THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 10, 1996 TAG: 9610100514
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VICKI L. FRIEDMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: 69 lines
Hampton/Newport News has been selected as one of six sites to be home for the budding Women's Professional Fastpitch softball league that will begin play in June 1997, league officials announced Wednesday at a press conference.
League director Rayla Allison said Hampton Roads was the last of several areas visited and the first to commit to supporting a team that will feature Olympic athletes and former college stars. The Hampton Roads team will play in the 5,000-seat War Memorial Stadium, which has been without a regular tenant since the Peninsula Pilots left in 1992.
``That stadium gives you a good idea of what the feel and the look of WPF is all about,'' Allison said. ``It's an intimate stadium setting; it's a professional environment. It's family-priced sports entertainment. You can take your family out for about $4.50 per ticket and see great athleticism and exciting play on the field.''
Allison said the WPF was looking for growing communities that are participant- and spectator-oriented. ``They have a facility and they will wrap their arms around us and take us in as their team,'' she said of the Peninsula. ``Plus we need to be in a community that's large enough to support this organization.''
Other cities with teams are Charlotte, Durham, Orlando, Atlanta and Tampa. Each team will play 36 home games as part of a 72-game schedule. A minimum of 10 games will be televised.
But WPF president Mitzi Swentzell says in addition to world-class athletes and fans, this league is sound financially thanks to AT&T Wireless Services, which has made a three-year, $3 million commitment to serve as title sponsor.
Swentzell, former vice president of the Denver Nuggets, said the community will not be required to provide any up-front funding besides fan support and local sponsorship.
Other women's professional sports leagues have failed, including the International Professional Softball League founded in 1976 by Billie Jean King.
The WPF is coming on the heels of the U.S. women's gymnastics, softball, soccer and basketball teams winning gold medals in last summer's Olympic Games and coincides with two women's professional basketball leagues trying to establish followings. Allison says the time is right for professional women's team sports because more high school girls are playing sports - 1 in 3 as opposed to 1 in 27 in the mid-1970s - and media exposure is at an all-time high.
During the summer of 1995, the WPF introduced professional softball to fans in the Midwest by fielding two all-star teams that toured 16 cities and nine states. Average game attendance was 1,450.
``We've got the green light; it's time to go,'' Allison says.
A draft was held Oct. 31, 1995, when the WPF was projected to have teams in the West and Midwest. But no contracts were signed, and the WPF is expected to hold a second draft in February with regional tryouts in the spring. WPF teams will consist of 17 players per team. Players will be paid $2,500 for the three-month season.
Softball gold medalists Kim Maher and Michele Smith were in attendance Wednesday, showing off their medals. Smith, the second player chosen, has committed to play in the league.
``My dream was to wear a USA uniform,'' said Smith, a pitcher and seven-time USA softball gold medalist. ``Now it's so neat to know that something like this is possible.''
Swentzell also stressed that the league's teams will strive to become integrated into the community. Each team will have its own fastpitch advisory council of local citizens who will work to promote the teams.
``We weren't very successful in supporting our minor (league) team that was here,'' said Lynn Moore, one of the council's members. ``I think we could get much more support just by the fact that we're dealing with young women. There are a lot of men's minor league teams around. There aren't going to be many women's ball teams around.'' by CNB