The new season is right around the corner
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- February
- 20
As we all know the new softball season is right around the corner, I just wanted to announce that I will be back on the softball beat this season. Joining me this year on the beat will be Jane McManus. She’s a great writer and very sports knowledgeable so she’ll be a welcome addition to the beat.
It’s still undecided as of right now who will be covering which side of the river so whoever is covering which side; this will be a real good year for softball in Section 1.
I can’t wait for the season to start.
This entry was posted
on Friday, February 20th, 2009 at 12:19 pm by Debbie Schechter. 
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Welcome to Jane when she starts. Tony we will miss you. Debbie I am looking forward to your posts again. Snow snow go away.
I hear there was a big shake up in Eastchester..What does that do to the league and the prospects for Eastchester?
Should be a very exciting season coming up for HS Softball 2009 in Section 1. Many returning all stars and some exciting newcomers to look forward to. It will be the last year for our local teams to play outside of their leagues, like in years, as in 2010, Softball will go down from 24 games to 20 games, in a reduction savings effort. Many teams use the extra games to play in tournaments, like the Eastchester Tournament, Pelham Tournament, in Westchester County and for others traveling upstate to play in the Morabito Tournament (which was started right here at Port Chester HS) and the NYSSCOGS/Mudville Tournaments. The Majority of those High School Teams who participate in these tournaments or even travel down to Florida or South Carolina during spring break to play games, do this primarily by fund raising and not asking any of the school districts to foot one dime. So the efforts taken by the NYSPHSAA to save money by reducing the amount of regular season games from 24 to 20 is not necessarily goin to make as large of an impact as they think and will cheat those teams who have worked so hard in the past to fundraise to participate in these wonderful tournaments. The Eastchester Tournament, the Pelham Tourney and the Morabito Tournament have been going on for over 25 years respectfully and might be a point of history rather than part of the present.
What was the big shake up in Eastchester, I don’t think it has anything to do with thier tournament, this is the first year they are playing egual or better teams.
All the best to Section 1 softball this season.
Hot dog,
It should be a great season for the girls, but the cuts in games start this year (can only play 20). That is such a bummer. You know I have friends that live in section 2 (Albany County), they did not make any cuts to their athletics schedule, they are playing 24 games.
You would think that here in the highest paying tax county of the state that this would not happen. Frankly I don’t see where the savings will be in this ridiculous maneuver. There are other ways to cut costs without punishing the athletes. Here’s a thought that does not just apply to softball that I haven’t heard anyone mention.
Using baseball and softball as the example, with roughly 28 innings less to play than in previous years, will the coaches trim back on their rosters? Probably. Why have 14 kids on the team? Baseball teams can leave pitchers down on JV and bring them up if needed. The kids who were role players in the past, waiting for a chance to get in and prove themselves, will find themselves with significantly less chances to get in games. This is just a disgusting shame for the athletes.
How about in lower tax-paying states? They play upwards of 40 games per season and ride around on buses for hours to get to those games. These are warmer states that can get the games in but, there is no reason we should not be able to have a minimum of a 24 game schedule. It should be 30 in my opinion.
In the summer, Debbie reported about Krystina Poloni being named to NFCA All-American. Does anyone realize what a big deal that is? How difficult it is with a miniscule 24 game schedule to achieve that honor? She is being compared to players across the country that are playing 30-40 game seasons. There is big talent here in Section 1, but it is hard for our girls because of the small number of games that they get to play in.
I am sorry this is such a long post, but it has been bugging me most of the winter and I had to get it off my chest. Whew.
There is an economic crisis that is not to be taken lightly. It does affect real people and real jobs (look at what happened to Tony P.) This was a knee-jerk reaction by the section.
Koala Fan,
Don’t take this the wrong way. I am a big fan of high school sports, but at what point did it become a requirement that taxpayers pay for interscholastic sports for kids. As a society it is our obligation to education our children, are athletics also our obligation? If so, why?
Who are the new coaches at Eastchester. What happened to Coach skippy
Skip is out after many years and great teams.
Replaced by Frank Fiore, better known as Kevin Devaney’s best friend.
Rumor is Skip might resurface at a local college. we’ll see. Good luck to him and Frank.
Hi LarE,
No offense taken, and a fair question. I really don’t know how to respond to that without sounding like a jerk. So I will try and hope it doesn’t come off the wrong way.
Our school taxes are very high. For as long as I can remember (even when I was in HS a long, long, long time ago) athletics were always a part of the overall school experience and included in the budget. Also included are a variety of other non-athletic extra curricular activities. Some of these include band, drama, studio art, dance, clubs etc.. I am not talking about the required art and music classes taken in the regular curriculum.
My opinion is that extra-curriculars in the arts should be treated no different than any other after-school activity and should not be considered any more enriching than the ones in athletics. Therefore, if financial support is reduced or eliminated to one area, than it should be done to all, and we should all pay lower taxes. This is a HS sports forum, so I doubt there will be too many people on here in support of scaling back on athletics.
In answer to your question though, no I don’t feel that it is obligatory, but it should be equitable to all genres of the activities. I hope that my point is coming out the right way. I think I would need a full page editorial to cover the whole thing.
Something interseting for the softball junkie the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_de3HJvO-N8
Journal News has lost/cut several of their HS sports staff it seems. I hope we are not going to lose Debbie too. If we want to keep the this blog, we will need to show that to the Journal News. So let’s get it going people until Debbie is available to start her postings. Post everyday.
Joe Lombardi the Lax reporter is gone (Don’t know if he quit)
Tony P. Gone
His wrestling replacement quit. Who will be next? I think we should try to be proactive now and show the JN that girls softball is important to many people?
I hope that they can find a way to keep the girls sports coverage to what it has been in the past. When forced with making cuts, it is obvious that they will go with the seemingly less popular sports. So we have to post here often.
So until we see Debbie again (I hope she makes it through the crunch over there), anyone want to give an opinion on your own pre-season top five by class?
Harrison should win it all because of the coach
Coach Walsh is now an NCAA softball Coach at the collage of New Rochelle. Does he get to choose the teams he plays. Good luck to him and his team
Harrison win it all? Did you forget about Pearl River?
Hey, Coach Walsh is off to a great start, His new team 2-0 start. This guy knows how to win. Someone said he is assisting at New Rochelle (the new power house)