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I.S.C. Press Releases

Men's Fastpitch: The Quiet Lion of Softball
By Luann Madison

An Interview with Ken Hackmeister, President of the ISC opens eyes to the sport of men's fastpitch as he works to promote his passion...

Editor's Note: We first met Ken Hackmeister over four years ago as he gave a jump start to the Disney Celebration of Sports softball promotions. It was the very first big event that was featured at the beautiful Disney grounds, the Celebration of Softball weekend which featured youth and adult men's and women's fastpitch. And Ray DeMarini.
It was also the first time I ever saw men play fastpitch. I had just been thrown into the world of youth fastpitch ironically at the hands of Bob Grey, now SBM National Advertising and Promotions Director, and his sidekick Skip Beasy, veteran Posse members' sixteen and under travel team. Ken was instrumental in sparking the relationship that we now enjoy with Disney Sports and the next time we returned to Disney to cover an event, we were dismayed to learn that he had moved on.
I have never forgotten the power, mentally and physically; of the games that I watched the men play that night. I told myself that when Softball Magazine's fastpitch audience grew, I would include the sport of men's fastpitch.
Not knowing anything about this game, I fell into my first contact with contributing editor and former player Hal Skinner, who continues to work in the sport with his Fastpitch Registry (see our website), and in the past year, Hal has been able to lead me to contacts here and there. During a late night session of sorting emailed information, I recognized Ken Hackmeister's name on a post and saw that he had since been appointed as the President of the International Softball Congress (ISC).
One email from me was all it took for Ken to turn our heads and open our eyes to the game of men's fastpitch. The "network" that this game has resembles a cult type following, linking people from not only all over the country, but all over the world together through their love of the sport. When I tell you that men's fastpitch is probably one of the most loyal and tight circles in not only the sport of softball, but probably any sport, I am not understating the fact. Readers have noticed over the 2000 publications a story here and there edited from Al's Fastball List regarding men's fastpitch. Through contacts made from Al's list and Ken Hackmeister, our editorial staff is feeling very confident that in 2001 Softball Magazine can begin to bring a series of quality men's fastpitch (fastball to the rest of the world outside the US borders) articles and features.
We felt that the best way to end up this year and lead into next year on this new path was to interview via email Ken Hackmeister. Ken has been extremely patient and tolerable with me during the year end events and publication deadlines Softball Magazine has been through in the past three months and I want to extend a personal thanks to him for that.
You can contact the ISC at 6007 East Hillcrest Circle, Anaheim Hills, California 92807; telephone 714.998.5694, fax 714.282.7902 and via website at www.fastpitch-softball.com.

SBM: Let's start with your history, Ken. Softball Magazine first had contact with you when you helped to get Disney Sports off the ground in Florida...where did you start in the sport of softball?

Ken: In Pocatello, Idaho, age 19 as a player. I had finished my baseball days and two friends got me to come out and give fastpitch a try. Since then I have played and lived in Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. My administrative activities began in Salt Lake in the early 70's when our team sponsor bailed out on us and I got involved in raising sponsorship money to keep our team going.

SBM: How and when did you accept the job as President of the ISC?

Ken: I was elected President last year following the untimely death of our President, Bob Welby. Earlier I had been elected, selected, appointed (pick one) as Executive Director Designate to replace Milt Stark following the2001 World Tournament. I wanted the President's job for the added experience before assuming the Executive Director role. The President's term ends the same time I assume the Executive Director role.

SBM: Can you tell us when the ISC was founded and what the associations goals, concerns, etc. were at the time of the development and how they have changed with and for the sport as time has passed?

Ken: The ISC was founded in 1958 by Carrol Forbes of Colorado. It was merged with the former National Softball Congress and the International Softball League both of which functioned in 1957 as their final year. It was founded primarily to offer an alternative to the established ASA. At the time, ASA was the "king of the hill" but only one team per region could qualify for the ASA national tournament. There were also some philosophical differences between Mr. Forbes and the ASA. It was Carrol Forbes who developed the concept of awarding World Tournament berths to affiliated ISC Travel League champions. Until the early 80's, teams were either ASA or ISC and they did not cross the lines. One year we had the chance to have both the ASA champs and the ISC champs from the prior year, in our Pioneer Days tournament in Salt Lake City only to see the ASA champs commissioner threaten them with suspension if they played against an ISC team. In 1980the first ASA team, Aurora, IL/Home Savings, crossed the line and entered the ISC World Tournament and that broke the barrier. Since then the ISC has grown in both stature and teams. Currently, the ISC World Tournament is the most prestigious in the World outside the quadrennial ISF World Championships which are played by national teams, not club teams.

