April Wertheim

Elected : USSSA New York Hall Of Fame in 2005
Inducted : April 2006, Ronkon koma, NY.

April was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, a far cry from the snow covered fields of Central New York where she now resides. She started swinging a broomstick on the cement covered school yards, better known as “stickball”. She felt if you can play stickball, you can play softball.  She started competitive (fast pitch) softball in high school and then at Brooklyn College. She moved to Syracuse to further her education and was introduced to slow pitch softball, which she was not very familiar with.  She was asked to play on a recreational team with some friends. Being a somewhat competitive person, she enjoyed the experience and got the “bug”.  As she met people that took the game very seriously, she started playing two and three nights a week, as well as on the weekends.

The sport was very popular and there were tournaments almost every weekend.  Each year her teams would get a little better, after making some personnel changes the team started to make a name for itself throughout the State. She does not know exactly how or when, but  the decision was made for April to “coach” the team and organize the tournament schedule.  The only condition that was unspoken was that April still play while coaching.  Softball became a very big part of her summers.  April felt very fortunate to have a team of very committed, skilled women.  What made it special for her was that they all loved the game. They had some financial backing at times, but for the most part paid for all the travel, entry fees, hotel rooms, etc. on their own.

When donations were made to the team, they were very appreciative for the help.

April does not remember team records, titles or trophies won, nor can she list the years when they won state and regional championships.  She does remember traveling to Cincinnati when there was 60-70 teams completing and having a great time.  Or driving all day and night to  Ohio or Kentucky when they had to play “A” ball, only to spend more time in the car then on the  field. They played team from all over the country, outfitted from head to toe, with the best equipment available which was a real  eye opener.