Softball is a sport that has been in America for more than 100 years. It is widespread in high schools and is a well-known sport with students everywhere. Many compare it to baseball because they involve very similar rulesets and gameplay. The popularity of the sport made many people wonder: why doesn’t Tech High have a softball team?
Tech High has an array of sports ranging from golf to basketball, but not softball. Seniors will remember a softball team in the spring of their freshman year, but it disappeared by the time they were sophomores. The team started with nine players and had 12 by the end of the season, enough to play a game but a low number for a high school team. The shortage of players stemmed from a lack of interest in the sport altogether. Softball was dying, and because it was a minor sport at this school, it was bound to fail.
After softball’s spring 2022 season, many of the players graduated from the school. Alexandra Souphonh, a senior at Tech High who would be interested in joining a softball team, said, “Four or five players were seniors, so the following year, we weren’t able to keep that softball team connected, and not many people were interested.” The following school year, there was no coach to manage the team after the previous one couldn’t do it again. Due to the lack of exposure to softball, people forgot about it. Then, in the 2023-2024 school year, not enough people were interested in putting effort into being on the team, so it failed to return yet again. Only a few new students wanted to bring back the sport. It looked like the Tech High softball team was dead.
This all changed this year when students expressed interest in bringing softball back. More people, specifically underclassmen, have been wanting to participate in the sport. There are well over 12 students requesting softball’s return and a coach who is ready to partake in the team. Makenzie Skinner, a Tech High senior on the softball team the last time it was at the school, said, “We have nine or 10 people, including myself, that want to play, [but] we need a minimum of fifteen.” This is great news for softball, having everything it needs to return.
The problem with this plan is that after the seniors graduate at the end of the year, interest in the team might decline, and the sport might get pushed out again. This is a real possibility that softball athletes invested in the sport fear. However, with enough pushback, Tech High students can ensure that softball is around for the long run. Look for it on the spring sports roster and make sure to show up so it can stay at our school.
