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| June 28, 2015 Sparky.1 Men's 75 284 posts | Remember When........... Saw this article in my old hometown newspaper, the Lansing State Journal and thought it would take everyone back to the good 'ol days. Although this article is directed to the decline of Slow-Pitch Softball in Lansing, MI and the overall Mid-Michigan region, I am sure it will relate to most everyone's remembrance of the days when "Slow-Pitch Softball" ruled and was "life living on the diamond" in his/her specific region and how it is today. Thanks for allowing this opportunity! Sparky --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Graham Couch, gcouch@lsj.com Lansing State Journal 9:23 p.m. EDT June 27, 2015 Article title: Recreational softball decline driven by kids, costs and a cultural shift Perhaps good parenting is behind the decline of slow-pitch softball. Or maybe it's overzealous parenting. Modern parenting, we'll call it. For better or worse, organized children's activities often take priority nowadays over adult recreation. This cultural shift — colliding with economic hardship and endless opportunities for entertainment — is eating at a sport that once dominated parks everywhere, every night, all summer long. "You don't see the kids watching dad anymore," Delta Township recreation director Marcus Kirkpatrick said. "Dad's lucky to even get there himself. He's usually taking the kids to different places." The "Me generation," as the baby boomers have been called, are no longer in their prime athletic years, as they were when softball flourished in the late 1980s. Then, the city of Lansing alone had 270 teams one year. It has about one-third as many teams now. "Those guys who used to play in three leagues during the summer and would just basically tell their families, 'Hey, I'm playing softball on Monday, Wednesday, Friday — Good luck, family,' are now only playing once a week, " DeWitt Area Recreation Authority executive director Chad Stevens said. "I think people are spending more time with their families, which is great, which we need to recognize." This is only a predicament if, like Stevens and Kirkpatrick, you make your living in parks and recreation. Or, if like many others, you derive pleasure from the camaraderie and competition of softball and the natural intoxication that comes from perfectly connecting with a pitch and rounding first base. Lansing, Delta Township and Meridian Township are among those that held steady this summer in terms of overall participation — but only as others again lost teams or, in the case of the coed leagues in DeWitt and St. Johns, didn't even have enough interest to have a season. This isn't just a Mid-Michigan issue. Or a Michigan issue. Nationally, slow-pitch softball is tailing off. The numbers in this state fall in line. Last year, 3,400 teams registered in leagues across Michigan, down 300 from two years earlier. Only 282 of them participated in American Softball Association (ASA) events or tournaments at varying levels, down about 50 percent from a decade ago, according to Michigan ASA President Troy Stowell. In District 11, which includes all of Ingham and Eaton Counties, the declines began in earnest during this country's economic collapse seven years ago. Mid-Michigan had been losing 10 to 12 teams per year early in the 2000s, Stowell said. That jumped to 30 to 40 teams annually after 2008. As sponsors cut back, so did players. As players tightened their belts, softball leagues felt the pinch. "A lot of teams started paying out of pocket for everything," said Stowell, who also directs Eaton Rapids parks and recreation. "You saw guys who were playing three, four nights a week only afford to play maybe one night a week. "When the economy took a hit, people's recreation for themselves took hit, too." Uneasiness in State and district numbers, however, don't always correspond with individual municipalities. The big blow can come anytime. "This year was my sharp decline," East Lansing athletics and aquatics coordinator Jim Jennings said. Jennings is down 18 teams from last year, falling from 66 to 48. DeWitt's coed league was nixed for this summer after only one team registered, seven fewer than two years ago. The men's league there has five teams, about half of what it's often been. St. John's first attempt at a coed division failed, and its two men's leagues have eight teams combined, down from 18 three years ago. Portland has 11 coed teams and eight men's teams — each league about half of what it was in 2009, when programmer Neil Brown began there. "It's been fairly steady last few years. Steady is not necessarily the most comfortable word, just because those numbers have been down," Brown said. "We've had a gradual decline, and we've kind of plateaued. There's some uncertainty and uncomfortableness every time we enter a new season, not knowing what you're going to end up with and even if you'll have enough for a league." The uneasiness is justified. Softball is big business to parks and recreation departments, big and small. Team and player fees usually add up to between $550 and $700 per team. An 18-team loss in East Lansing is at least $10,000. A league folding in DeWitt is painful. "Thanks for reminding me," Stevens said. "I've been keeping my eye on it for probably six years now and just almost waiting