Grace Dabbs wanted to give young softball players from her hometown an opportunity she didn’t have when she was growing up.

Tuesday at Northside Park in Philadelphia, Dabbs and several other former Mississippi State softball players hosted a camp for young players looking to improve their skills. The morning session focused on hitting, while the afternoon session dealt with defense and pitching. Approximately 60 children were on hand for the morning session, with about 40 sticking around for the afternoon session.

“Me and a bunch of friends just retired and are done playing, so we wanted to get back into the swing of softball and help the kids out,” Dabbs explained. 

A Philadelphia native and 2017 graduate of Leake Academy, Dabbs played college softball at Mississippi State for two seasons before transferring to Samford, and as a late bloomer in the sport, she said she hoped Tuesday’s camp would help develop skills in young players earlier than they developed in her.

“When I was younger I never had anything like this,” Dabbs said. “I was absolutely terrible and had to go to lessons to get better. There weren’t any types of camps. We had team practices, but there’s only so much you could do at this age where you have to teach the fundamentals, and it takes four hours to learn some of this stuff. I wasn’t good until I was 16, so being able to pour back into the community is great.”

Jenna Ingram, 9, said she learned baserunning techniques like the banana turn.

“That’s when you turn in a curved shape and run around the bag,” Ingram explained. 

In fact, being on the basepaths is Ingram’s favorite part about softball.

“I like that you get to run,” Ingram said. 

Raylee Quick, 11, said she was taught the proper technique for taking a lead off a base.

“They taught me to take an angle from the bag because it makes the catcher think you’re closer to the bag than you really are,” Quick said.

Teaching children was a blast, Dabbs said, and she hopes the softball lessons will stick with them and make them want to continue playing the sport.

“I was nervous working with little kids, but they’re a ball of energy,” Dabbs said. “I’ve enjoyed it.”