From OttoinFocus
Written by Bob Otto on September 24th, 2009
YUCAIPA, CALIF – Back in the mid 1970s, Dennis Johnson of St. James, Minnesota told me about the importance of the pyramid. I’ve never forgot what he said.
“Fastpitch softball is like a pyramid,†said Johnson in so many words, “At the bottom (base), it brings new players into the game. Once they’re in the game, their talent will take them as far up as they can go. The best players will eventually rise to the top to form the best teams.â€
A healthy, vibrant fastpitch pyramid is constantly evolving and replenishing itself. New players come in, they progress and become better. Eventually, they rise up to the utmost level of their talent and fill all the divisions of fastpitch softball that comprise the pyramid.
The most important part of the pyramid? The base.
Because the base is the open door that welcomes young, inexperienced players into fastpitch. Our raw talent, our new blood.
And without a vibrant continual flow of young players into the base, the mechanics of the pyramid begin to break down. And the talent at the top – comprising the best players, who make up the best teams that men’s fastpitch has to offer, starts depleting as veteran players retire, and teams call it quits.
TOP TEAMS FOLD
And we’re seeing that today. Just recently, announcements were made that the legendary Rod Peterson was folding his Farm Tavern team. A team that for decades resided at the top of the pyramid. And shortly after, the Grey Sox of Vancouver, BC, pulled the plug on their franchise.
Years ago in the heyday of men’s fastpitch – the 1950s through about the early ’80s – this wouldn’t have been a problem. For a healthy pyramid would have replaced the loss of such teams such as the Farm and Grey Sox.
In 1982, Darryl Craft and I formed a team called the Yucaipa Athletics. We stuck around for about 14 years. We ran an announcement in the San Bernardino County SUN that we were having open tryouts and welcomed young players to audition.
STARTING AT THE BASE
About 45 players showed up for our first tryout. We were amazed. We had all these guys from age 19 to about mid-30s eager to be a part of this brand new team. We definitely started at the base. But through time, practice, and patience we rose to about the “A and B†divisions in the pyramid.
Many of our players had little or no fastpitch experience. But they soon loved the game, worked hard and developed their skills.
But over time we made a grievous error. We abandoned the pyramid. Instead of replenishing our team with young players, we started recruiting older, talented veterans. We became like many of the teams today, who operate by this philosophy:
“It’s much easier to recruit veteran players than to develop raw talent.â€
That philosophy proved fatal for the Athletics. When the guys got older and decided to retire, we had no one to replace them. And the Athletics folded.
SOME WORK THE PYRAMID
In some areas of the country, there are committed fastpitch leaders working the pyramid. In Santa Barbara, Clyde Bennett, formed an age 23-Under team several years ago. He recruits young talent and offers them an opportunity to “enter through the pyramid’s base into the sport.â€
And in Lake Crystal and Vernon Center, Minnesota staunch fastpitch supporters such as Jack Norman, Steve Roth, Wayne Hohenstein, Tom Looft, and many others, have recruited and developed young boys, bringing them into and progressing them upwards through the pyramid.
And the same can be said of Al Hartman of the South Dakota Hartford Explosion. Or Eric Lewis of the Northwest Missouri Royals age 10-Under team. And Lynn and Barb Sheevel, who help run a boys and girls fastpitch league in southeastern Minnesota.
ISC WORLD TOURNEY
The International Softball Congress has had an alarming drop in teams participating in the World Tournament over the past several years. From a tournament bracket filled with 48 teams, year after year, that bracket dropped to 24 teams this year.
Of course this bothers anyone concerned about the future of men’s fastpitch. But I’m not as concerned about the loss at the top of the pyramid. It’s the base I’m worried about.
Because if we don’t make an effort to begin funneling young players in at the base of the pyramid, the top won’t be around much longer to even worry about.
