By Shellie Miller
Parkland is an amazing place to raise a family, surround yourself with like-minded friends, and enjoy our fabulous South Florida lifestyle. Always geared toward activities that include the entire family, it’s easy to find a league for children to learn team skills and dedicate their extra time to a favorite activity. Thankfully, Parkland Parks and Recreation re-created a softball league for adults that has players crowing about the fun!
“My husband and I are thrilled to be part of Parkland’s Adult Co-Ed Softball league and a fantastic team,” says Sherri Sada Sklar. “It’s been a great way to enjoy time together, have fun with friends, and meet new people in the community while being active and enjoying good sportsmanship with other teams.” She continues, “ It has brought life back into the field for a lot of us that truly enjoy the sport. Go Angry Otters!”
Now that we are moving away from pandemic living, the adult softball league is a great way for locals to make connections whether they still have kids at home or not. My family was involved in Parkland Softball back in the early 90s, and it’s so refreshing to see it making a popular comeback!
Parkland’s mayor, Rich Walker, is also pumped about the league. “Our Co-Ed softball league has had a great start. This gives adults within our community another opportunity to bond. Having children fill the stands watching their parents play is a tremendous sight to see. I’m looking forward to watching the program grow.”
“Going into the season, I was on a team with players I had never played softball with, let alone never met,” said Jessica Isrow. “But we have become an amazing team and better yet, friends. We surprise each other every Sunday with how well we play, motivate each other and just have fun. Our Parkland softball league is filled with a great community and I am so happy I was able to experience our first co-Ed softball year!”
Parks and Recreation Manager Bruno Battel has only positive things to say about the new league. “In putting together our parks and recreation master plan, we sent out a survey. The responses showed us that people wanted to have more adult leagues like basketball and softball.” Since there was already some adult pick up basketball going on, Bruno and his team started a softball league! More than 70 people responded, wanting to be part of the fun. Bruno tells us that two teams came in already complete, and the people who had signed up were all placed into four teams, making it a total of 6 teams in the entire league who meet on Sundays to play. Bruno tells us, “It’s been a while since Parkland had these adult leagues, and we are looking forward to putting it right back out there once the season is over.“ The current adult softball league will conclude in mid December. Other adult sports that are on Bruno’s mind are pickle ball and basketball. Stay tuned… More exciting adult sports to come!
For more information please contact Parkland Parks & Recreation Manager Bruno Battel at 954-757-4103.
