Written by: Alexis Dewey
Each year, Southern Adventist University students playing softball intramurals look forward to the last Saturday night of the season, according to Troy Walker, the university’s intramurals director. This year, however, the For the Love of the Game Softball Tournament, previously known as All-Night Softball, looked different than in years past.
For the first time in Southern’s intramural history, For the Love of the Game was held on Sunday, receiving the nickname “All-Day Softball,” according to Walker. The tournament was originally supposed to happen on Saturday, Oct. 5, rather than Sunday, Oct. 6. This change was due to the last-minute cancellation of the original tournament when the fields became too wet from rain earlier in the day. Walker also stated that All-Night Softball could not be rescheduled to either of the next two Saturday nights, Oct. 12 and 19, due to the 423 Night Market and Latin American Club Night.
Walker further explained that it wasn’t approved to have “For the Love of the Game” on the same night as 423 Night Market because the school is not large enough to have two events happening at the same time. Additionally, some 423 student vendors may have been on a softball team and wanted to play. Walker and Judy Sloan, dean of the School of Health and Kinesiology, made the decision together, according to Walker.
Madison Molina, junior nursing major, has played softball at Southern for the last three years. “I love being able to play a game after a stressful day and have fun with people,” she said. “I have met some of my best friends in college from intramurals.”
In past seasons at Southern, Molina has attended For the Love of the Game. “I love All-Night Softball,” she said. “It is one of the best events, in my opinion, that Southern offers.” Molina also played in All-Day Softball this semester. “All-Day Softball was fine,” she said. “Definitely nothing compared to All-Night Softball, but we did what we had to do. At least we had the opportunity to play.”
Molina said that the biggest plus of having the tournament on Sunday rather than on Saturday night was that her sleep schedule was not compromised.
“[The] biggest con was the intense heat, and the environment was totally different,” she said. Many teams forfeited, and thus less people came to watch the tournament games,”
Walker said that the whole goal of intramurals is getting people to play sports and interact with each other; therefore, Sunday was a better option than canceling the event.
“I even had some players come and thank me for having it rather than scratching it altogether,” he said. “We had a bunch of forfeits; way more than we would have if we had done it on a Saturday night,” Walker said. “We started at 10 a.m. on Sunday morning, and out of the first 12 games, we probably had three of them actually happen.”
“I think just because all-night is just so popular and so ingrained in Southern, so traditional, that doing it all-day just is not as fun.”
Walker said one pro of All-Day Softball was having a better sleep schedule. However, for him, “There are no pros that would outweigh the cons, in my opinion. You would think a daytime tournament would be good and positive, but I think just because all-night is just so popular and so ingrained in Southern, so traditional, that doing it all-day just is not as fun.”
“I didn’t like it,” said Maddie Smith, sophomore health, physical education and recreation major, who played on a softball team and was an umpire. “It’s worse for the refs, too. It’s so hot.”
Walker said that he would like a better rain plan in place in the future in case they need to reschedule.
