Coaches are expected to provide guidance and leadership to their players, but the teaching part of any game is often a two-way street. This past season, Pella High softball coach Krista DeMeulenaere said she learned a new skill set from her players while she got to know the personality of her team as a whole. In a recent interview with KNIA/KRLS Sports, DeMeulenaere said the unique experience for her as a coach this past season came from learning how to separate effort from emotion.

“They were not emotional-type of players – which are the type of players we’ve had in the past. For me, personally, that was kind of a challenge for me, because I’m sort of an emotional style of coach. I had to figure out how to adapt to them, and these young ladies taught me so much about how you can still dig deep without showing emotion up front,” said DeMeulenaere.

“They taught me how to do that, and I think that’s what I will take away from these young ladies; how on the outside it may not appear like they’re playing with emotion – they certainly are. You don’t have seven come-from-behind wins without digging deep and playing from your heart and playing with emotion.”

The Lady Dutch closed out the 2012 regular season with a five-game win streak – two of which were come-from-behind victories. In all, the Pella High softball team was 19-11 overall and finished in a tie for third in the Little Hawkeye Conference at 8-4.