From all of us at Line Drive Softball, we’d like to wish all those dads out there a Happy Father’s Day!

We are continually impressed with how softball parents do so much to help their young girls realize their dreams, especially when it comes to the sport we all love.

This weekend, while at Top Gun Invitational, we were so happy to catch up with the Vine family—softball standouts Brooke (who played at Tennessee & Loyola Marymount) and Anna (who won an NCAA national championship at UCLA) as well as their father, Anthony, one of the most wonderful fathers you could ever meet.

The siblings now coach club ball in the Firecrackers organization and this Father’s Day marks the third year in a row the Vines family has spent the weekend in Kansas at Top Gun doing what they’ve done best for years: building players and programs.

Anthony, a former college baseball player turned travel ball coach, has a great phrase that applies to how he’s helped raise his softball-playing daughters as well as it describes his coaching philosophy:

“I try to put my players where the blessings dip.”

The one-time pastor and full-time father helped get his girls into coaching in 2019, just after Brooke helped coach a local all-star team that transitioned into travel ball. The team became Firecrackers – Vines in January 2021 and is based in Southern California.

Anthony’s approach to the program is as focused on character as much as it is on skill development.

“I pray a lot,” he said. “I thank God and ask for His blessings. I always pray for my kids to be around the best and the brightest.”

Brooke now coaches alongside her father while raising her son and balancing her coaching with her professional life.  She’s also gained a deeper appreciation for what it means to be a sports parent.

“Being a travel ball coach now, I have so much appreciation for parents—period… especially my own,” Brooke said, “especially my own. You don’t really realize what goes on behind the scenes until you’re out here and you’re seeing what it takes to be a parent and get a kid to college.”

For the Vines family, the wins aren’t the end goal. The long-term vision is rooted in producing academically strong, college-ready leaders; athletes who can handle the pressure of elite competition and still maintain high standards off the field.

Back when Brooke was competing for Team USA at the international level, the family had a defining moment—one that clarified why all of this mattered.

“Wearing those three letters across my chest was an honor,” Brooke said, recalling her time with the USA Team. “But having my Dad there—that capped off all the great memories we’d built over the years.”

For Anthony, that moment was confirmation.

“Watching her play in Oklahoma against teams like China—it was amazing. It was like a dream come true. It felt like we got there, we obtained our prize and we ended up where we needed to be.”

Now, as Brooke and Anna coach the next generation under their father’s guidance, the family’s journey has come full circle.

As a club coach herself now, Anna looks back and appreciates what her father taught her to be the best coach she can be.

“Man, he’s held me accountable,” the younger daughter explains.

“I have had a lot of coaches, and I think the best thing about my dad is he wanted us to be great and he was relentless with that. He was hard on us, but he loved us through it and, today, it really is a full family circle on the field.”

From SEC stadiums to Big 12 championships to Midwest showcase weekends these days, the Vines family has built more than a program—they’ve built a legacy. One that continues to grow every inning they coach, every athlete they mentor, and every Father’s Day they spend together on the field.

Here’s our video interview with the Vines sisters as they share their thoughts about their dad on Father’s Day 2025…

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