The Tellico Village Men’s Senior Softball League is less than a month from the start of a new season.
Open to all men aged 55 and over, the league started in 2002 with four teams. Now with six teams, a 10-game season is held in the spring and fall.
“It started about 20 years or so ago and it’s for men that are from Loudon and the surrounding counties,” Bruce Rein, league coach and public relations representative, said. “It’s not just Tellico Village. We got people here from Oak Ridge, Sweetwater, Louisville and Knoxville. … There’s about 75 players right now. We have six teams.”
The number of teams may vary based on registered players any given season, with Rein estimating the league loses 10-15% of players every year. The league is always looking for new players and will be hosting an interest meeting at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday at Chota Recreation Center.
“We have an informational meeting, we talk a little bit about the league structure, the different captains, the softball league rules — we’ve got a couple unique rules for softball,” Rein said. “We talk about the equipment that new players need to have. The league supplies all bats and balls, so basically players only need a glove and then softball shoes, no steel cleats.”
Most of the league’s unique rules center around player safety and avoiding contact. For example, first and home have two bases each to remove the chance of collisions when players come running in. The league also plays with the slow-pitch model, requiring a curve in the flight of the ball more appropriate for the age group.
Anybody over age 55, or with their 55th birthday within the calendar year, is welcome to join regardless of skill level or prior experience.
“If you want to get out there and play, you’re guaranteed at least three innings every game, generally it’s more,” John Hunter, league commissioner, said. “We take players of all abilities. We have some real good players, excellent players, and we have some maybe shouldn’t be out there but they are and just enjoying themselves. … I would tell (anyone interested) if they just like to get out and play some ball, even if they haven’t played in years, which many of them haven’t, to come out and give it a try. If they still have some type of skill left, to see how it works out. We have tryouts — well, they’re not really tryouts, they’re just evaluations — and they have four opportunities to get out there and see if they still enjoy the game.”
Players can take part in any of the four preseason practices to see if they want to join the league. Practices are held March 17, 22, 24 and 29 at Loudon Municipal Park. New players are required to attend at least one practice session.
Once a player decides to join the league, they must sign a liability release waiver with Loudon County Parks and Recreation Department and pay the $50 registration fee. The fee is good for both the fall and spring season and covers equipment, team shirts and field rental, as well as a picnic at the end of the spring season and a pizza party following the fall one.
The 2022 spring season will begin April 5, with all games taking place at Loudon Municipal Park. Each team plays each other twice over the course of the season for a total of 10 games.
“Every team plays on Tuesday,” Hunter said. “We’ll usually have two games at noon and one game at 1:30, that’s why we always have one team sitting out. And we will use those guys for umpires. We don’t have professional umpires, it’s basically a recreational league. So we umpire our own games and we just use our own guys.”
In addition to weekly games, optional practices are held Thursdays for anybody who wants to put in extra work.
While competitiveness is not the driving force behind most participation, the league does keep track of results and crowns a champion at the end of each season. New players are distributed into teams based on ability to keep them balanced, and teams are regularly redrawn.
“I’d like to say it’s somewhat competitive, although we’re not teenagers and young adults and stuff like that,” Rein said. “The guys really like the camaraderie, but there is first-place type of things and we recognize a team that wins first place. … The other thing we do is re-draft the teams about every two years. If you’re on a team one year, two to two and a half years later we throw everybody’s name basically in a hat and pick them back out again so the guys get to rotate teams. That way they get to meet the other players, … and the guys really like it because that way you don’t get one team that has all the good guys on it and they win all the time and the other teams got all the bad guys on it and they lose all the time. Nobody wants that, so that’s why we re-draft, and so it mixes up good guys and bad guys.”
Rein is the last remaining member from the league’s inaugural 2002 season. He encourages anybody with an interest to come and join the fun.
“Come out and have a lot of fun,” he said. “It gives you a chance to get some exercise, meet some guys, new guys, and it’ll give you a chance to see if you can still hit the ball. And it’s kind of a good time.”
