[greymule]

Central New Jersey used to be a hotbed of slow-pitch softball. In the 1970s, within Mercer County alone, at least five townships had leagues of from 10 to 40 teams. The larger leagues had several divisions, and many guys played in more than one league. There were well over 100 men's teams in the county leagues, too, plus plenty of women's slow pitch. On any weekend from April through September, there were tournaments galore. There were also almost 40 teams in an industrial league, which had three levels of competition. Church leagues also abounded.

Today, one township's league has folded, and the other four contain half the teams they did 25 years ago. The leagues that once had three divisions now have two; those that had two now have one. There are a few tournaments.

The population of the county has doubled, and girls' fast pitch is booming, but slow-pitch is less than half what it used to be, and it's still sinking. Is it the same around the country?



[Edited by greymule on Dec 3rd, 2002 at 10:36 PM]