Hello Fastpitch Fans,
It's been nearly a year since a Fastpitch Bulletin has been posted. It's been a tough year for sure. The loss of an entire season was devastating to everyone. However, the season is about to begin on April 19th.
The fields as far north as Hurley, Superior, Maple and others ought to be ready to go. Some teams have 26 games on their schedule so it will be interesting to see how many of those 26 they can get in. The number of possible practice days has been cut due to the fact that the length of the season is nearly three weeks shorter than normal.
There are coaching changes around the state of Wisconsin as I type this and here in Poynette there is a new head coach. After 41 years and all the COVID related issues and protocols to just get a game in I decided it was best to step aside. Call it retirement if you wish but the real feeling is that a tiny virus coupled with all those issues yanked a softball program out from under my feet. All is great, however. I've moved on and will focus on other areas of a game that has been one of the mainstays of my life. Before week's end the Fastpitch Chronicle will expand operations with things such as fastpitch podcasts, YouTube videos and live chats, coaching and teaching segments that work at the level you coach at or play at. We'll be covering all aspects of the game regardless of gender or age divisions.
From 1988 through 2004 the Fastpitch Chronicle Newspaper was the world's go to publication for news and views about our game. The Fastpitch Chronicle covered the game globally with news that people like you provided. You can do the same in this day and age. My pledge the people within the game was always, "Send Me the New and it will get published." That pledge still rings true.
I surely can not be everywhere and do not have time to type up game reports and all the other things that people want to see and read. The game is too large.
That's where you come in. If you do the composition work and email me the articles so my job is to copy and paste it will get published. I learned a long, long time ago that the promotion for this sport depends on the interested people within the game. The Media does not have the resources to send reporters to many if any of your games. It's our duty to promote the game, our programs, our teams, out players and more. If you sit back and wait for somebody to come looking for you then you will be sitting and waiting nearly forever.
Here is an update to the list of Highly Successful Wisconsin High School softball programs over the past 10 seasons (2010-2019). Cochrane/Fountain City has won 185-37 for a winning percentage of 83.3% during that time span. In the process of accumulating those numbers CFC has claimed nine of the past eleven Dairyland Conference titles.
High School Coaches in Wisconsin should check the Fastpitch Chronicle Coaches Honor Roll. If you are not among the coaches listed in our various categories don't get angry, just get busy and send me the information and I will add it in. I do not have time to keep track of accumulated records for every coach in the state -- that's the job of each coach so check it out and send me the updates if you have them.
There will be many more Fastpitch Bulletins and many will contain a wide swatch of the fastpitch world. No matter your fastpitch focus the new and views are aimed at all of you. You can easily pick and choose what articles or what Bulletins you want to read.
Tell your fastpitch friends, teammates, parents, relatives etc. about the Fastpitch Chronicle. As it grows so will the game.
Have a great season and as always,
Keep it Rising!
Bob
