"I GREW up playing soccer and I am an avid cricket fan but the day I put on a glove and walked onto that pitch something happened. I found one day I was at the ball park sitting down watching one of the lower divisions play and at the National Stadium they were playing the FA Cup final. I realised then that I love softball."

So said veteran Commercial Softball League President Dean Williams.

And while his interest has soared since he had that epiphany in the late 1970s, interest on the Island has grown at a similar rate ? from 14 teams in one division to 40 teams playing in five divisions.

"That's the maximum we can take given we only have Bernard Park softball stadium," he said.

Perhaps only football rivals it as a team sport here although Williams, 47, admits soccer has an extensive youth structure while softball only takes the Over-12s or else the consent of a parent is needed. Players are still participating in their late 50s.

Softball's clean-cut image has helped its rise.

"You don't have incidents at the ball park, there's no fighting. It's just good hard competition and fun.

"Primarily we get Canadians and Americans but we find the Brits like to play as well. Everybody likes to play. It doesn't matter where you come from or what your skill level is. We have five divisions ? there is going to be place for you somewhere.

"Not only is it all different nationalities, it's people from all different walks of life. You have labourers and doctors, everybody plays and we got along quite nicely."

It is also one of the few team sports that allows mixed gender teams.

However the A division already has abolished the three-women minimum which has resulted in all men teams taking on mixed teams.

"If you have a mixed team but you are very good you will find yourself in the A division. You have the option of playing women or not ? most teams will continue with women."

But Williams believes there's a case for separating genders in some divisions because the decline of fast pitch soft ball has meant women in slow pitch are often relegated to only playing certain positions.

"I would like to get away from that. I would like to see an all-men's division and an all-female division.

"When I first talked about it some people said I was trying to disenfranchise the women. I said no, I am trying to give them more power. I would like to see more women pitching. I would like to see more women playing short stop, centre-field and all over. I don't think they should just be relegated to playing catcher, first base, second base and maybe one outfield position. I think they should play all positions. If we have an all female league that will help them tremendously, he said adding, "ideally we would want to have a men's division, a women's division and maybe two divisions of co-ed."

Softball rules have been adapted to encourage women to play, with a line 200 feet from homeplate beyond which at least three outfield players must stand, giving them some distance to place the ball and run.

"That will give the female players and opportunity to have more hits," he said.

Slow-pitch softball dispenses with specialised pitchers twirling balls at 80 mph. "You only have to lob the ball up between six and ten feet and anybody can do that. Everybody can hit the ball and as a consequence everyone on the field will have some action playing defence, unlike fast pitch where a game with a good pitcher and catcher can become just a game between the pitching mound and home plate with nobody hitting the ball."

Although seen as winter sport there is a summer softball league for those who want all-year-round fun.

Winter matches are played from Monday to Saturday, three games a night lasting 90 minutes each with the first starting at 6 p.m. Sundays are held for make up games.

The season normally ends in mid-March but a disastrous January, with only about six nights play, will push this back.

It's not too late to join up with newcomers provided a list of every manager in every division. "Or they can come to the ball park and ask to play," said Williams.

In recent years Snowballs and Sea Venture Overseas Shipping have tussled for dominance at the pinnacle of the league.

Williams plays short stop for Sea Venture. "It's a position between second and third base. It's more or less the field marshall. Most of the hits will probably be towards the short stop. You have to have someone who is flexible has good range a good arm and can think the game. Just like a captain on a soccer team, you need to tell people where to go. Unlike baseball which only has three outfield players, slow pitch has four including the rover who can float anywhere in the outfield position. In a game like fast pitch or baseball where the ball is coming very quickly the batter has virtually no control over where he is hitting it. In slow pitch you have every opportunity to pick your spot. It is much more difficult to get the person out."

Bernard Park is too small for international competition but opportunities for another centrally located one are slim while sites elsewhere would mean fewer games could be played in the evening.

Past visits from teams from North America have helped boost the sport said Williams. "We learned a lot from that. We have gone leaps and bounds from that situation. When we first started playing there weren't many people hitting home runs until a team came from Atlanta. Nine guys came to the plate, nine guys hit home runs including small guys.

"They said instead of swinging straight, as in fast pitch because the ball is coming straight, with slow pitch the ball is coming down on an arc so you must swing up.

"Once we started swinging up the ball started flying out of the park. Good organisation has also allowed the sport to grow.

"Over the years we have had some very good executive people and communication has been great. We have a voicemail number set up so if you want to know what games are going to be played you call one voicemail number. If you want to know if you have a game on Sunday you call another voicemail.

"We have divisional reps for each division who can clear up any queries. We also keep electronic statistics so at the end of the season your performance has been punched into the computer and we can give you the breakdown on your performance and your team's performance for the entire season.

"It culminates as part of the presentations at the end of the year."

To hook up with a team call 291-1037.