for that other shoe to fall off. And this year is the year that the shoe did fall unfortunately." "From a revenue standpoint, it's significant," said Kirkpatrick, whose Delta Township leagues bring in 75 to 80 teams annually. "Quite honestly, from an administration standpoint, to be up (teams) is huge, even though it's only a couple (teams). To be even is good, based on the market for softball." Twenty years ago, there were plenty of teams to fill every league and the coffers of every parks and rec department. Now, it's competitive. Field quality, rules, level of play, having scorekeepers, whether alcohol is allowed, how the cost is packaged — all are factors. And not every team wants the same thing. Delta surveyed its team managers last year and then took the findings to a staff retreat. "You have to know the climate," Kirkpatrick said. Delta and Meridian townships allow consumption of alcohol in their parks. East Lansing, Lansing and DeWitt are among those that don't. "It can be an attraction," Kirkpatrick said. No going back. Slow-pitch softball's trajectory doesn't appear to be reversing itself anytime soon, even if the decline in some places has leveled off. "As many people as you're losing on the older end, you just aren't replacing them with that 18- to 25-year old group as fast," Brown said. The growth opportunities in softball, despite the recent travails of DeWitt and St. Johns, appear to be in coed — where couples and families are more able to play together. In Meridian Township, for example, three of the four softball nights are reserved for coed leagues. Friday night is kickball instead — one of many newer sport offerings that have taken a bite out of softball. "Years ago, everybody played softball, that's just what you did," Lansing Parks and Recreation director Brett Kaschinske said. "It was the only option." The biggest hurdle, though, by most accounts, is kids — and the modern obsession with placing them in competitive organized sports, on travel teams and even making sure 5-year-olds are in uniform at tee-ball, when they'd rather be playing in the dirt. "I remember watching my dad play recreational sports," Kaschinke said. "That was just part of the culture. Well, there's been a little shift with that." "We've got to try to program more family activities," Stevens said. "And that's one thing we hear from our community is, 'You have all these sports, but what can my family do together?' And I think that's changed in parks and recreation over the past 20 years." |
| June 28, 2015 cal50 Men's 50 328 posts | Sparky, The young teams keep dropping in numbers. The SSUSA newsletter had some interesting statistics that Softball was the number one sport for those 55 and older. Around here more and more girls fast pitch. Maybe that is the next big slow pitch market as they age. |
| June 28, 2015 TexasTransplant Men's 70 516 posts | I suspect it is just a matter of time until the decline flows through to Senior Softball. It is unlikely that all these young guys and gals are going to take up a sport in their senior years that they didn't play when they were younger. I suspect it may go deeper than the reasons mentioned in this article. How many kids do you see playing ball on their own now, outside of organized leagues. Back in the day, we were at the park, out in some field, or just in the back yard playing ball on our own. It was the thing you did when you were a kid. Today, if a kid is not good enough to make the cut as his peers move up through the school and travel leagues, he just drops out and finds other activities. There are few sandlot opportunities I have a feeling that the Golden Age of Senior Softball might be right now. We're lucky to be able to enjoy it. |
| June 29, 2015 Dancer 115 posts | Texas Transplant I agree with you. I am part of the age before video games came out except pong just got started. But every day we went out and played outside. You probably remember some of these terms: "Right Field is closed" and "Pitchers hand as good as first". Because we did not have enough players to have two full teams, often it was 4 against 4, but we made it worked. I am in Houston Area and a lot of softball parks have closed down. I think if they try to have high school leagues in slow pitch for kids who were not good enough to make a baseball team, would have an opportunity to play and spark some interest in softball. |
| June 29, 2015 Sparky.1 Men's 75 284 posts | We were so very fortunate to have been involved with the Great Game of Slow-Pitch Softball in its hay-day and unfortunately, it is looking like we are also the "breed of extinction" with the Great Game of Slow-Pitch Softball as well! |
| June 29, 2015 mad dog Men's 65 4191 posts | slow pitch has been declining for the last 10 years basically...once the plastic bats came out people have been dropping...most say they quit playing b/c it is to dangerous..and the fake hr's with these supercharged bats.....i know my local leagues have been loosing teams in all leagues.....we used to fill the fields (5 of them)every nite..now we get 3-5 fields being used mostly and sometimes only 2-3 games when we used to play 4 games per field a nite..... |
| June 29, 2015 cal50 Men's 50 328 posts | It mostly to do with so many other sports available for kids. When I was growing up, baseball was the only thing to play. |
