[Andy]

Two things - slowpitch and all that comes with it, as Tom said and the expansion of available SP tournaments everywhere.


The other is the growth of club and travel baseball for HS age kids.

About 25-30 years ago, there was a very active and strong statewide Men's FP league in my area, about 12 or so teams scattered around the state. We usually spent Saturday evenings at the local ballpark watching the local boys play a DH in the summertime. We had tournaments both Memorial Day and Fourth of July weekends, some really good FP softball.

Most of the kids that played HS and college baseball in the spring would play FP softball in the summer, because that was their only option. Some of the young kids even learned how to pitch from the veterans.

With the growth of travel and club baseball and the ability to play year round in some areas, the HS and college kids are playing baseball and not playing FP any more. There are also very few youngsters (20 somethings) learning how to pitch FP softball.

This is what I'm seeing here in my area, there are still a few pockets of Men's FP left, but nothing like it was. Kind of sad as I enjoy calling the Men's FP game.