Hard to believe, but 2007 will be our tenth (10th) year on the internet, starting with those early days in 1998, when the site consisted of little more than a few pages of local news and standings, operated as an adjunct to my law firm website.
A brief look back:
In 2001, we moved the site over to its own domain, www.fastpitchwest.com.
In 2002, we added our email newsletter, “Thefastpitch”, that so many of you still subscribe to, and greatly expanded our photo galleries, thanks to Maddy’s handiwork. We also served as the Official Website for the 2002 NAFA World Series, in Salem, Oregon.
In 2003, we rolled out the “new look” site (the current black and olive design), with improved navigation buttons, and reorganized the content, to make the site more convenient for our readers. The reader response to that was nothing short of amazing. We continued our start-to-finish coverage of the 2003 NAFA World Series at Chippewa, WI, where we undertook our first ever live audio broadcast, streaming the championship game of the NAFA “AAA” World Series over the internet. “Maddy’s Photo Galleries” became the most frequently visited pages at the website. Late in 2003, we also added the “Free Agent Central”section to the Fastpitchwest Forum, to assist teams to connect with players and players to find teams to play on.
For 2004, we added the “Fastpitchwest Forum” bulletin board where our readers can post their comments and announcements directly, and created FPWN, the “FastPitchWest Network”, expanding our live audio broadcasts to three dozen games during the course of the season, including the AAU International Tournament in Orlando FL, Red Rock at St. George UT, Rose Cup at Portland OR, and the ISC II Tournament of Champions at Fargo, North Dakota. 2004 also saw the addition of what has become one of the most popular original content features, “Morning Brief”, our own blog for miscellaneous news in the world of fastpitch and the musings of yours truly, as well as “The Deuce”, our special blog devoted to coverage of ISC II competition. The year also saw Fastpitchwest feature stories published by Softball Magazine, the “Sports Illustrated of Softball”, including photo layouts by FPW’s own, Maddy Flanagan and four full page fastpitch covers in the magazine. Finally, for 2004, we rolled out our first FPW “gear”, T-shirts sold online and elsewhere.
In 2005, we rolled out our companion website, “Ballparkradio.com”, providing an online home for streaming audio broadcasts of fastpitch/fastball games, making it easier than ever for fans of the game to find the broadcast links. We were also honored to serve as the host for the archives of Al’s Fastball, everyone’s # 1 site for men’s fastball, which we affectionately refer to as the “Holy Grail” of Men’s Fastball.
In 2006, Maddy’s Photos overflowed into her own website, “Maddysphotos”, www.maddysphotos.com culminating with hundreds of shots from the ISC II Tournament of Champions, and a bit of photojournalism at the ISC World Tournament. In 2006, Fastpitchwest also served as the host for the ISC forum, separate and distinct from regional Fastpitchwest Forums. The year concluded with the Illinois Forum moving to a new home at Fastpitchwest, where is remains, along with California Forum (spearheaded by the ever-popular moderator “Sledgehammer”) among the busiest forums around.
2007, our Tenth Anniversary season promises some new and exciting projects, so stay tuned. We are humbled to hear from so many people all over the world, appreciate all of the kind words, and hope you will continue to enjoy our trio of websites covering the world of Men’s Fastball.