In the swing — New softball league secures field access and gets ready to play

A softball league is being brought back to Newcastle after years of dormancy through the efforts of Ashley Tupper, who said she had seen a need for a league in the community and decided to get the ball rolling on the project.

There had been ongoing talks of getting a league started for the past couple of years, but Tupper said there were always little hang-ups. With a daughter interested in the sport, she was motivated to get the league started now.

“It won’t happen if we don’t get it done,” she said.

Another local parent, Justin Tystad, also has a daughter who had shown interest in playing softball, and he was pleased to help Tupper out with the league.

“We have talked about getting it started for a few years; she (Tupper) took the bull by the horns and got things going,” he said.

Tystad has been involved in the local youth baseball league since he moved to town 22 years ago. He coached his sons from T-ball all the way through their time on the local Babe Ruth team. Now that his daughter has aged out of youth baseball, he has shifted his focus to a softball league after seeing a need there.

“We wanted to give girls something that they could do during the summer that was their sport,” he said.

Before bringing the softball league idea to the city this year, Tupper and her husband, Michael, organized a free “summer roundup” over a couple of weeks last July and August to expose girls to the sport. The roundup was
sponsored by Hometown Medical, which Tupper, a nurse practitioner, owns, but it was worth it as the event showed a promising level of interest for the league.

“We had a great turnout,” Tupper said. “After seeing the girls at the roundup, we were even more excited.”

Tupper had sent out a call for girls to come and play at the summer roundup, and they showed up in impressive numbers. Participants ranged from beginners with no experience to those who had already played, and Tupper was excited about the growth the newcomers showed.

“They went from not touching a softball to fast pitching by the end of the roundup,” she said.

With the attendance numbers from the roundup to support her proposal, Tupper approached the city of Newcastle to get started on securing a memorandum of understanding for use of the local baseball fields. Tupper and the rest of her fledgling softball league board were directed to work out an agreement with the local soccer league — who also utilizes the field — regarding practice times and field use arrangements.

Tupper told the NLJ this week that agreement had been reached with other field users, and after receiving the go-ahead from the city, she has started to lock in some dates on the summer calendar. The league will start practices on April 28 and hold a pre-season workshop the weekend before.

After last year’s roundup and an announcement of the league’s formation, over 30 girls have shown interest in playing this summer – enough to fill the rosters of three teams. Teams that will be offered this summer are U8, U10 and U12, and the league will operate as part of the Northern Hills Softball League.

Elyse Dickey, a previous softball coach, has joined the new board and helped Tupper get things going. Dickey started playing T-ball in Newcastle and transitioned to softball when she was old enough. She played through her sophomore year of high school.

“I had a lot of good experiences, and I wanted other girls to have that same opportunity,” Dickey said.

She coached under a previous board, and when she heard about the work Tupper was doing, she wanted to help.

“It is super exciting, a lot of work has been done by Ashley and her husband,” she said, “I think this gives girls a different opportunity.”

Dickey mentioned that there are a few collegiate softball teams nearby, and this
league could be a pathway for girls in the area to break into that field.

Tupper had a similar experience. She grew up in Michigan, where softball was offered at the high school level as a school-sponsored sport. Her daughter, Ryleigh Tupper, played baseball, and really enjoyed it. When she wanted to try softball Tupper decided to put in the effort to make the opportunity available to her.

Tystad had a similar experience with his daughter, Taylor. Her only experience so far has been the summer roundup. She too had played T-ball and baseball, but a spark was lit after trying softball.

“It quickly became her favorite sport,” he said.

Newcastle has been known to have a strong baseball league for years, and Tupper and her board have been working to provide the same opportunities for young women in the community.

“Baseball has always been very supported,” Tupper said, “but at a certain age, the girls age out of that program.”

Tystad acknowledged the issue.

“You see a huge drop off of girls at that age,” he said.

“Our girls are young, but they are only getting older,” Tupper said. “We needed to start it now.”

Tupper and the board members are looking forward to watching the league unfold this summer, especially after the promising turnout at the roundup and the support they have already received from the community and former board members.

“We just need to have the weather get nice so the girls can get out and play,” Tystad said.

It has been a long process, but with the necessary agreements in place and a field available for use, the board sees success ahead.

“I know a lot of people had tried and were not able to get all the pieces together,” Tupper said. “If we were going to start it, we wanted to see it through to fruition.”