THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 24, 1994 TAG: 9407240061
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BARCO, N.C. LENGTH: Long : 103 lines
At first glance, the players on the field look just like any other women's softball team - hitting line drives, catching pop flies and charging home from third base.
Then a little girl comes to the fence, scans the players, spots her target and yells, ``Graaandmaaaa! I need to go to the bathroom.''
That's when it hits you: This is no ordinary ball club. These are the Silver Foxes, women 35 to 50 years old in search of a league of their own.
``We're old tomboys who never grew up,'' said Anne Romm, 49, founder of Northeastern North Carolina's only senior women's team.
Romm and her husband, Bill, got the idea to form Currituck County's own slow-pitch softball team exclusively for women 40 and older after watching a television program featuring a similar group in Northern Virginia.
Left fielder Adeline Tolson, 49, explained: ``We just got to the point where we were tired of playing behind those young kids.''
``They just wore us out,'' said Romm, also 49.
``We were getting injured, or we'd just let them go by to avoid getting hit.''
Romm had no trouble recruiting people like Tolson, a department-store shoe merchandiser in Elizabeth City. Many of the players have been together in various leagues for years, sometimes decades.
Five of the 17 women are technically ``too young,'' but all will be 40 within five years. Until then, the minimum age will be raised from 35 each year to keep the women eligible.
Catcher Julie Salmon, 50, came up with the name Silver Foxes.
``We wanted something that implied we were older but still sharp,'' Romm said.
Despite the moniker, not one player displays a gray coiffure. ``We have good hairdressers,'' Romm said with a smile.
``You won't see any silver in anyone's hair.''
The Moyock accountant also had little difficulty recruiting Rodger Taylor, an auto-parts sales representative, to coach the team.
``This is a lot better because you don't have to threaten anybody who's goofing off at practice, or those who don't want to come to the practices but want to play in the games,'' he said.
``To be honest with you, I think the practices are just as much fun or just as much challenge as a game is to the team,'' Taylor added.
The two-hour practice sessions two or three times a week are, in fact, about the only time the Silver Foxes get to play because there is no local competition.
Romm said she has called all over Northeastern North Carolina and Hampton Roads in search of competition. Nothing has turned up yet, but the team is hopeful publicity will spawn a few upstarts.
``We hope to get older ladies off the bench and out of the bed,'' she said.
In the meantime, the Silver Foxes look forward to softball tournaments, like their first one last month in Fairfax.
The team won two of four games played in six hours, with no substitutions.
``We could barely walk after we left there,'' Romm recalled. ``We'd sit in the car and get stiff, and then try to crawl out of the car when we stopped.''
The women currently compete at the Class D level, designed for slow or new teams.
Their practice field behind Currituck County High School includes extra plates at home and first bases to help players avoid collisions.
Runners who cross a ``commitment line'' midway between third base and home cannot turn back.
Under the International Senior Women's Softball Association rules, there is no sliding and a player can overrun second and third bases if no attempt is made to advance.
Despite the different rules, the Silver Foxes still play well.
Younger fans say they are most impressed with the women's running.
``I'm surprised with how old they are, the way they stay in shape,'' said Amber Maziarka, 10, whose mother, Cindy, is a 38-year-old outfielder.
Melvin Evans of Moyock is husband to Debbie Evans, a left-center fielder making her softball debut with the Silver Foxes.
``I never pictured her starting at 40,'' he said.
Players believe the main difference between them and their younger, quicker counterparts is devotion to the game.
``We have the spirit that's missing in county leagues,'' Romm said. ``We're competitive and we want to win, but we're not out there just for the trophy.''
Team members, who pay their own expenses, will travel to a Chesapeake tournament July 30-31 and to Jacksonville, N.C., a week later.
In September, the Silver Foxes plan to host their own tournament. Among the invited guests are The Golden Girls, the Virginia team that inspired the group.
Team members ultimately want to compete in the Senior Olympics when everyone is 50 and older. But until then, they'll continue to play ball at their own pace and with less risk of injury.
``Just being accepted here is fun,'' said Kim Chaffin, the ``baby'' of the group at age 35.
``It's all family to me,'' the mother of two said. ``There's a lot of love here.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
DREW C. WILSON/Staff
Shortstop Kim Chaffin, 35, of Moyock dives for a grounder during a
Silver Foxes practice last week. The 35-and-older women's team gets
little competition outside practice: The Foxes are Northeastern
North Carolina's only senior women's team.
by CNB