Heads up! Heads Up!
Hello Fastpitch Softball Aficionados,
Today found me traveling up Highway 16 to Wisconsin Dells, then crossing Highway 23 and getting on Highway 13. When I reached Highway 82 a left hand turn got me heading west toward Mauston and my destination at the Woodside Ranch Sport Complex.
I’d been to the Woodside Ranch Sports Complex two or three times previously but only to take a look at the place. On those occasions I did not go inside the gate but rather just peered over the fence in rightfield of the first baseball field near the western-most parking area.
Today, upon arrival I parked in that western-most parking area and hiked past the first four baseball fields and all the way to the eastern most baseball fields.
There are not fastptich softball specific fields at Woodside Ranch Sports Complex. All four fields therein are built for baseball, either youth or adult baseball. All eight fields are completely covered in synthetic turf. They are beautiful. All eight have permanent batter’s boxes and foul lines molded right in the turf so there is never any chalking needed for those lines. The batter’s boxes do not meet softball size specifications but with a little yellow line creator they were able to put in a somewhat visible pitcher’s circle and they lengthened the front of the batter’s boxes. All in all it was surely fit for play.
As my wife and grandchildren and I hiked in from that western-most parking area past the first two large baseball fields I turned to my wife and said, “Wow, this could be a dangerous facility to watch games.”
As the day progressed, my initial thoughts, those of a seasoned softball facility participant were spot on. There were dozens of foul balls that were fouled back over the tops of even those high net backstops and liners that made their way over the four-foot high sideline fences and into the crowds or onto adjacent fields. If it were not for an umbrella keeping the sun off one of the mothers of a Poynette player that particular foul ball would have hit her on the head. One not-so-lucky gentleman watching the game on the field where the D-4 teams were playing did indeed get plunked right on the top of the head and soon had an ice bag lying on top of his melon. My grandchildren and I “pitched in” to help out the WFSCA by operating the scoreboard on the Division 3 field and a foul ball from the Division 1 field directly behind us bounced off the concrete, just missing two people and wound up in the scoreboard operators box with us.
So, if you ever go to that amazing complex, and an amazing complex it is, be sure to keep in my warning in mind. Take a lawn chair (there are few bleachers or places to sit), an umbrella to keep the sun and rain off yourself and balls from hitting you and enjoy the games and the complex.
There was not an admission fee to today but carry-ins of any kind were forbidden and understandably so. I believe I read in the Wisconsin State Journal that the gentleman who owns the Woodside Ranch property spent 44 million bucks to build the eight-field complex. Certainly concession sales are a key ingredient for that business model. Prices? Hot dogs were $3.50. A 20-ounce bottle of water was $2 while a 20 ounce Gatorade was $4. Other snacks and sandwiches were more expensive than the hot dogs. My bratwurst I had for lunch was large and tasty.
Don’t take this report the wrong way, it’s not a negative review, just the facts. It’s a great place to host an event like the Senior All Star games. All four fields right there where spectators can see parts of all four games if they wish. It’s an impressive place.
The WFSCA did a great job of organizing the event. The programs ($4 each) were well done and informative. There were four Division 1 all star teams that included 46 players, three in Division 2 that included 34, three in Division 3 with 33 players and three in Division 4 with 36 players. You might be asking yourself why Division 1 gets four teams while the other three divisions are limited to three and why there were more Division 4 players than there were Division 3 players?
Here are the answers to those questions.
To even be nominated to play in the all star games a player’s head coach must be a paid member of the WFSCA by April 15th of the current season. This year the WFSCA even went further by offering membership later than that for an additional $20 membership fee. If the head coach is not a member that school team can’t nominate players for all district or all state and that school can’t nominate players to play in the senior all star games and that school can’t nominate players for the Academic All State team etc. There simply no WFSCA benefits for players whose coaches either refuse to join the WFSCA or forget to heed the notices and fail to join. It’s a shame indeed. I know of one school where an athletic director includes a question on the year-end coaches evaluation – “Do you belong to your sport’s coaches association?” If the answer is no, it’s a negative mark on the coaching evaluation. That makes a lot of sense to me. Athletic directors need to be proactive in getting coaches to join up.
The number of all star teams in any respective division is based upon total WFSCA membership and the number of coaches (I assume this is a percentage number) from each division. Apparently the Division 1 coaches in
So there you have it. It’s not because the Division 1 get more teams and player berths because they are in Division 1 and supposedly represent more total students such as happens in the WIAA tournament series in many sports. It’s about coaching memberships. If your school did not have a senior in the all star games today you just need to find out if the head coach at your school was 1) a member and 2) whether or not they nominated their players by the nomination deadline. It’s that simple. The same goes for all district and all state players. The same two questions need to be asked.
The WFSCA has teamed up with Special Olympics Wisconsin. Each all star is required top raise a minimum of $300 to cover the cost of running the games (there are lots of things that cost money to sponsor this event including such things as umpires, balls, housing for players/coaches/WFSCA staff, and food just to name a few). Each player is urged to raise more than the minimum $300.
The WFSCA did not publish a total donation amount to Special Olympics Wisconsin in the program but they did list and include a picture of the top 10 fundraisers among the 146 players. That list is one I am particularly proud of.
Here are the top 10 girls raising more than the $300 minimum and the amount they raised above the minimum.{C}1) Brooke Kendall of Westby - $4,546
2) Samantha Lenius of Poynette - $2,210
3) Kayla Smith of Almond-Bancroft - $1,637
4) Jenna Boardman of De Soto - $1,584
5) Maize Reif of Peshtigo - $1,305
5) Deidra Weinberger of Mayville - $1305
7) Abby Klopp of Baldwin-Woodville $1,205
8) McKenna Kelsey of Poynette - $1.149
9) Beth Wood of Mineral Point - $1,40
10) Brittney Birkhauser of Assumpiton in Wisconsin Rapids - $1,120
That’s $17,201 just from those 10. To raise $4,546 in the Westby area is phenomenal so my hat is off to Brooke Kendall. The two Poynette girls combined to raise an additional $3359 so to say I’m proud of them as well as our third all star Kelsey Saager would be right on!
The softball was good, the weather was hot and the conversations were superb. I had a great time in spite of the heat.
Hat’s off to Jeff Hodgson, President of the WFSCA and his executive committee for another great round of games.
Scores? I’ll get those in a bulletin when I see them.
Have a fastpitch day!
Keep it Rising!
Bob
