FORCE women’s sixteen-inch softball team evolved under the leadership of Coach and Founder, Allen Jenkins in 1979. This team of talented women from all neighborhoods of Chicago and the suburbs initially played at Garfield, Columbus, Franklin and Cabrini Parks. Season after season, FORCE dominated play and won league championships at these parks. As the team
Great traditions often start with a simple mission and passion. The Flamingos, a world famous African-American sixteen-inch softball team, believed this to be true when they sought out the best softball teams to play “anytime and anywhere.” Under the expert coaching and organizing of Percy Coleman, the Flamingos became such a force in softball on
Babe Sanfilippo is the second of eight children. She grew up in Brighton Park on Chicago’s South Side. Growing up, Babe would gather her brothers and the neighborhood kids and go to the empty lot to play the game she loves. ”Many times we wouldn’t have enough people to play all positions. Right field would
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Eddie Chibe played competitive sixteen-inch softball from 1979 to 2008. During these thirty-years, he played on two ASA “A” National Championship teams, one ASA Major National championship team, two USSSA National Championship teams, and five Forest Park No Glove National championship teams. Additionally, his teams won two Hawthorne Park titles, three Melrose Park championships, three
Don Stramaglia, who was born and raised in Evergreen Park, began his sixteen-inch softball career at the age of twelve. During the summer of 1949, he joined the Evergreen Athletic Association League and played for the Methodist Church. Later, he won two consecutive championships with the Evergreen Park Central School in seventh and eighth grade.
David Hardt started his fifty-year sixteen-inch softball career in the late forties and early fifties in the Father Jerry League. Top players like Eddie Earle (HOF), Orin Matson, Bill Hall, Geno Petramale (HOF), Jack Zeko, and Jack Lewis played in this league. After the Father Jerry League, David started playing with the Wolves at Portage
Carl Maniscalco’s softball career spanned over twenty-five years, beginning when he was in grade school. Although he attended Queen of Angels Elementary School, he was frequently found at the playground of Waters Elementary School starting in the 1970s. It is there that he found his love of softball. This love continued through his high school
The B’ Athletes softball team was formed in the Fall of 1992 as an alternative to the negative influences experienced in the neighborhoods where the players lived. The team was comprised of baseball, basketball, football, and track stars from high school and college. For many years, the team played in parks on the South and
Tony Ward’s passion for sixteen-inch softball began at age eighteen on Chicago’s South Side, where he quickly emerged as a champion with the Kings (Budweiser Kings). Over the years, he played for top teams including the Flamingos, Safari Tigers, and Steel Gold, capturing numerous league and tournament titles highlighted by USSSA World Series and NationalChampionships,
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Albert Fegan was born in Chicago in 1901. When he was a young man, he was offered a job by George Young at the George Young Plant and Company. Founded in 1893, the company, located on Western Avenue in Chicago, manufactured baseball and softballs. On July 21, 1925 at twenty-four years of age, Albert was
