U12 Phenix player Samantha O'Brien passes off the ball to her coach Kevin Waite in the team's practice on Thursday at Holcom Park.

When the 12 and under Lawrence Phenix-Waite softball team travels to Mustang, Okla., for the American Fastpitch Association “B” Nationals tournament at the end of July they will come bearing gifts.

The 11 girls on the U12 Phenix-Waite team will be loaded down with sunflower seeds, Kansas University memorabilia and other distinctly Kansas artifacts to exchange with their opponents in the first round pool play of the tournament. Phenix-Waite head coach Kevin Waite said the team has made the gift exchange a tradition.

“We’ve been doing it every year at Nationals,” Waite said. “They try to match us all up with a team who is not from our state for our first game and we all try to exchange gifts that represent our state.”

The Phenix-Waite team could use the representation, as they are only one of four teams from Kansas, and the only team from Lawrence, playing in the tournament dominated by teams from Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri and Illinois.

The team qualified for Nationals by finishing in the top two of a qualifying tournament. Phenix players say they can’t wait for the contest to get under way.

“I think we’ve been doing really well this season,” Phenix player Madison Brumley said. “I am excited to see what will happen at Nationals.”

The team has prepared for Nationals by scoring some top finishes in other tournaments. In the AFA “B” State tournament the weekend of July 7-9 the Phenix placed third overall. They recently took home another third-place finish from the Heartland Firecracker tournament over the Fourth of July weekend. The team finished their competitive league play the first week of July at Field of Dreams in Basehor with an 11-3 record, taking second overall. During the tournament runs the team has won 20 of its last 25 games.

Yet in spite of the long list of accolades, Waite maintains the team stays grounded in their true love for the game of softball. The team plays nearly year round and has games and practices an average of four nights out of the week, and sometimes more with big summer tournaments. Waite said the team has even played through their share of long days, like playing five games in one day at the Firecracker tournament.

“These kids truly love softball,” Waite said. “They love it so much that on their few days off they play for some other teams in the area.”

Not only is this kind of commitment a challenge for the players, but also for the families that support them. Waite himself knows this first hand.

His youngest daughter plays on the team and his oldest daughter plays on the 16 and under Phenix-Fyler team. Waite said he hasn’t had a softball free weekend since April.

“It takes a real commitment from the parents,” Waite said. “It is probably more important to recruit good parents and then teach the girls how to play softball accordingly.”

With all the commitment and responsibilities of year-round play, the players must also contend with academic and social activities.

“Our policy is that nothing from school interferes with softball,” Waite said. “Band competitions, track meets and everything else from school comes first. We work softball around that.”

Waite and his assistant coaches, Kenny Brumley and Mark Johnson, who is in the military and currently stationed overseas, try to make the Phenix team a fun and rewarding experience for the players who have to deal with competing activities.

“In one doubleheader we got to all wear different colored socks to have a little more fun on the field,” First year player Samantha O’Brien said.

Yet with all the fun and commitment, Waite hopes his players will make a very conscious choice to play softball in high school. Waite said one of his objectives for the team is to get them ready for the high school level.

“We want to try and give them the skills to succeed early in their careers,” Waite said. “Hopefully, once they are in high school by the time they are sophomores they will be playing on the varsity softball team.”

High school is still a ways off, for now Waite wants to enjoy the team while they finish out their summer season. He said he just hopes to keep the team’s good attitude going and to keep them playing hard. To the Phenix-Waite team, ending a good season positively would be good gift for themselves to go along with the ones they exchange at the AFA Nationals.