Now that the calendar has flipped to April, coaches and players are looking to make the most of precious field time. In Pittsfield, more than a dozen amateur sports leagues share the city’s fields every spring.
Come February, the rush is on.
“So for the spring and summer, we have…. One two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen different leagues," said Becky Manship, Pittsfield’s Recreation Activities Coordinator.
“We have outdoor basketball, we have volleyball, we have softball, we have the school baseball, softball, lacrosse, so we have lacrosse and rugby and soccer, because soccer’s become a spring summer and fall sport, and then baseball of course too. And then the schools also have tennis and track and field,” said Manship.
It’s her job to help put the hordes of sports enthusiasts into some kind of discernable order.
“Once the seasons really start for all athletic leagues, it’s pretty self-run,” Manship said.
But before the lines are drawn, cleats laced, bats swung, and laps run, every group has to go through city hall for permission.
“Because it’s a city facility, they are just required to go through the field use process that we have. We hold field use meetings, one for the spring summer use, one for the fall use. This process began in 2008 and it’s become really well-oiled machine,” said Manship.
One of those amateur sports leagues is Pittsfield Girls Softball.
“We have over 200 girls, and they range from age six to nineteen," said Kevin Sherman, former president of Pittsfield’s city council, and president of Pittsfield Girls Softball.
“We have a tee ball league, a coaches pitch league, and then a rookie league which is U10, a minor league which is U12, and then we have our major league which is up to U19, the U meaning under, you have to be under those ages to be in those various divisions,” said Sherman.
Sherman was drawn into the league for a very simple reason.
“I had daughters. And they loved playing softball and they joined the league, and I became a coach, and then became a board member, and here I am as a president. And I think that’s how most of us get involved. We see our young girls have a passion for the game and then we become passionate about it as well, and want to be able to help out. Having played youth sports in Pittsfield my entire life, it was only natural to want to give back,” Sherman said.
And the league has given back. Beyond giving hundreds of girls a chance to play the sport, Pittsfield Girls Softball is hoping to expand the city’s profile. Again, Sherman.
“We’re also coordinating and hosting a tournament for a week we’re calling the Battle Of The Berkshires, and that’s in June. We have 20 teams coming in, more than 20 teams coming in to that. Many of which are coming from out of this area: Newtown, Connecticut; New Hampshire; other teams in Connecticut. So they’ll be spending two nights here in the Berkshires. They’ve been reaching out to me about what can they do while they’re here, where do they stay, where do they eat, where do they shop. So think there’s an element of economic and marketability for the Berkshires that our league can help provide,” Sherman said.
Becky Manship says the city couldn’t be happier.
“They are great stewards of the softball complex up there, they definitely help out the city by doing what they do and taking acre of that facility,” said Manship.
Pittsfield Girls Softball is based at the Gerald S. Doyle Memorial Park. Opening day is May 5th, and the Battle in the Berkshires starts June 22nd.
