Blair Rhodes, left, and play-by-play announcer Kelly Hughes, at The Summit of Softball Complex on Wednesday, have been broadcasting the Hanover Lady Hornets' games this week in the ASA 14U national tournament. Hughes said the live podcasts have usually gotten more than 100 listeners back home in Virginia.University of Tennessee softball co-head coach Karen Weekly couldn't remember exactly where she was just about one year ago when it was announced the International Olympic Committee voted unanimously to include baseball and softball in the assortment of sports for the 2020 Olympic Games.
But she vows she was happy, wherever she was.
"It's good for our sport," said Weekly, who was checking out some potential recruits Wednesday at The Summit of Softball Complex, one of two Chattanooga-area sites hosting the Amateur Softball Association 14-under national tournament this week. "Obviously, it's the first step for softball being back permanently. We knew when we heard Tokyo was the host city in 2020 that we had a good shot."
The baseball/softball package was a combined bid and considered one of five sports voted in for the 2020 Games. Upcoming host cities and IOCs are not required to keep those same sports.
Karen and her husband, Ralph, the other co-head coach for the Lady Vols, were with the Olympic gold-medal-winning squads in 1996 in Atlanta and 2000 in Sydney, Australia. Ralph was a member of the Team USA coaching staff in Atlanta and was national director of teams for USA Softball the next Olympic Games.
The recent announcement of Los Angeles receiving the bid to host to the 2028 Games has to be more good news for softball. Some of the athletes who would possibly compete in L.A. could be playing here this week.
Said Karen: "It would be right about that age group, wouldn't it?"
Information, please
With so many college softball coaches seeking information on the young athletes playing in Chattanooga this week, some of the coaches of the 14-under teams have planned ahead. A recruiter can walk up to any backstop at one of the games and there's a reasonable chance of being able to help themselves to some information on every player on at least one of the teams.
The Florida Storm, based in Orlando and coached by Danny Sacco, played at Warner Park on Wednesday afternoon and is one such team. Sacco said the pamphlets inside the packet provide outlines of the players, detailing things like positions played, whether they are left- or right-handed, as well as more in-depth athletic information - and the all-important grade point average.
"That's big," Sacco said.
There are NCAA guidelines regarding contact between college coaches and recruits that must be followed. But the college coach can read all about them and if interested can call Sacco, whose phone number is the only one included.
"If they've got a girl that they like, they can look at that and they can contact me," Sacco said. "That's what they'll do when they want to know everything about the player."
Podcast people
Unable to make it to any of the 14-under Hanover Lady Hornets' ASA national-tournament games this week?
Don't worry. You can listen to their live podcast.
The team from Virginia has its own broadcast team that keeps those who are interested informed about the Lady Hornets' exploits.
Kelly Hughes, whose daughter, Jamie, is a member of the team, is doing the play-by-play this week, with Blair Rhodes providing comments from a player's perspective. She's also a team member, but too old to compete this week by ASA standards. Others have handled those duties at times, too.
Hughes' son, Evan, started the online network Patriot Talk Live when he was a freshman at Patrick Henry High School in Ashland, Va. He would announce the Patriots' football and basketball games. His goal is to graduate from Virginia Tech with a degree in broadcast journalism.
"We usually have well over a hundred listeners," Hughes said after a Wednesday game at The Summit. "These kids deserve to be heard. They love it. And it's fun as well."
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.