ISC needs to look at the direction its heading in
by darryl g. smart
Earlier this week, the Innerkip Eagles joined a renowned group of
fastball teams. A group that includes the likes of the Toronto Gators
and County Materials, former International Softball Congress world
teams that are now extinct.
In a sport where dollars and cents have become more important than
the betterment of the game, the Eagles — the Cinderella team at this
summer's ISC world tourney in Kitchener — have become just another
team that didn't have the funds for the ever-growing high costs of
senior men's fastball.
The Eagles demise came because they couldn’t find a major sponsor to
help bankroll a team of virtually unknown locals, now known because
of an incredible run at the world tournament resulting in an eighth-
place finish.
It's a sad story, yet a familiar one.
A couple of weeks ago, the Kitchener Hallman Twins announced that its
storied club would not be able to continue if it wasn’t for a merger
with the Orillia Riversharks.
Before this, it was 2005 and 2006 world champion County Materials
that ceased operations. And before that, Doc Simmons' 2001 champion
Broken Bow Travelers turned into the Broken Bow Spirit after a merger
with the New York Spirit. That team won world titles in 2003 and
2004. Since then, Simmons has merged with the Heflin Gremlins to
create the Broken Bow Gremlins.
Simmons, like most in fastball, do it for the love of the game.
Unfortunately, merging resources has become a necessity.
But is it really in the true spirit of fastball, a game where
ordinary Joes hit the field every weekend in search of glory?
Nowadays, the dollars and cents have turned it into a multi-tiered
sport that rewards the teams with the biggest bankroll and puts the
future on the backburner.
That is until the big teams pluck the up and coming talent from teams
like the Eagles.
Sure, the ISC has taken action over the last few years to develop
teams and talent through the ISC Tournament of Champions and ISC
Development (under-19 championship). Unfortunately the problem lies
at its flagship.
It seems as though the ISC may be at a crossroads.
They can keep things the way they are and collect money from teams
lining up to get a shot at the senior level. And when those teams do
get to that next level, watch them get swallowed up by the big spenders.
One option is for the ISC to somehow create a cap, or regulate how
much teams can spend on players, to make an even playing field so the
Innerkips of the world can maintain their teams and still compete at
the level they are deserving of.
Another option is for the ISC to brand itself as a professional
league, which could potentially bring in the corporate sponsors
needed to keep these teams viable and alive for a lot longer than
they have been.
After all, many of us love the sport and want it to continue to
flourish. But for that to happen, the ISC needs to evaluate itself so
the Innerkips of the world can continue to play the game they’ve been
brought up to play at the highest possible level.
Darryl Smart
519-537-2341 ext. 258
dsmart@bowesnet.com
www.woodstocksentinelreview.com