| June 29, 2015 stick8 1991 posts | Two words come to mind regarding this issue: Play Station |
| June 29, 2015 Dancer 115 posts | Mad Dog, you think if they went back to aluminum bats would increase people playing again? Some of these ball parks better start thinking ahead. Maybe get young people interested in playing somehow, that way they can ensure a future of softball players. |
| June 29, 2015 Fred S Men's 85 297 posts | Another factor is we are raising a bunch of spoiled wimps who would rather quit playing than put the extra work in as you get older and to overlook the aches and pains that start developing. Some of the softball sites I go on you constantly see players saying I am in my 40's and it is time to stop playing because of the aches and pains. |
| June 29, 2015 DOLFAN 90 posts | @ Dancer, ah yes, I remember those days "Right Field is closed" and "Pitchers hand as good as first" Those were the days......play until we couldn't even see because it was getting dark and my mother screaming at me to get "my ass" in the house to eat dinner!! Great days my friends!!!! Oh yeah, and playing 2 on 2 whiffle ball...we use to gun the ball at the runner to get him out...we had red ball marks all over us :-) |
| June 29, 2015 Sparky.1 Men's 75 284 posts | In the Mid-Michigan region as I would guess was the case for every place else, you had to drive to the Parks & Rec to obtain a "permit" just to "practice" and when your time was up, there was also the next group waiting. Today, those same fields for the most part, are just growing weeds. Benefit of being an Umpire as well allowed me to open the barrels and put out the game bases......Was great for my squads but really ticked-off the next set waiting to get on the field when we pulled them up and put them back......lolololol |
| June 29, 2015 k man Men's 65 326 posts | Right field being closed seemed like a disadvantage at first but being the only left batter in my neighborhood. But I learned to go the opposite way and like many have made a career of it. Also growing up we used 'the invisible man on base' when we didn't have enough guys. I've also found that guys who don't want to bother with the aches and pains and have to choose between softball and golf, almost always choose golf in our neck of the woods. |
| June 29, 2015 mad dog Men's 65 4191 posts | dancer...i think we have poisoned the well already....also the fake hr hitters would prolly just leave as they wouldn't be able to use their super bats to make themselves feel like the BMOC....the 52 ball has stopped some of the wanna be's..but we are still losing players as those wanna be's are crying they can't hit their mishit hr's..so are just leaving...around here anyways..... |
| June 29, 2015 DOLFAN 90 posts | @ k man...great point about guys our age deciding to play golf over softball. I hurt my hamstring last Thursday in my league championship and I am kinda of gimping around in the office today and all my colleagues look at me and say "see, I told you, playing softball at your age is no good" and I should give it up and realize how old I am (54)....They just don't get it!!!! |
| June 29, 2015 Dancer 115 posts | Dolfan, yes they just don't get it, I agree. Mad Dog, it is a shame about those want a be's. I am not a home run hitter, but I never hit the ball better in my life and I am 55. It don't have to be a homer. I used strategy, even though I can't hit it over the wall, I have enough power to burn people if they get too close. I use a utrip bat at first and hit line drives, then when the outfielders move up, I break out the senior bat and it is toast time. LOL. Not over the wall but I get a kick out of it. Also I can go left or right, I really confuse teams how to play defense on me and I love it. I don't have to see it go over a wall to get a thrill, I am happy with a base hit, that is my job. It is other people's job to get me in. The younger guys never pick me up as a pick up player, but it is their lost. Sure not as fast on defense then the younger ones, but at least I don't constantly fly out to outfield because I am trying to hit homeruns. |
| June 29, 2015 k man Men's 65 326 posts | Dolfan and Dancer, agreed, they just don't get it. Said it many a time, when I stop playing ball, check my pulse, I'm dead. ps - keep wondering when I purchase my last glove, bat, spikes.. I keep using that excuse with my wife but there's seems to be another one around the corner! lol |
| June 29, 2015 garyheifner 649 posts | When Bill Wertz was running the Chicago Black Hawks, he took them off free TV. He lost his fan base and attendance crashed. When his son took over, he got them back on free TV and the fan base is huge. It is hard to walk through a store, year round, and not see several Black Hawk hats or jerseys. Senior softball was wise to reach down to younger guys and build a player base for the future. Don't know what it is like in the rest of the country, but all the suburban towns (I believe there are over a 1000) in the greater Chicago area have endless softball every night. I have heard many park districts have had to turn teams away. It is alive and well in all ages around here. Back in the 60s and 70s I played 12" slow, 12" fast and 16" at the same time. It was not uncommon to have a 100 + people from the Park Forest community come out and watch the games. The crazy one was the 12" fast pitch. The league was down in Beecher Illinois. It was a small farm community with only several hundred people. We had well over 200/300 people come and watch the Tuesday night league. It was usually over 500 for the playoffs. Most were local farmers whose pick up trucks would fill the lot and park around the field. Sometimes, they would cheer a good play and boo a bad one. Was probably the most fun I have had in softball the 5 years I played there. This is my 51st year and that was the way it was. |
