What’s the worst thing about walking into a crowd full of critics wondering just who the heck are you?

When the critics are not allowed stay up past 10 o’clock on a school night.

But it wasn’t anything Pascha Cater did not expect. Here she was coaching a team full of boys as the first female head coach in the 50-year history of Ferriday Dixie Youth, and there was a smile here and a funny stare there from the boys who for the first time in their lives were having to listen to a coach who wore makeup and had long blonde hair.

To them, the moment couldn’t have been more awkward had she thrown BP in an evening gown.

&uot;A couple of the little boys would make comments or would grin,&uot; Cater said. &uot;As soon as they would see I could catch and throw &045;&045; they don’t think you can do anything when you get out there. I guess I had to earn their respect.&uot;

Earn it she did &045;&045; from her players on to the parents, opposing coaches and the league administrators. In her first season as head coach, she guided the D&D Drilling Company Braves to a Minor League city championship after claiming first-half and second-half titles convincingly with a 15-1 record.

But it hasn’t been that big of a surprise to Cater and people who know her background. A veteran softball player growing up, she merely applied much of her knowledge from softball to baseball with the few tweaks to cover the differences.

Cater played ball ever since she was old enough, spent summer playing on the traveling Charlie’s Angels team out of Vidalia that placed at the World Series on a couple of occasions.

Her 10-year-old son, Colby Byrd, entered the 9-and-10-year-old division last summer when the league for the first time voted to allow women as coaches. She served as a first assistant under Michael Cowan before seeking to become a head coach.

&uot;I’ve played since I was in T-ball,&uot; Cater said. &uot;I’ve always been a ball player. I’ve always been told I have patience with kids and have would make a real good coach. I always tried to, but I’ve never been able to.

&uot;I have some fast kids. Every child is different, and everyone is strong in a different aspect &045;&045; some have strong points, and some have weak points. I’ve coached and coached aggressive baserunning.&uot;

She admitted she’s been blessed to have the support of everyone &045;&045; parents included. Cater even has female assistant coaches in Cindy Craft and Lisette Forman, part of a group of moms in dugouts this summer to go along with the handful of girls playing in every age group.

To win the championship, Cater was certainly delighted for herself and everyone associated with the team. The league’s All-Star rosters will soon be finalized, and she submitted her name in the hat to be a coach.

&uot;It’s been a lot of fun watching the kids progress,&uot; Cater said. &uot;That’s the most important thing &045;&045; seeing them accomplish something and seeing their faces. (The championship) is one of the best feelings. It’s better than when I played.&uot;

Adam Daigle

is sports editor of The Natchez Democrat. Reach him at (601) 445-3632 or by e-mail at

adam.daigle@natchezdemocrat.com.