SBM: Is the merger with the NAFA still in the works? If so, how will it benefit the sport?

Ken: Yes, discussions are continuing. The benefit to the sport will be to combine our efforts in marketing, sponsorships and promoting the game. Another big issue is being able to go to the manufacturers, as a unified group, with some fairly significant participant numbers and discuss equipment that is specifically designed for our sport. Separately, neither NAFA or ISC has the participant numbers or the expertise to "demand" equipment changes. The other big advantage to the merger will be having one organization with all aspects of male fastpitch. Currently, ISC has the men's open level and 5 age groups of younger players in our Developmental program. NAFA currently has the three lower levels of men's competition. Using baseball as an analogy, ISC has the major leagues and NAFA has the minor leagues.

SBM: What does the ISC do to promote the sport? Tell us about some of your trials, roadblocks and successes in promoting your end of the sport of softball both prior to your current position with the ISC and since you have taken this post.

Ken: Our promotional efforts are primarily centered on our web site, international email releases, The Fastpitch Chronicle newspaper and good'ol word of mouth. We try to have an ISC presence at all major invitational tournaments held in both the US and Canada each year. We are making a serious effort to get our World Tournament host cities to do more marketing and promoting of our tournament in their geographic area in addition to having a dedicated web site for the tournament. Our lack of funding is our biggest obstacle to doing a more aggressive marketing effort. This past August, we approved the formation of a formal marketing committee within the ISC. We have an ongoing effort to get our championship game on national television. Once we're successful with this effort, I think you'll see a tremendously increased awareness of male fastpitch softball. Jeremy Spear's outstanding documentary movie "Fastpitch" is getting rave reviews and winning numerous awards at independent film festivals around the world. This movie will assist greatly in public awareness of our sport. The areas have been involved with since becoming President include:

Creation of an International Relations commissioner to get the ISC message out to other countries besides the US and Canada
Working on the merger with NAFA
Creation of both a Finance and Business Affairs Committee and the Marketing Committee
Visiting our upcoming host city in the fall or winter to check on tournament preparations (This gives them additional time for changes or improvements that need to be made.) This is particularly important with cities who are hosting our World Tournament for the first time. Currently, we're in the middle of three consecutive first time hosts: St. Joseph, MO(2000), Eau Claire, WI (2001) and Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario (2002)
Encouraging our committee chairmen to do more off season committee work on line via email
Entering into an agreement with Buyersonline.com which could become a tremendous financial windfall for the ISC and the sport if we get the support of our participants
Creating more awareness of our developmental (youth) program (Last winter our Developmental VP, Wayne Fisher, appointed a network of deputy developmental commissioners throughout the US and Canada. We're currently developing a comprehensive pitcher development plan that will involve pitching clinics throughout North America in an effort to create more quality pitchers, therefore, more teams.)
Continuing a good working relationship with the ASA for the betterment of male fastpitch
Working on ways to increase the team travel fund for the participating teams in the ISC World Tournament
Continuing to secure sponsorships. Many facets of softball have sponsorship from major manufacturers, large corporations and the like.

SBM: Where do the majority of the sponsors in your association come from?

Ken: The majority of our ISC sponsors are in fact manufacturers. We have been attending the annual Super Show for well over 10 years and have cultivated many outstanding working relationships with various manufacturers. Last year, we secured Gateway Computers as one of our sponsors and that relationship has been mutually beneficial. We would like to broaden our sponsorship base but it is a business relationship and one must demonstrate to a prospective sponsor how their business can benefit from an association with the ISC. We're currently working on several on-sporting goods sponsorships.