| June 29, 2015 TexasTransplant Men's 70 516 posts | k man, one night before my wife and I got married (we've been married 42 years) she and I were on a date and I saw a nice glove (I always took her to the most romantic places). I told her I was going to buy it because I liked the looks of it and it would probably be the last one I ever buy. I've still got it, by the way. Forty-two years later, I've lost track of the number of "last gloves" I've bought. It's become a standing joke in our household. As a matter of fact, I have my eye on one now. |
| June 29, 2015 k man Men's 65 326 posts | :) |
| June 29, 2015 Graphite 56 posts | Great memories.Remember when you played barehanded with a true softball? Wooden bats. The young players I know who have quit says bats are too expensive and overall the game has become too dangerous. My South Ga. town has a 12 field complex and is not used by adults.Funny to watch 4yr olds play on a 300 ft field! |
| June 29, 2015 Sparky.1 Men's 75 284 posts | Give me an old Bombat and the Harwood Softball and use the "Rover" position and let's go play some Softball. Also need those sweet Sturups also. |
| June 30, 2015 Webbie25 Men's 70 2413 posts | Wow-great thread. I was raised in southern Michigan also-Wyandotte until I was 11, then Ann Arbor. My summers were spent in the parks playing one game after another from sun up to sun down-be home when the street lights go on! I didn't eat lunch sometimes either. My bat had 3 nails in it and the ball was covered with electrical tape. My glove was so old it had been restrung with wire.But we played. Pitchers hand was out, and being a left handed hitter, I had to hit to left field because they would not change every time I hit. Invisible runners were everywhere. And we played a modified overhand pitch-not really slowpitch but not as fast as we could throw it. That's where I learned to love the game and that you could play it anywhere-anytime. Now it is all organized-you have to have expensive equipment to play or they 'can't' do anything. Kids have not learned to improvise to play. And they have not learned the love of the game-they play because their parents want them to. You are also right about the 'cat is out of the bag.' There is no going back to what is was-when a 275 fence was big enough because the equipment had not been enhanced. A .650 average was great-over that was extraordinary. When I started slowpitch in 1969-the best teams consistently scored in double figures-we felt we would be competitive with anyone in the country averaging about 15 runs a game, and we were. The sweet spot was a small spot on the bat, not half the barrel. I have wondered if 'retro' leagues would go-wood or basic metal bats, a real 'soft'ball, and 275 fences. A league where a .700 hitter might be leading the league, and .500 was an acceptable average. You could go back to 60 or 65 foot bases because you didn't have to play infield in the outfield for safety. A 'smaller' game would be easier on seniors, too. But, sadly, the 'cat is out of the bag.' I doubt we could ever get it back in. |
| June 30, 2015 Fred S Men's 85 297 posts | Sparky.1: Funny you should mention the Hardwood Softball. A friend of mine gave me about 300 softballs he has collected over the years to sell for him and there were 5 NIW Hardwood softballs. You remember any info on them? Good/Bad etc. Like to sell them but no nothing about them. |
| June 30, 2015 mad dog Men's 65 4191 posts | webbie did the same thing with bats and such....also on the mod pitch...the older better guys got pitched to harder than the younger less experience guys......and your right about that pesky cat..... |
| June 30, 2015 Sparky.1 Men's 75 284 posts | Fred S: The Harwood's at the time, were the "best" ball in town. If you were going to launch one however, you had better do it within the first 3-innings. After that, they were mush and you had better be able to hit to all fields because they were not going to "fly". |
| June 30, 2015 Fred S Men's 85 297 posts | Thanks Sparky.1: I will try them in my WD and see what happens. |
| June 30, 2015 Sparky.1 Men's 75 284 posts | Fred S: Any of those Harwoods in their original box? I'd be interested if they came with their original packaging. Contact me at: grm.phd@gmail.com |
| June 30, 2015 taits Men's 65 4548 posts | Any one remember the Legend 2 Centerfire balls? IMO they held up and flew, as well as the ones with the Reptile covers were water repellent. So many breands and all were used back when it was a better time. |
| June 30, 2015 Fred S Men's 85 297 posts | Sparky.1: Yes. 5 of them plus one Wilson Professional Softball A9140 which feels hard as a rock. I would love to try the Wilson but then it wouldn't be NIB anymore. |
| July 1, 2015 taits Men's 65 4548 posts | The Wilson 9130's were excellent balls also. Kinda like the Super blue dots and red dots. |
