Men’s fastpitch softball fading in Green Bay area

DENMARK — What was once one of the most popular sports in the area is now a dying breed.

The days of men’s elite fastpitch softball in Northeastern Wisconsin have slowly gone by the wayside, and now the hard part will be preventing it from going extinct.

Although Circle Tap hosted the Boys of Summer fastpitch tournament in Denmark this weekend, the bar did not field a team.

After winning the Amateur Softball Association national championship in 2006, Circle Tap folded in 2008.

“The main reason we folded was because of the increased costs,” tournament director Darren Derricks said. “We had to travel a lot more and then the guys I used to play with for years, just got older and there wasn’t enough younger players coming up.”

The tournament has been held for 40 years and started off with 16 teams, but is now down to eight.

“We used to turn teams away to the tournament,” Derricks said. “Every one of (the 16) would be ranked in the top 20. All of the teams wanted to come to this tournament — from Canada, California and New York. The Midwest is still trying to carry on a little bit, but it’s definitely declining all over the place. Click here to read the complete story.

Editor’s note: Be sure to click the original story above and see the comments posted there. I think “Bobnoes” is on to something when he says “The solution is right under their noses…Benignly introduce it through the school system…“. The game grows when and where the kids play it.

Another knowledgeable reader/commenter mention’s Australian Mark Long’s in depth series of articles about the game. We are pleased to have Mark’s articles as a permanent part of Fastpitchwest. You’ll find them under “Media/Articles/Mark Long”on the main menu at the top of every page. (To use the main menu, glide your mouse above the menu and then down — the rest of the menu will “drop down” — then click the page you want. If all else fails, direct link here. If you missed the articles the first time around, they are definitely worthy of your time. If you read them when they were posted last year, it’s a great time to revisit them. I did….

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