I want to thank the men and women of the Whidbey Island Co-ed Softball League for another fun and rewarding season. Many in our community are not aware of this dedicated group of adult softball players who are committed to having fun being physically active in a fun and friendly competitive pastime.

Our team began practices last March and since May 5 has been playing every Tuesday night on the softball fields on the Navy base. (Thank you NAS Whidbey). We just completed our post season tournament/picnic. Even though our team didn’t come out on top, we still had a good time. Congrats to Howard and his Valle Azul team!

The games are friendly and always fun and some of the talent from both the males and females is astounding to watch. It’s a terrific, family-friendly outside activity that doesn’t cost a lot of money, gets me up off the couch and moving around and provides an opportunity to test my 50-plus years-old skills against some of the best (and not-so-best, but willing to try) players on Whidbey Island. It’s also a great networking opportunity due to the diverse backgrounds of the players in the league. I’ve had the pleasure of joining many of those other players in the league in tournaments in Skagit County where we represented Whidbey Island with class and great sportsmanship and took home our share of trophies.

Thank you to Markell Potts and others for organizing the league once again. Thanks go as well to the guys in blue who umpire our games, calling balls and strikes and keeping us within the rules of the game. Thanks to our sponsor, Dr. Michael Lemme, family dentist extraordiaire, and to our coach Joe Buenaventura, who goes way above and beyond to ensure that everyone has fun out there.

At my age, I can never be sure if any season might be my last, but I can truly say that I’ve never had more fun playing than I have with the people in this league. It’s another great bonus for living on this beautiful island called Whidbey.

Jim Jolly

Oak Harbor