SUN CITY – Each season of Sun City softball opens with a bang and a lot of new athletic news.
For the 2014 season, which opened on May 3, Sun City Softball Club President Glenn Groebli answered the question: what’s new this year?
Steve Kutska and Terry Johnson rake the infield. (Photo by Victoria Diamond/Sun Day)
“Well,” he said with a smile, “not much in softball, but we’re building a new bulletin board and putting in a new sprinkler system.”
Groebli said that the 200-member club is cutting down on the sporting hoopla this spring and taking care of some practical needs for the 2014 season.
“We have 22 teams in all, with 22 sponsors, as usual,” Groebli said. “I have a special incentive this year because my team, the Huntley Realtors Hurricanes, was one of the finalists in the playoffs last year. We lost to the Binger Chiropractic Adjusters for the overall 16-inch championship. We want to take the final step ourselves this summer.”
The club also decided to upgrade some of its facilities. For example, a bulletin board displaying game scores, standings and schedules, will be erected on the third base side of Eakin Field. A custom sprinkler system will automatically wet down the infield for games.
Softball club members are made up almost exclusively of two kinds of athletes – those who have played the sport all of their lives and are still enjoying it today and those who played when they were young but then moved on to other things and now are returning to the sport after 20-30 years.
“Whether they are skilled veterans or less-than-skilled returning guys, we find a place for them here,” Groebli said. “It is amazing how many guys who gave up the sport a long time ago are regaining their form out here.”
The club’s biggest event this summer will be their “National Night Out” all-star game on August 5, with the Huntley Fire and Police Departments, Sun City officials, and Huntley village officials on hand, plus a large crowd. The club will again operate three leagues: a Thursday night 16-inch league made up of 12 teams, a Thursday morning 16-inch league consisting of six teams, and a Wednesday 12-inch league of four teams.
“We need and are seeking more players for the 12-inch league,” Groebli said. “We also continue to link many of our teams to a designated neighborhood, to enhance the social aspect of the game.”
Groebli himself is a typical example of the softball junkie.
“I have played the game since I was in high school. I grew up in Melrose Park, where we had as much softball as they have always had in Chicago,” he said. “I managed my own teams in Melrose Park and Downers Grove, called the Geezers. I also had a travel team in Melrose Park called the Sundowners.”
Groebli is serving his second term as club president; he led the group for three years previously.
“The league strikes a balance between socializing and being competitive,” Groebli said. “Everyone accepts everyone else at different levels,” he said. “We just have a lot of fun together, while we work hard to excel and win.”
Finally, in answer to a question thousands of Sun Citians have asked breathlessly every season, Groebli said that no one has yet hit a fair ball out of Eakin Field.
Play ball, softballers.
