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Interview with Rodney D. Gray |
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| Rodney Gray is currently the ISC Commissioner for Missouri and chair of the
player rep committee. Before becoming commissioner in 1998, he served as a a
player rep for the two years prior to that. He played on teams for about 20
years from all around Missouri, including Savannah, St. Joseph, Jefferson City,
Lexington, St. Louis and Springfield. Rodney finally retired in 1998 when the
Meierhoffer team captured its first ASA National Championship. Since retiring
as a a player, he continued to manage the Meierhoffer team up until this year.
Additionally, he served as one of the coaches for last year's USA National Team, which earned a bronze medal at the World Championships in South Africa. When not involved in softball, Rodney spends time as an attorney and as a lobbyist in the state capital of Missouri, Jefferson City. He lives in Columbia with his wife and two boys, all of whom are avid Missouri Tiger fans. Question: Why did you agree to become a player rep and what effect do you think that you (collectively the reps) can have on the tourney and the game in general? Response: I was asked by then president Bob Welby (who I once played for, imagine that) to do this. I thought it would serve as a good introduction into the ISC and fortunately, I was right. Furthermore, the ISC has always been known as the "players association" and I thought and still do, that their input can be extremely persuasive when the commissioners deal with tough decisions. Question: This year there are more player reps in total from both small budget teams and large budget teams. What can the small budget teams do to hear the voice of the players? Response: I have played for and managed both types of teams. It is certainly clear to me that for some of the small budget local teams that the opportunity to compete with the high dollar import teams is as important as it is for the high dollar teams to compete for the championship. Therefore, I think their perspective is every bit as important to the future of fastpitch/fastball and the ISC. Question: How can player reps help with the growth of the game? Response: My thinking is that being a player rep is not a once a year meeting type thing but an obligation to observe what's going on with the game (not just their particular club) and to suggest ways to help it grow and prosper. Question: What do you think about the new ISC format for the world tourney (round robin play)? Response: I'm not necessarily a "true blue" advocate of the new format, but since a majority of the ISC commissioners voted it in, I think we should try it for a couple of years and see what the results are. Unfortunately (some would say fortunately) I believe this new format will ultimately lead to more victories by the high dollar import teams and might rob the tourney of some of the exciting upsets by low budget local teams. Let's hope I'm wrong! Thanks to Rodney for the interview. Merle Brendeland |
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