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Making Softball A Family Event

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By LARRY BUGG

Tribune correspondent

Published: August 2, 2008

ZEPHYRHILLS - Larry Fisher knows where he is headed on a Monday night.

The 28-year-old manager at NAPA Auto Parts is going to meet his wife, Leann, 26, and their children, 5-year-old Savannah and 4-year-old Tori, at a softball field behind the Oasis World Outreach Church on State Road 54.

Larry Fisher manages the ICA coed softball team in the ROCK Sports Coed Softball League.

Here, he can get his swings in along with Leann as his teammate while the kids watch.

"It gets us out of the house," Fisher said. "I can't afford to do anything else.

"You look forward to going to do something instead of staying home and watching TV. You have other people who are in the same position as me."

"I stay at home during the summer," said his wife, who works as a substitute teacher during the school year. "It helps me to get out here and interact with other adults and not be so stressed out. I'm looking forward to taking that ball and smacking it out of the park. I do it to relieve stress."

Adults revert to childhood as they hit in slow-pitch softball, run the bases and make running catches. The adults can let their children watch, and there is no alcohol, foul language or players losing their tempers.

On this field, the players might even laugh when a ground ball goes under their glove. There is no bickering, and the players gladly shake hands after the games.

Athletic Director J.R. Davis said there are 120 people playing in the league and that it has been successful. The ROCK Sports will have flag football in September, and the programs are open to anyone.

"We have been doing the sports program for the last eight years," said Mike Sloan, pastor for Oasis World Outreach. "We saw the value of community outreach, the value of family time together. That's why we have invested everything we have in fields and our sports program.

"It has been an absolute success. We strive for family participation. That's what it is all about. We want to promote family values. I look at my church as being my city, my community. It's not just a Sunday thing. It so happens that it works out to hold a family together."

Hair stylist Sharon Holloway, 56, is a veteran of many church softball leagues. Her Agape Gator Nation is composed largely of folks from Agape Baptist Church on Chancey Road.

"It's good family sport," said Holloway, who is a pianist and vocalist at the Agape Church.

Eric Fike, 19, is a construction worker and carpenter. Fielding ground balls at shortstop helps him take care of life's challenges.

"It's just about going out and having a good time," Fike said. "We have been constantly busy at work, so I have been working overtime almost every day."

Sarah Odom, 36, believes that coed softball helps her family stay together. She works in human resources for Tampa Bay Steel. Her husband Chris, 36, has a window tinting business. They have two children, Blake, 13, and Brady, 11.

"I think it gives us an opportunity to get out and interact with other couples," Sarah Odom said. "It's clean fun, which I think adds a lot of value. A lot of times, you get into competitive sports and it is so competitive you can't enjoy it. You have the opportunity to come out, relieve some stress, have a good time and enjoy each other's company."

The Odoms are members of the Oasis World Outreach Church.

"In today's world, it is all about family," said Chris Odom. "You have to keep families together. You have to find yourself a good church, a good pastor. I would rather play here than drink in a bar. I would rather spend all night here than be some place you shouldn't be."

So, while it might not heal all the ills of the world, this softball league is helping people enjoy their Mondays and Friday nights and forget about the economy and any other challenges for a little while.

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