City’s softball leagues unite

By John Molori
MethuenLife Writer

In 2009, St. Theresa’s Softball league would have celebrated its 40th year in existence. Not to be outdone, the Methuen Girls Softball League was turning 35. Instead, 2009 marks the first year of a new unified softball league for Methuen.
The two venerable organizations have merged to form the new Methuen Girls Softball League (MGSL). Methuen East Softball will come on board in 2010. New league president Steve Flagg says that the move has been a long time coming.
“All of us would ask, ‘How come we have three leagues in town?’ The answer is a long one, but what it came down to is that no one could figure out how to make everyone happy.”
Flagg and the other league organizers decided it was time to come up with an answer. He states, “I spoke to Deb Littlefield, the president of St. Theresa’s Softball, and Jay Scionti, last year’s MGSL president.
“The individual leagues were reluctant to give anything up. There have been some scars between the leagues over the years. We sat down in November and discussed merging, then went back to our respective boards. MGSL approved the move, as did St. Theresa’s. Methuen East will join us in 2010.”
Littlefield and past St. Theresa’s president Bob Lennon are on the new MGSL board. For Flagg, a unified league is merely an extension of other activities for the girls involved: “To me, there’s no reason why these kids who go to school together cannot play softball together. We had three leagues playing under three sets of rules.
“This year, we’ll all play under ASA (Amateur Softball Association of America) rules. This will prepare the girls who want to go on and play in high school.”
Speaking of high school, the MGSL has established great relations with the Methuen High School softball program coached by Jason Smith. The symmetry between the two programs is mutually beneficial.
Says Smith, “Our relationship with MGSL is very important and continues to grow each year. They play an integral role in our day-to-day operations, from storage of our equipment in the hut to spearheading improvements to the Burnham Road fields, as well as setup for our Methuen Invitational Tournament over Memorial Day weekend.
“The most important thing is the kids. They are our feeder program. They do a great job preparing kids to play at the next level, and I can’t thank them enough for that. Hopefully, our role will expand into more coaching clinics for youth coaches, as well as a clinic put on by our varsity girls.”
Flagg adds, “The connection is amazing. The high school girls run stations at our tryouts for throwing, hitting, fielding and fly balls. We are also going to be using the high school players as umpires for our 7- and 8-year-old division. It’s great to see them interacting with the younger girls.”
Smith sees a real value in having his players reach out to some potential future Ranger stars. He states, “Our kids love working with girls. They get such satisfaction seeing the younger girls working so hard and having fun playing the game they love, not to mention being reminded that they were in that spot not too long ago.
“Probably 85 to 90 percent of the girls in our program came through one of these leagues, so it is special for them to give back to the programs that gave them their start. Plus, nothing is better than having the youth girls come and support our teams, hoping it will be them out there on the field in a few years in a varsity uniform.”
The MGSL leadership is taking a proactive approach to trumpeting the arrival of a new era in Methuen girls’ softball.
“We announced the merger and have a new website at www.methuengirlssoftball.com,” says Flagg, who has two daughters in the program, Caty, 10 and Allison, 7.
“We have five divisions, U8 for 7- and 8-year-olds, U10 for 9- and 10-year-olds, U12 for 11- and 12-year-olds and U14 for 13- and 14-year olds, and U18 ages 14 to high school senior.”
Perhaps the most significant part of the new MGSL is the establishment of a spring league for 14-year-old players. Flagg explains, “Fourteen-year-old girls in Methuen have never had a chance to play ball in the spring. We had a senior league in the summer, but this spring league is huge for those kids who want to get ready for the high school softball season. It’s a first in Methuen.”
Flagg says that the positive effects of the new league have already been seen.
“We had a registration at Fuddruckers back in January and 100 kids showed up. Normally, we only get 20 to 25 kids for the first registration. People are really excited about the changes.”
The MGSL will serve as a prelude to another summer of softball from Methuen’s travel teams. Flagg relates, “The Methuen Majesty begin play at the end of June. We are hoping to have two teams each in the U14, U12 and U10 divisions.
“We want kids to enjoy being kids during the summer so we don’t have any weekend games. We’ll play one home game and one away game during the week in the Middle Essex League against teams like Billerica, Burlington, Westfield, Georgetown, Salem, N.H., and Atkinson, N.H.”
Beyond the inner workings and logistics of merging two leagues, Flagg remains focused on the overall benefits of the program: “There is nothing better than going to the field and watching the girls hanging around with their friends. The camaraderie is amazing, and it doesn’t matter if the players are superstars or not. The experience is terrific.”