SBM: It appears that the ISC has a great grasp on the youth male arena of fastpitch softball. How is this developing and how important is it to the ISC to nurture this interest? Where is most of the interest in the youth male fastpitch in the USA regionally? Where is it internationally? When I began coaching boy's fastpitch in 1982, there were boys teams virtually from coast to coast and border to border. Since that time, it has shrunk to a Midwest dominated segment of the sport. We're working hard to reverse that trend and get it reinstated in other parts of the US. Canada has an excellent boys program nationwide although the majority of their boys teams are from Ontario. Like all segments of fastpitch, the rest of the world is catching up to and in some cases, passing the US on a competitive basis. Currently, the US is the World Champs in only women's and girls fastpitch. Australia is the current boys world champion and New Zealand is the men's world champion. Canada is continually strong in male fastpitch. Asia is making tremendous strides in competitive fastpitch. The biggest hurdle in the US and to a degree, Canada, is baseball. In the US, baseball is the traditional boys summer sport. While some areas of the country have been very successful in attracting boys to the fastpitch game, others haven't been so fortunate. There is a strong mentality out there that boys play baseball and girls play softball. Unfortunately, this mentality has gravitated into the sporting goods business as well. We have to reverse that concept of who plays the game and who is buying their products. Our selling challenge to younger players (boys) is to demonstrate how the sport of fastpitch can provide them with a competitive team sport they can play into their 30's, 40's and beyond if they so desire. Unlike baseball, fastpitch can be a lifetime sport for many. The very disappointing thing about this is the number of boys who play baseball through age 18 and then never play another game of baseball the rest of their lives. The percentage of boys who continue playing baseball beyond their high school years is so small, it's insignificant. We need to improve our efforts to sell the sport to younger boys (and their parents) and get them involved in our great game. Our other disadvantage, compared with girls, is boys fastpitch isn't a high school sport, isn't a college scholarship sport, isn't an Olympic sport and isn't a professional sport. Ironically, a large majority of girls quit playing fastpitch after age 18 just like boys quit playing baseball after age 18.

SBM: Where do you find that the ISC and men's fastpitch have the most support and influence globally?

Ken: Some of this is answered above. From an ISC perspective, the majority of our activity is in the US and Canada. However, US and some Canadian teams attract numerous southern hemisphere players. New Zealand and Australia probably had over 100 players in North America last summer. We're making inroads with other countries trying to attract them into our ISC World Tournament. Japan has become a major contender in international men's fastpitch by taking the silver medal at last summer's ISF World Championships.

SBM: Has men's fastpitch declined or increased in the past years?

Ken: Compared with 20 or 30 years ago, we have definitely declined. In the US the biggest problem, by far, is our lack of pitcher development. As explained earlier, we're working on changing that trend. Unfortunately, we have many team sponsors who have preferred bringing in international pitchers rather than investing the time and effort to develop our own.

SBM: What is the average age of most of the men that play and do they start as youth or do they come to the sport out of high school or college? Do you find that many of the men that play continue to play throughout their lives?

Ken: In our ISC World Tournament, I'd guess the average player age is about 30. We don't capture this age data so I'm making a SWAG. In Canada, the majority of their men players have come out of their youth program. In the US, I'd guess fewer than 10% come from our boys programs. It is not uncommon for men to be active players into their 40's and 50's. There are certainly more men than women, who play beyond their "prime" years.

SBM: What are your concerns as the President of the ISC and a long time softball enthusiast in the area of men's fastpitch regarding the growth of the sport?

Ken: Most of this has been answered in earlier questions. We must improve our marketing of the sport. We must develop new, young pitchers and mentor them through the highest level they can achieve. We must generate more interest and develop more teams. We must sell player prospects on the advantages of playing the sport.

SBM: There is most definitely a strong "underground" (for lack of a better word) following in men's fastpitch softball...just look up Al Doran's Fastball List. A topic we touched on in earlier correspondence was the problem that men were having with "fastpitch product" that is on the market from manufacturers since it is mostly geared toward women, even though the men's following is very strong. Can you give us an idea about that?

Ken: As some of our sporting goods sponsors have said, "the ISC World tournament is the best kept secret in the sports world." One of my favorite demonstrations of your question is to refer people to any sporting goods manufacturer's catalog of their choosing. Try to find one product that is promoted as being for "mens or boys fastpitch." Going back to the earlier comment on boys play baseball, girls play fastpitch. To most manufacturer's, men play slow pitch and girls play fastpitch. And that's how they create and sell their product. We have to change that perception. Combined with NAFA, we will be in a much better position to demonstrate the numbers of participants that are out there buying these manufacturer's products. The other point to manufacturers is that male fastpitch players typically buy the "top of the line" product whether it's shoes, gloves, bats or uniforms. Not many male fastpitch players are going to K-Mart looking for a blue light special for their gloves.

SBM: What are your goals as President of the ISC and what can we expect in the future?

