SIOUX CITY — On a bright and sunny autumn day in Sioux City, thoughts turned toward the coming spring.
Monday afternoon, three players each from the Briar Cliff University and Morningside University softball programs gathered at Hubbard Park in Sioux City to dedicate a new banner promoting the Siouxland Women’s Fastpitch League, an adult amateur softball league scheduled to begin play in Sioux City in the spring of 2022.
The league will be run by the Sioux City Fastpitch Softball Association, led by league president and Iowa Amateur Softball Association Fast-Pitch Softball Hall of Famer Pete Sandman, Vice President Steve Hauge, and Secretary/Treasurer Delbert Christensen.
“The idea is to get this done and ready to go, and start next summer,” Christensen said. “Preferably in May, it may end up being the first Sunday in June, and it’ll be based on player availability.”
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The plan is for the league to have four to six teams in the first season, with around 15 players per team. The season is scheduled to last around 10 weeks, with play starting in late May or early June, and ending the second weekend in August, at which point most players will head back to their respective colleges.
Christensen has reached out to college coaches in Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, and Nebraska to promote the league.
All of the games will take place at Hubbard Park, home to a long and storied softball history since it was built in the 1930’s.
“I think it's super cool, the vision,” Morningside senior Lexie Stolen said. “I think it’s a great idea. My mom used to come down here and play down here back in the day when she was here and fastpitch was big here in Sioux City. Just bringing it back and getting teams in here, I think it’s a huge thing for Sioux City.”
Christensen said that the league will be open to graduated high school, current college, and post-college adult players.
"It's somewhat based off the Iowa Women's Softball League that has been in existence for the last five years, playing out of the Cedar Rapids area," Christensen said. "There, it is primarily all college players but we wanted to open it up a little bit more, reason being we've got Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, a three-state area."
"We didn't want to restrict anything. If players are interested to play, we want to offer them an opportunity of playing."
Christensen, who has been umpiring fastpitch softball for 44 years, foresees a league filled with college softball players who are looking for a place to play in the summer months.
“If they want to find a place to go play in the summer, they don’t have anywhere," Christensen said. There is nothing in Omaha, there is nothing in Des Moines, there is nothing in Sioux Falls. There is going to be something in Hubbard Park.”
Christensen said that the league's sole method of revenue generation so far has been the selling of 4x8-foot outfield banner advertising signs. There is room for 38 signs along the outfield fence, and Christensen said that 20 have been sold and paid for.
There will also be a $50 registration fee for each player.
Along with hosting the new league at the park, Christensen also said that the goal is to eventually bring a Division I softball team to come play at Hubbard, once it gets the necessary renovations and meets NCAA specifications.
Already, he has reached out to coaches with Siouxland ties at programs like the University of Iowa, and the University of Texas about possibly playing a game at Hubbard sometime in the next few years.
"If the place is ready, that is going to happen," Christensen said. "We're pulling the Iowa strings where we can, but we have to have the place ready for it."