History Of The Association
The Sunshine Softball Association was the first Metropolitan Association to be formed and affiliated with the Victorian Softball Association in 1956. The Association was founded by Sergeant McLeod of the Sunshine Police Force and Mr. Frank O’Brien (East Sunshine Youth Club) and catered solely for women. The reason for this decision was that the only sports open to women at that time were tennis, basketball and cricket, but there must have been a great need for another sport as there were many young girls and women in the Sunshine district who were ready and willing to play. As Softball was such a little-known game it was decided to arrange an exhibition match with two top teams from the Women’s Amateur Softball Council of Victoria, (now known as the Victorian Softball Association). The Softball Association received a great deal of assistance from the Sunshine Baseball Club in the formation years especially in the way of umpires.
During the first season the Association was comprised of four teams. In 1960 the Association expanded to include juniors and by 1966 the allocation of sports grounds for competition were confirmed. In 1972 the Association was granted the use of More Park, situated on the corner of Ballarat Road and Esmond Street, Deer Park where the association still resides today. Over the years the Sunshine Softball Association has grown to include male players and is producing a number of National and International players and officials. The Association is very family orientated and focuses on providing a fun, safe and relaxed environment for its members to participate and learn skills that will enable them to play at all levels.
In 2007/2008 we joined the North West League and the Sunshine Softball Association had 7 clubs competing across Women’s and Men’s competitions including Albion North, Altona Blues, Cheetahs, Deer Park, Hiway, Meteors and Schutt Hitmen. In addition Sunshine has been involved with and developed junior girls and boy’s competitions in the age groups of Blastball and Tee ball 3 to 7 years and Primary Modball ages 8-13 years. Under 17 boys participate in the North West League. Current junior membership is at a 10 year high with 30 Blastball participants, 4 junior softball teams and 6 Teeball teams.
Blastball was also introduced to provide juniors with a developmental pathways program in which they could learn and develop their skills prior to progressing into the more competitive junior teams.
The Association celebrated its 50th Anniversary at More Park on the 1st of April 2006, which coincided with the North West Leagues Grand Final.
Currently Open Women and Men’s teams and Juniors (U.12, U.14, U.16, U.19) play in the North West League against teams from Northern District, Keilor, Craigieburn and Werribee Associations. Sunshine is well represented at Nationals, State Championships and State League as well as various Masters Competitions around Australia. We run Softball Batter Up Programs and T Ball to develop our U10/U12 juniors.
