Put Me in Coach

Thirty-nine seasons ago a group of Lee's Summit girls showed up at the local sandlot wanting to play ball. They were turned away and told that there were no teams for girls in their home town. They begged their parents to drive them to Blue Springs where they had a league for girls. Perhaps in a move to save time and gasoline, or to provide an athletic program for these young ladies, these parents took another option.

In the winter of 1972, Donna Green, Francine Dyke, Joanne Drake, the late Shirley Nill, and the late Joyce Burkhalter met at one of their homes and planned the beginning of the Lee's Summit Powerpuff Softball Association. The name was later changed to the Lee's Summit Girls Softball Association. That spring a draft was held at Westview Elementary School and games were first played the spring and summer of 1972. Many of those original games were played at Westview. Their season began with 2 divisions of 6-8 teams each as shared by Judy Burkhalter, a charter player and the daughter of co- founder, Joyce Burkhalter.

Daryl Felkins, charter player, remembers practicing in a vacant lot that currently houses Sears/Kmart. "We had to run across 291 to use the restroom at the United Super grocery store." Because the lot was not mowed regularly, "during a game, if an outfielder could not find the ball, she would raise her hand and play would stop while all of the girls would look for the ball in the tall grass." Felkins further shares that there were no concession stands and no official umpires. The parents shared in the officiating and made sure they brought plenty of cold pop in coolers. In the first season, there were no sponsors and no uniforms. Each team was assigned a color and the girls were to wear a t-shirt of that color. Felkins went on to coach several years in the league, seeing t-ball added during that time.

Francine Dyke, who is currently a special needs bus aide for the Lee's Summit R-7 district, tells of some of the obstacles faced when starting a girls softball league. "Some of the boys coaches didn't believe a girl would be able to throw the ball from catcher to second base." Anyone who has spent a summer evening at Legacy, knows how silly this objection later proved to be. Ms Dyke, a pioneer in her own right was also the first female umpire for boys baseball in Lee's Summit. She later umpired in the league.

Following that inaugural season, the league was able to get sponsors for the girls, with Farmer's Trust Bank, Midland Bank, W.F. Mothersbaugh and Son Inc. and Hartley's Furniture being among those original sponsors. Sandy Cahill, who would become the first softball coach at Lee's Summit High School, later became one of the first official umpires for the league.

Rick Huskey, owner of Bigg's Pest Control, one of the early coaches, remembers he and his wife Pat each coaching a team. "This was before we were married and Pat's team was the only one to beat my team during that season. Pat's team and mine faced off in the championship game of our division that summer."

After just a season or two some of the original girls wanted to find a higher level of competition. Maureen Newman described how Roland Sheldon, Wanda (McConnell) Holland and Bill Bancroft formed two competitive teams that competed in the Johnson County Girls Athletic Association. "Rollie and Wanda were our coaches and Bancroft was our nemesis for about a year. We were the Roadrunners and my dad's(the late Don Newman) company Specialty Products was our sponsor." In addition to the teams that play in the current LSGSA, there are numerous competitive teams that continue to play in Lee's Summit.

Current LSGSA president Stan Workman tells that this past season, the league served 888 girls playing on 74 teams, both competitive and recreational. These teams were run by 225 coaches with a backbone of 60 sponsors from a variety of area businesses. The league is made up of 6 divisions of girls from pre-K playing T-Ball to high school seniors playing Division 4. Remember the question of whether a girl could throw from catcher to second? Workman shares that, "there have been many home runs hit over the fences at Legacy Park. Lee's Summit Parks and Recreation have provided Legacy Park as a wonderful venue for softball."

Judy Burkhalter is proud of the work her mother Joyce, Donna Green, Francine Dyke, Joanne Drake and Shirley Nill did in starting the league. Their grassroots beginning is being carried on today by a very dedicated group of volunteers. These ladies can truly be proud of what they started back in 1972.