Ken: With the combined efforts of our great group of ISC Commissioners, the NAFA directors and officers, the current players, tournament directors and administrators, we will be able to reverse the trend of declining participant numbers. My personal goal is to see a dramatic increase in our numbers, public awareness, prestige of playing the game, sponsorships, clinic activity and television exposure.

Last August, the ISC Board of Directors approved the creation of a formal Player Representative Committee with one of the current Board of Director members serving as chairman. In addition, Milt Stark, Executive Director and Ken agreed to expand the Player Representive Committee membership by adding a second rep from each of the five geographic regions and adding an At Large Player Rep. Rodney Gray was asked and agreed to serve as Chairman of the newly formed Player Rep. Committee.
It was felt with Rodney's status as a playing-manager and his desire to enter into more administrative responsibilities, he was the perfect fit for this role. Each Regional Vice President has appointed two Player Reps. per ISC by-laws.
We now have geographical diversity among our Player Reps. and a mixture of both elite team athletes as well as those from less well-sponsored teams. We should receive a good cross section of opinion on player issues. Here's the list of our new Player Rep. Committee: Canadian Region -Craig Crawford; Eastern Region -Todd Schultz, Rick Plangger; Northern Region -Todd Twachtmann, Sean Marten; Southern Region-Chris Miljavac, Matt Thames; Western Region -Brett Alvey, Carlos Armijo; New Zealand -Mark Sorenson; At Large -Michael White.
This group will function in the same manner as our other permanent committees. They will make recommendations through their Chairman, who will present them to the Board of Directors for discussion and vote. Because they are all active players, they may not have an opportunity to formally meet during the World Tournament. The majority of their Player Rep. work will be on line via email. Our thanks to all these players who are unselfishly volunteering their time and efforts to help our game and our organization. Please welcome back those who formerly served as ISC Player Reps. and a special welcome to those who will be serving for the first time.

Ken Hackmeister Fastpitch:
Not for Women Only George Manning VP Technical Services Louisville Slugger

Editor's Note: I had read Ken's returned interview after returning from out of town the week before the Original Bat Wars 2000. The year 2000 marked the first time that we had men swinging in the fastpitch tunnels at Bat Wars. When I asked Bob Grey what they were swinging, he told me that the men that had participated in the fastpitch tunnel at the most recent BatWars were talking to Michelle Delloso, Director of Fastpitch Product Development and Promotions at Louisville Slugger who educated them on the new Slugger FPM3, a fastpitch bat created by Slugger exclusively for men fastpitch players.
On extremely short notice, Michelle and George Manning of Softball TechTalk Fame and VP of Technical Services at Slugger took the time to put the following article together for us along with providing an image of the new bat. It's on page twenty six of the 2001 Louisville Slugger catalog. Inquiries on sales can be made at www.playersls.com or call toll free at1-800-896-1200.

Clearly with the heavy influence of colleges, high schools and the Olympics, it might be that most everyone thinks that Fastpitch Softball is for females only. No question the heavy emphasis on equipment development has addressed the female market most recently. However, some of us are old enough to have played and have seen a lot of male fastpitch softball. Doing business internationally has kept us aware that elsewhere in the world there still is a lot of male played fastpitch softball. Some evidence exists that there are stirrings of resurgence in this country.
Having been at the forefront of the development of product for the female market, and as I indicated continuing to service the international market, we have taken a new look at the male market. We have talked to players and we have sent them various versions of bats to get their feedback. Quite obviously you could take one of our slow pitch softball bats and play fastpitch with it. However, you quickly would discover that about the time you learned to make contact with the ball, there would be significant durability problems. Additionally, the weight distribution in a slow pitch bat, typically, would be different than in a fastpitch bat.
Making a bat that a player can swing at 70 mph, make contact with an 80 mph softball and stand up to this obviously requires a different design than a bat that will be swung at 70 mph and hit a 10 mph pitch.
Men also told us they didn't want a bottle configuration nor did they want the super lightweights. They did want a bat that performed well, felt solid, and was durable. Such a bat exists and it is shown below. It features C405 alloy, has Powerized load, and a 12" barrel in a "conventional" bat look. Twenty-eight, twenty-nine, and thirty-ounce models are offered in thirty-four inch lengths. Specially designed for the men's fastpitch market is the TPS model FPM3 by Louisville Slugger.

Luann Madison
Web Site: http://www.softballmag.com
E-Mail: luann.madison@softballmag.com