Softball Suggestion
 

I play softball here in the Villages Recreation League, and love the game. A suggestion I would make would be for the Villages Recreation Department to consider installing light standards at one or more of the softball complexes and play some night games.

Advantages would include:

(1) It would eliminate having to play in miserable heat of the sunshine thus making the play more comfortable, and probably less stressful for players health.

(2) It would provide another form of evening entertainment for those who were inclined to enjoy some ballgames at night.

(3) It would be more comfortable for those who want to come and watch some games, and might increase attendance beyond those who are just coming to watch family members play.

(4) It would be a fun experience to play some games under the lights.


We could still have both day and night games, but alternate it up between the various leagues to give everyone this experience.

It would have some increased costs to install the light standards at the field/fields, provide evening security, concessions, etc, and of course the utility bills to run the lights.

Good idea or bad idea? What do you think?

Here's some supporting information:

http://www.stma.org/sites/stma/files...hting_SAFE.pdf

seniors tend to struggle with vision and depth percepton at night.....that is why you hardly see any senior softball tournaments played at night

I'm all for it. Or even just evening games if lights are not practical. I spent my whole life playing ball in the evenings and still would much prefer it.

Is this something else that would cause our amentities fee to increase due to the cost to purchase, install and foot the bill for the electricity?

I like the idea. Maybe more would enjoy the games out of the heat.

That's the reason I suggested evening/late afternoon games if lighted fields are not practical.

I think that's a great idea! We would have someplace to go after supper besides a square! If it ever happens - having an ice cream truck at the fields would be nice, too! ;)

:BigApplause:ante up boy's Seems like a lot of money for the benefit of a few.. Of course you all could ante up

Most towns in Florida have lighted softball fields paid for by the local government for the benefit of their citizens. My first job that I received pay for was in 1965 when I was a 15 year old scorekeeper for the mens softball league in St. Petersburg Parks & Recreation Dept. Mon-Wed-Fri nights from 6:15 to 7:30 to 8:35 I did 3 games a night for $1.50 a game. The umpires got $3 a game, and sometimes I got to do that also. The best benefit was I had to do the write-up for the newspaper the next day about the games, you wouldn't believe how many cokes and hot dogs the players would give me during the night, and of course I was reminded of their hits and etc.

From 1976 to 1981 I played night softball in Pensacola Florida, same situation, there was 3 games played starting at 6:30. I played centerfield then and the lights were somewhat tricky, also the fields didn't have any grass, we had clay all the way to the outfield fences. It was hard baked under the Florida sun and if you didn't cut the ball off quickly enough, it went all the way to the fence. Of course it was also good when you got to hit. It was an industrial league where all the players worked at the business. So we played against the cops, the firemen, and etc, we usually got beat by a bunch of bigger and more in shape teams.

Playing here in TV at night is something I've thought over the last couple of years. Especially since I play neighborhood but not rec league because I'm not a morning person, I hate 8:30 ball games, but a 7:30 night game I would love. In addition to neighborhood ball, I just signed up to play in Restricted Bat League, which are Tuesday afternoon games, which fits my schedule great. So count me in for the night games, I would even go out for rec league is that is the case.

softball
 

Most everyone pays hoa fees. Everyoone deserves to share in the benefits of the money. You can probably say the above comment about a lot of activities that have just a few thousand involved in. That isn't the important point, but they deserve consideration for their activity also.

Contact the rec. department with your idea. All they can say is no !!!!

I could have written this myself.

(Except for having just signed up for Restricted Bat League. How do I do that? :) )

Before July 31st go to Saddlebrook Rec Center and fill out a RBL sheet, I believe it's orange, ask the lady at the desk. Put it in the tray on the end table and in a few days you'll get an email from Jeri Jones who runs the league. Sometime in the near future they'll have a draft and you'll get notified about what to do. The season starts Sept 15th, the games are played at 2pm and 3:30 pm.

If night baseball was appropriate for TV, the developer would have already installed lights.

Softball Suggestion
 

How all-knowing of you. But anyway, nobody is asking for night baseball.

And as we all also know, nothing new or different is ever added to TV.