counted down.Onetwothree!Crush! the team
shouted.We gather our equipment and things and go home.Interview
SummariesThe person I interviewed as the high level of expertise in
the community was my father, Brian Schmitt. He has played baseball,
which is similar to softball and has coached for over 10 years. I
asked him a series of questions pertaining to his experience with
the team and the communication between his players. The reason he
created the community was to coach his children and give girls, the
same age as his daughters, a chance to improve their skills in
softball. Explaining his excitement for the team, Brian said he was
looking for girls who had natural talent and who wanted to play. He
thinks that his experience with baseball helped with relating forms
of throwing and hitting to softball. His goal is to have fun with
other people who have the same interest and teach younger members
to reach their full potential. Another goal is to try to win some
tournaments, if possible. The coaches try to achieve these goals by
having practice and enter tournaments so the team can show and work
on their skills pertaining to softball. He is very proud and feels
accomplished of the goals set for this community and its members.
Brain explains how the team communicates by hand gestures which are
called signs these are used during a game when the team does not
want the opposing team to realize what they are up to. These signs
are highly enforced and discussed with the pitcher and catcher. He
mentions that the team players communicate with each other and to
the coaches by cutting sentences. Such as instead of saying throw
to the first base, they say go one. The reason for codes is to be a
lot easier for the team as a whole.My other interview was with my
teammate Rachel Sherwood. She has been with the team since it was
created and compared to my other interview; her experience is
lesser to Brian. She said that she heard about the community when
Brain Schmitt called her to see if she was interested and he wanted
her to play for the team. What influence her to join was that her
brothers played baseball so she wanted to do something too. Rachel
joined about the same time when the team started. She said that she
was nervous but really excited about playing with her friends.
Since most of the team members started the same as she did, they
all treated each other fairly nice. The requirement that the coach
told her, which was expected, was to pay a yearly fee. She said she
had no clue what talents she could have shared when she first
joined but after being on the team for over 10 years, she stated
that she did have a lot more to offer compared to the start of the
community. Rachel explained that her goals within the community
were to have fun with her friends and try to win. She overall
agrees with the goals that Brian set for the team. She said that
she feels the team is family to her and that she has had a lot of
fun being a part of the community. The team communicates with signs
and short sayings Rachel stated.Discussion/ConclusionThe patterns
that I found included our goals and communication. I found a
pattern that the team works together as a whole but each team
member has to do things on their own in order for the team to
benefit. Our goals, for the community are generally consistent. The
team always wants to strive to be better and try to win
tournaments.Communication is key when it comes to the function of
the team. Shouting and yelling is a common norm in the softball
community. They find it normal to cheer on their own team because
to them they have to work together to win and if one is no working
then it is nearly impossible for the team to succeed. No
communication, no progress. I find it interesting and unique that
how the ending of the community, everyone considers their own
teammates as family.