If you make your way down Sydney Dover Road to the William Owen Pass Sports Complex on any Tuesday or Thursday morning throughout the year, you’ll find a group of seniors that make up one of the largest senior softball league in the state of Florida.
The Brandon Senior Softball League is truly one-of-a-kind, offering seniors an opportunity to play the game they love, stay active and make lasting friends in their community. With over 100 players from across Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Polk counties, along with some that come from up north, the league is open to all men over the age of 60 and all women over the age of 50, with enough players to regularly field eight teams that play every Tuesday and Thursday morning.
“I think that the sense of community out here takes precedence over the game,” member Bob Dowdy said. “These guys come out here and you have your cliques and the guys you know and the guys you go to eat lunch and all that stuff, but just as far as getting together with people, it’s great out here. My wife doesn’t call it senior softball, she jokingly calls it daycare for seniors. It gets you out of the house, it gets you moving. You don’t have to be a superstar, just show up, play, interact with all of these people up here, it’s priceless.”
Fellow member Nat Pieper echoed Dowdy’s sentiments on the community built within the league.
“The sense of camaraderie is tremendous,” Pieper said. “You may have a player that loses a wife so all of a sudden he’s alone, but there’s a built in friendship for him here. There’s people that can take care of him for a while until he merges back into being active, there’s just a lot of community action that takes place.”
To create a competitive balance within the league, teams are composed through an alternating draft that gives each team a mix of players that span all different age groups and skill levels, with the league’s average age hovering around 72 years old and their oldest player still participating at 85 – following the retirement of John Wolfe last year, one of the league’s longest-standing players at 95.
“What’s unusual, I think, is that the league has been able to successfully include players of all skill levels and ages,” Pieper said. “We draft every quarter and the teams are all pretty even based on the draft. Everybody’s got some of the old-timers, everybody’s got some of the best players and so we’re able to accommodate everybody. It’s just an attitude that the league has that allows that to happen.”
The fee to join the league is just $25 for the entire year and players are asked to purchase two additional jerseys — a blue home jersey and a great visitors jersey — and a hat, each adding around $10 to the existing fee. Other than that… you bring your own glove, bat and cleats or sneakers and you’re ready to play! With games being played twice per week, along with the option to get out there on Saturdays for batting practice and select days in between for player-run pickup games, the league runs year-round with four different “seasons” in which new teams are picked every three months.
“I’m a diabetic and I use this league for exercise,” said member and former professional baseball player Jose Alcaide. “But also, I was a baseball player all of my life. I played professional ball and I found this group of people here. It’s one big cohesion and allows me to continue playing the game I love.”
With participation regularly dipping in the summer with the hot weather and some participants heading back north, the league is currently at six teams and invites seniors to come out and join the fun as their 20th anniversary grand celebration approaches in August.
Brandon Softball League is welcome to all, with player from varying backgrounds that range from former first responders and police officers and lawyers to former professional baseball players, along with significant representation from the hispanic community within their player base.
“We have people from all walks of life here,” member Bob Dowdy said. “It’s just a great group of people. We get out here and we don’t argue, we don’t do a lot of cussing, although it gets a little testy every once in a while, but it’s just a great group of guys.”
As part of a long-standing agreement with Hillsborough County, the county adopted the league in its inception, allowing fees to remain low by keeping the field maintained, dragging the field and drawing the lines each day before games and allowing the Brandon Softball League to utilize the facility free of charge.
“Hillsborough County has done a super job for us, along with everyone that uses these fields,” Pieper said. “Getting the county convinced to participate with us and help us.”
“From what I’ve been told, the county said that it isn’t always about the money, but it’s about the community and that’s why they don’t charge us,” Dowdy said. “They just wanted to do something to keep the senior citizens active. My doctor tells me that he doesn’t know what I’m doing, but when I stop doing it I’m going to die, so keep doing it. That’s what it’s all about. We start at 60 and our oldest member is 85.”
If you are curious about joining the league, all seniors are welcome to come out and try it for themselves. Guests can play in two games with no fee before deciding whether or not they want to join. For more information, visit www.brandonseniorsoftball.com
“You can come out at any time,” Dowdy said. “You come out here any time you want to, we’ll do the paperwork on you and you’ll either be a pickup player or be assigned to a team. If you come out here tomorrow and you want to play, you’ve got your shoes on, you’ve got your bat and your glove, you’ll play.”