Growing up near Hamilton Park on the south side of Chicago, Vince loved getting together with neighborhood friends to play pickup games of softball, learning the rules and regulations of the game at a young age. 55 years later, he considers himself fortunate to remain actively engaged in the game he loves.
In 1964, he started playing competitive 16-inch softball with the 203 Stars, then the 151 Stars who later became the Senators team. Playing all of the outfield positions, he was considered a good, fast defensive player throughout his career with the Flamingos, Senators and Kuppenheimer. His first major championship came in 1968 with the Kuppenheimer team, winning the City-Wide Industrial league championship in Grant Park. Through the 1970’s and 80’s, his teams participated in most of the Na-tional championship tournaments nationwide.
His love of the game turned to coaching after back surgery from an injury forced to retire from playing. From 1984-98, he coached the Bandits, a scrappy team that won first place at Tully, Grand Crossing, Washington and Hamilton Park leagues. They also won bids to play in Major tournaments in Blue Island, Mount Prospect and Marshalltown.
in 2000 Vince was asked to join the coaching staff of the Young Guns, led by Hall of Famer Sherman Nelson. The team won many championships and went on to win the 2014 SSA A National Championship.
In 2016-18, he coached the Solution team and won two ASA National Championships in 2017 and 2018, before returning as a coach for the reorganized Young Guns in 2019.
VINCENT STERLING
