Joey Payeur
There was a time when the summer air in Fort Frances was filled with the sounds of bats on balls, smacking leather, and joyful shouts echoing around the local diamonds.
That time soon may come to an end unless there is a dramatic upswing in interest to continue the decades-long tradition here.
The Fort Frances Adult Mixed Slo-Pitch League faces the very real possibility of not getting on the field this year due to a lack of registered teams so far.
Sarah Faragher, a member of the multiple-time defending champion Gillons’ Northerners, is hoping the community will rally the troops and provide enough competitors to kick-start the league for this season.
“There’s only one team officially registered right now, and one or two more who have said they would play, but we probably need at least six teams to get it going,” noted Faragher.
“It’s a lot of fun and it’s one of the few sports that’s co-ed,” she added.
“It would be sad to see it go.”
Faragher recognizes there are more recreational options for adults during the summer months than back in the league’s glory days of the 1980s and 1990s, when more than 60 teams were involved.
“The numbers have been low the last couple of years, with the league going from playing two nights a week to one night a week,” said Faragher.
“People are doing more things and playing more sports,” she reasoned, noting the local men’s and women’s leagues have a combined 25 teams between them entering this season.
“But there should still be room for the [slo-pitch] league.”
Faragher appealed to younger players to help pick up the torch.
“Our team started to play together in the league when we were still in high school,” she recalled.
“Maybe younger people would want to put a team in with their friends,” she suggested.
“You don’t have to have ever played before,” Faragher stressed. “You can be brand-new to the sport and just put in a team for fun.”
Faragher conceded the recent domination of the league by Gillons’ Northerners may be a factor in discouraging teams from signing up.
“We lost for 10 years and then only because we played together for so long did we start to come out on top,” she explained.
“I would hope people would take the approach of just coming out and enjoying the game,” Faragher added.
“We’re good but I don’t think we’re not fun to play,” she remarked.
“It’s tough to say when you’re the one on the inside looking out.”
Faragher said the creation of an executive board, such as what exists in other local entities such as the Borderland Soccer League, might provide stability.
“If there’s enough people who want to see the league keep going that would be willing to step up and be on a board, that would be great.”
What Faragher doesn’t think should be copied is the format of the Borderland Women’s Indoor Soccer League, where all registered players randomly are divided onto teams at the beginning of the season, with the priority being to provide as much balance as possible talent-wise.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea for the slo-pitch league because I don’t think people are dying to play enough to play alongside people they don’t know,” she reasoned.
“People want to sign up to play with their friends and then be able to go for beers together after the games.”
Faragher said there’s still time to sign up in order to salvage this season, which is scheduled to start on May 25.
The league, if it goes ahead, also will move its game nights to Thursdays this year from its usual Wednesdays.
With four females needed on the field at all times, the change in evenings could be a boon for the league.
“The women’s fastball league plays on Mondays and Wednesdays, so that would free up the women in [that] league to sign up for slo-pitch on Thursdays,” said Faragher.
The cost for Fort Frances-based teams for the season is $360.25, with the total being $457.10 for those outside town limits.
For more information, contact Town of Fort Frances recreation program director Leana Moffitt at 274-4561 ext. 1720 or e-mail her at lmoffitt@fortfrances.ca
