What happened to softball in Bristol?

Starved for volunteers, participation in girls softball in Bristol has taken a nosedive

By Christy Nadalin
Posted 11/23/18

Something killed softball in Bristol, but no one seems to agree on what. Was it parental apathy? The rising popularity of lacrosse? Squabbles among leagues? Criminal activity? Or the influence of …

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What happened to softball in Bristol?

Starved for volunteers, participation in girls softball in Bristol has taken a nosedive

Posted

Something killed softball in Bristol, but no one seems to agree on what. Was it parental apathy? The rising popularity of lacrosse? Squabbles among leagues? Criminal activity? Or the influence of baseball-centric Little League on softball.

“No, I don’t agree with that,” said Jim Harper, former head of Rhode Island Coastal Softball (RICS), formerly East Bay Fast Pitch softball, responding to allegations that the decline of softball in Bristol was due to its absorption by the King Philip Little League.

Those allegations came from an anonymous former parent and board member who further suggested that the local Little League misappropriated the funds they received from the softball league, and then deliberately failed to encourage enrollment.

Mr. Harper is more inclined to blame the decline of softball on the lack of parent involvement and a board fractured by the disagreement over joining Little League in the first place.

Under Mr. Harper’s leadership, the league was part of the American Softball Association (ASA). “The rules were almost identical to Little League rules, but the District 2 Little League manager told his teams they could no longer play ASA teams,” he said. “So we had no one to play.”

The result was that unless RICS joined Little League, they would not be able to compete against any teams on this side of the bay.

Others, including Little League President Beth Grove and James Boulanger, a former board member and coach with RICS, cite the 2015 arrest of Steven Zina, former league head, for the embezzlement of more than $12,000, as a turning point for the league. Mr. Zina, a former softball coach at Mt. Hope High School, was also arrested in 2014 for stealing more than $19,000 in money from the Mt. Hope High School Boosters Club.
Mr. Zina was convicted, and Mr. Harper went to court on behalf of the softball league and was able to get $10,000 restitution.

“When Steve Zina took the money, we lost a lot of girls and interest,” Mr. Boulanger said. “Back then, there were six teams with 12 girls on each team.”

Three years later, in the spring of 2018, there were only enough girls to field three teams. In the late summer of 2018, four girls in total signed up for fall ball. That’s a precipitous decline by any measure.

The surge in popularity of lacrosse accounts for some of this decline. “Lacrosse stole a lot of girls,” admits Mr. Boulanger.

Still, Mr. Boulanger doesn’t completely dismiss some of the allegations made by the anonymous former parent and board member. As the coach of the middle school team, he has maintained contact with some of the girls from East Bay Fast Pitch, and those girls suggested that promised items like gear purchases never materialized.

“When they promote Little League, its always about the boys,” Mr. Boulanger said. “The girls barely get a mention at the bottom of the email. It’s unfortunate. The girls aren’t getting what they should.”

“There are some parents who are very unhappy,” said Mr. Harper. “Could they (KPLL) have done more to support us? Perhaps. But I don’t think it’s a conspiracy, it’s just no softball girls signed up.”

Little League responds to critics

KPLL officials are emphatic that they have done everything possible to help prop up girls softball in Bristol.

“They joined KPLL very late in season two springs ago,” said Ms. Grove. “We honored their registrations, we absorbed the cost of a previously scheduled free clinic, and we paid for netting for the dugouts and other gear.”

Then four girls registered.

Volunteerism is the major issue, it seems. It’s just not there, and that’s something on which most everyone seems to agree.

“We are not turning away volunteers,” said Little League Vice President Matt Andreozzi. “We’re begging for volunteers. We made a special push to try and get softball people on the board this year, but nobody’s turning up.”

Mr. Andreozzi takes particular issue with any suggestion that KPLL misappropriated any funds. “The money has not disappeared,” he said. “Nothing could be further from the truth. It went right back into softball gear: balls, bats, and catchers equipment.”

“It’s not just softball,” Ms. Grove said. “We’re struggling to get baseball volunteers … I would love to grow the program; hopefully we can. But the girls have to want to play, and the parents have to volunteer.
We are doing the best we can with what we were handed.”

Tim Shaw, former softball parent and assistant director of the Bristol Department of Parks and Recreation, agrees that King Phillip Little League seems to be putting in the effort.

“As a parent, I would love to see softball come back; as a recreation department employee, they (Little League) have reached out to me on more than one occasion trying to do their best to get enrollment up. As I understand it, they didn’t have the enrollment, or the parent volunteers to make it happen this fall.”

Still, all is not lost. With volunteers, the league can bounce back as soon as this spring (which typically has better enrollment than fall.)

“KPLL just celebrated its 65th year, and we plan on continuing to do so with softball being a big part of our organization in the future,” said Mr. Andreozzi. “We had a very successful spring season last season, with softball teams across a range of age groups, and we hope to continue that growth next season.”

Anyone interested in volunteering with King Philip Little League is encouraged to contact the league through their website at www.bristolkpll.org.

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