Girls Softball

Coach Wes Madrill

Contact: wmadrill@hotmail.com

History of Softball

Although many people assume that softball was derived from baseball, the sport’s first game actually came about because of a football game. The history of softball dates back to Thanksgiving Day of 1887, when several alumni sat in the Chicago, Illinois Farragut Boat Club anxiously awaiting the outcome of the Yale versus Harvard football game. When Yale was announced as winner, a Yale alumnus playfully threw a boxing glove at a Harvard supporter.

The Harvard fan swung at the balled-up glove with a stick, and the rest of the group looked on with interest. George Hancock, a reporter for the Chicago Board of Trade, jokingly called out, “Play ball!” and the first softball game commenced with the football fans using the boxing glove as a ball and a broom handle in place of a bat.

The history of softball is still unfolding, and the game has undergone numerus modifications since its creation in 1887, but it is still one of the most preferred sports game in the country and has developed a following of over 40 million Americans who have engaged themselves in at least on softball game a year. The world can only anticipate what is in store for the future of America’s other pastime.

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