KGSA promising renewed focus in 2020

Starla Wittrock has been helping coach junior high softball at Kingfisher for three years now.

Once she started, it didn’t take her long to realize the softball players coming into the program weren’t fundamentally ready to compete at a higher level.

That made it tougher to train them to an adequate level for the high school program.

“As a program, we have been behind our competition when the kids hit school ball,” Wittrock said.

That’s one of the reasons her husband, Brad Wittrock, a Kingfisher native, opted this year to join the board of directors of the Kingfisher Girls Softball Association.

The Wittrocks’ own daughter isn’t yet old enough to play in the KGSA, but Brad said he wanted to be a part of the group that helps turn it around.

“It’s rewarding for me to try to help fix that and be so close to it,” Brad Wittrock said.

From new board members to a commitment to producing players ready to compete at the school level to a new mission statement, the KGSA says it has a renewed focus for the spring of 2020.

The final registration day to take part in KGSA is Tuesday, Feb. 4. It’s from 5-7 p.m. at the First Baptist Church in Kingfisher (1340 S. 13th St.). (Ed. note: See advertisement on Page 9 for more information.)

KGSA board of directors this year are President Ronny Hedrick, Vice President Kyle Stewart, Treasurer Joe Voth, Jeremy Rowan, Brian Coughlan, Payton Farrar and Brad Wittrock. Hedrick, Stewart, Voth and Rowan are holdovers from last year’s board. Coughlan, Farrar and Wittrock are new members.

Board members are encouraging families from Kingfisher and all the surrounding communities to sign up their girls to play, no matter their experience level.

And, said Hedrick, families are encouraged to give KGSA another shot even if they’ve tried softball in the past.

“We acknowledge the organization may have left a bad taste in some people’s mouths,” Hedrick said.

“We intend to fully change that.”

One of the ways is to have a purpose in mind, which led the new board to adopt a mission statement “to show our commitment to the girls of our community.” It says, in full:

“The KGSA is dedicated to providing organized softball while cultivating a love for the game and building confidence in our female athletes. Through proper guidance, we will develop teamwork, sportsmanship and a knowledge of the game while maintaining a positive, but fun and competitive atmosphere. The KGSA will strive to make a lasting impact in the community of Kingfisher and the girls in it.”

If that statement is realized, the board feels more young ladies will be prepared once they’ve completed their run through KGSA.

Whether advanced or a novice, the KGSA welcomes all potential players…and the cultivating will begin early.

There will be a preseason fundamentals camp for ages 7-14 on March 7. The camp, which is part of the registration fee (which did not increase from last year), will be from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The KGSA encourages parents to come watch the drills and then work on them with their players at home.

There will be four age groups this year: 8U (ages 6-8), 10U (ages 9-10), 12U (ages 11-12) and 14U (ages 13-14).

The 14U group will be teaming up with teams from El Reno and Yukon in order to be a part of a more competitive league. However, half the games will still be played in Kingfisher.

To help improve the facilities at Briscoe Park, the board has secured donations from the community and will have a “work day” on the fields Sunday, Feb. 16.

It’s all in an effort to get more young ladies involved in KGSA and have them on the right path for whatever their softball careers hold.

“We want to change the trajectory the program has been going and prepare our girls to be competitive when they get to school-age sports,” Hedrick said.

For more information about upgrades, changes and updates, visit the Kingfisher Girls Softball Association Facebook page.