Northeast softball brings olympic format to fall drills

Northeast Mississippi Community College head softball coach Jody Long has found a way to make fall scrimmage a little more interesting and raise funds for the program in the process.
 
Long has introduced the Lady Tiger softball team to the “Softball Olympics” as a way of getting the Lady Tigers to bump up the competition during the fall semester and as a way to generate money for the program.
 
During the week of Oct. 11-15 on the Northeast campus, the softball team will transform into Olympians as players will not only be competing for individual awards but team honors as well.
 
Players will be broken down into 11 teams with two players per team to make the events competitive and each player will compete in four events a day for the entire five-day week for 20 events.
 
Games will be setup and run like the Olympics with points awarded in the order of finish in the events.
 
Each event will be awarded gold, silver and bronze medallions with the two individual scores being added for an overall team score.
 
Events for the ‘Softball Olympics’ will challenge athletes in all facets of the game.
 
From fielding events, where players will be judged on the accuracy of their throw to a particular base from a position in the infield and a distance throw from the outfield to home, to running events that will be timed such as sprinting from home to first and then an overall time around all the bases, to finally batting where players will be asked to hit for distance off a tee and also show off their bunting prowess by being able to place bunts in directed locations, players will be challenged in all facets of the game.
 
Players have to find 10 sponsors apiece that will award them for their finishes in each of the 20 events with sponsorships starting as low as $1.
 
For more information about Northeast’s ‘Softball Olympics,’ contact Long at 662-720-7305 or email jwlong@nemcc.edu 

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