The lengthy winter snow and the spring’s rainy weather has put a damper on NEIU clubs and teams. NEIU’s co-ed softball league had high hopes to kick off its fifth season this April, but will postpone its season to the summer session.
“This is the first season the softball league has had to change to the summer; it’s a disappointment,” says Dave Merrill, NEIU Associate Director of Campus Recreational Programs. “The weather is just so bad.”
The NEIU softball league consists of eight to ten teams of male and female students, of all skill level. “There is a very casual atmosphere,” says Merrill. After all, the NEIU softball league is intramural. They have one to two games a week and play against each other. They use a 16-inch ball that is extremely soft and not like a normal softball, so no glove is required.
“There are no scheduled practices for the teams,” Merrill said. He went on to say, “If the team would like to practice, it is completely up to them, but the fields are always open.” That is, of course, if the weather is permitting.
Registration is still taking place for the NEIU softball league and will continue up until Memorial Day, May 26. Merrill and other fellow leaguers are hoping to start the season on June 1. There are no scheduled games yet, but “everyone is ready to go,” Merill said.
Is there a possibility that the softball league could potentially turn into a varsity athletic sport? “Well, it’s not completely up to us in the PE complex,” Merrill said, “It has more to do with the Board of Trustees at NEIU. But a more realistic accomplishment would be to have a softball club, where NEIU students could compete and play against other local universities like Northwestern.”
The warmer weather will help the softball league, but until then, all potential players will have to hold
out and practice indoors. “If it’s consolation, it’s not only the softball league that is having problems starting their season,” Merrill said. “The soccer season is in the same exact situation.” At this rate, many of NEIU’s clubs and teams will have to push their season into the summer months.