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 MSRB, 1999 Champs
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Twenty Five Years of Women's SoftballReflecting on the experience, Jean Silva, one of the co-founders and the league's president said "Nobody expected it to last that long but here we are, still playing and having fun. We have some pretty good players and the competition can be fierce, but generally the games maintain a positive and relaxed spirit. That's a lot of what we are about." Jean feels that women's softball provides an important recreational opportunity. "Women's sports are not usually taken seriously or given adequate resources. For example one of the large corporations that used to have a team in our league would give the men's softball team full monetary support, but the women's team got minimal corporate backing. It's partly that people are not used to supporting women's sports. We're starting to see this change. But women need to emphasize the importance and make it happen." The league's home field is on Market and Monroe St (Chinatown area, underneath the Manhattan Bridge). Named after league founder Phyllis M. Ammirati, it is the only field in NYC named after a woman. Players are hoping that the City will use the League's Silver Anniversary as an opportunity to put in field lights extending the time of play. There are 10 women's teams this year and the league has expanded to include a co-ed division with seven teams as well. Many co-ed leagues have only two or three women ballplayers. "We have five on the team, as required by the ASA guidelines," (and with a minimum of four women set by the league by-laws) said Jean. Our goal is to provide women with a lot of opportunity to play. This should be a fun year." To learn more about the NY Women's Sports League, visit their website at nycsoftball.com. Last month's feature - Open Scrimmage to join Yorkville Sports Association Teams |
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