Carly Benjamin (’15) took on her Girl Scout Gold Award project in the early fall of 2013. It was then that she began to attend meetings, and she also started contacting certain people who would be able to help her plan her project.

The Girl Scout Gold Award represents the highest achievement in Girl Scouting. This award challenges girls to change the world in some way.

On Sunday, April 27th, girls from all of the different elementary schools in Glen Rock from third grade through eighth grade participated in a softball clinic at Coleman School. From 9am to 2pm, Carly oversaw drills that she instructed with the help of her team members and coaches from the Glen Rock High School Softball Team.

In the morning, the girls had practice in the outfield and the infield. After that, everyone had a break for lunch. A pizza lunch was sponsored by Francesca’s for all of the players and volunteers who assisted Carly.

Carly then gathered everyone and shared a speech she has written about perseverance, confidence, and sportsmanship. These attributes, she said, are all things very important to becoming a successful athlete.

Although Carly could have chosen any task for her Gold Award project, she chose to run this clinic because she noticed that the softball program in Glen Rock is diminishing. Young girls need to be a part of the program in order to continue to muster a strong high school team once the current members graduate.

Carly originally conceived of her Gold Award project during a softball camp run by the Varsity Softball Head Coach, Kelly Dowell, during the summer.

“I saw how much the girls enjoyed Dowell’s camp,” Carly said. “I kind of wanted to simulate that and have a current Varsity player do it.”

Carly related her clinic to a “mentoring system,” as the older girls have one-on-one interactions with the younger girls.

Hannah Daschil (’15), a volunteer that assisted Carly, said, “She’s been planning this for so long and for it to finally happen was unreal. Everyone was enjoying themselves, especially Carly. I could tell how much she loved teaching the younger kids about the sport she loves and the sport she has a passion for.”

Carly hopes “to see an increase in the amount of participants in softball, and to get more girls excited to play in the high school level.”