Summer has a way of bringing back memories.

For our family, it meant living on the road. Softball tournaments, hockey camps, dance lessons, hotel rooms, and more fast-food stops than I'd ever admit.

Our daughter was an amazing softball player. That's easy for a dad to say, but there was one moment that made me realize it wasn't just me.

If you've ever spent much time around travel sports, you know there's always that one player everyone starts talking about. Coaches notice them. Parents notice them. College scouts notice them. Somehow word just spreads.

That was her.

One day I was standing in line at a concession stand when I overheard a couple of college scouts talking.

They were asking each other if they had seen this girl playing on one of the fields. If they hadn't, they needed to go watch her.

They had no idea I was standing there.

They had no idea they were talking about my daughter.

I never told her.

The funny thing was, she never seemed to know it was happening... or at least she never acknowledged it. She was just being herself. She played because she loved the game, and she gave everything she had every time she stepped on the field.

The only credit I can take for her becoming such an amazing athlete was simply taking her to dance when she was five years old.

One day she decided she wanted me to take her instead of her mom, and from then on, we went together every time.

The moms used to laugh because I was usually the only dad there.

I was just a dad doing what his little girl wanted.

Looking back now, I realize something.

As much as I enjoyed watching her compete, those aren't the moments I miss the most.

I miss the drives.

I miss sitting around the hotel after a long day.

I miss the conversations that happened somewhere between home and the ball field.

I didn't always take my camera because I loved watching her play. For me, I could either properly photograph a game or I could watch it. There really wasn't any in between.

Looking back now, I don't miss the games nearly as much as I miss everything around them. The drives. The hotels. Sitting around waiting for the next game. Those are the memories that have stayed with me.

The pictures I took now just make me smile and remember the good times.

Maybe that's why our Athlete Spotlight means so much to us. It's a custom portrait series created to celebrate the athletes, the moments, and the memories that make every season special.