IDAHO SENIOR SOFTBALL LEAGUE STARTED THROUGH ADVERTISING EFFORTS

June 1, 2010

Del Drake moved to Idaho in March of 1995. During that year, he went to Boise to sign up for Senior Softball and was told they had no Senior Leagues. He had literally given up on playing ball until 1997, when he read that Boise was putting on a Senior Softball Tournament.

He went back to sign up for the tournament and found that the city did not have a Senior Team. He then ran ads in The Idaho Statesman, Community Calendar, called KGEM Radio Station, ran spots on their station, put up flyers in sporting good stores, markets, health clubs, malls, etc., and with this advertising got 13 players to sign up for a team. They entered the tournament, and won two games.

The Idaho Statesman published an article on the tournament and his team which generated 50 phone calls. Del contacted all of the respondents and set up a meeting at Fort Boise Park. From this meeting, they put together four teams and formed a league. Del then went on to set up rules, schedules and playing times. This league has since grown to 30 teams.

As teams began to pick up better players, the weaker teams started losing players and teams began to fold.

In 2006, he started advertising again and put together a new league in Meridian. This new team was based on a player draft, and used wooden bats. Time for more work: ordering balls, making schedules, renting fields and drafting more teams.

The new league has brought back several of the players that had left, including players up to 83 years young. Now, there are hundreds of seniors playing ball who would not have been able to play in Boise. The wooden bats are safer, and in the Meridian League, everyone plays, no matter what age, ability, or disability

Courtesy of Idaho Senior Softball Association