Bigger and Better: Watertown Area Junior Olympic Softball Association set to host 24th JO Classic

In case you didn't already know it, Watertown has the biggest and the best youth slowpitch softball program in the state.

The Watertown Area Junior Olympic Softball Association started around 30 years ago under the direction of Joe Stellinga and is stronger than ever.

This summer, there are 58 girls and boys teams throughout northeastern South Dakota competing in eight age divisions Monday through Thursday at Koch Complex.

"This is as big as we've ever been," said association president David Ebbers. "A lot of that growth is related to teams coming from throughout the area. I think a big part of why those teams are coming here is that they know they're going to play games in their age-appropriate group and that there's going to be umpires."

This weekend, the association is hosting the 24th JO Classic with 37 teams in six divisions. The tourney was started by Jim Engels in the late 1990s and has been under the control of the Watertown Area Junior Olympic Softball Association for a number years.

The league keeps growing and growing

The Watertown league features play for 12-and-under girls on Mondays, 16-and-under and 18-under girls on Tuesdays and 10-and-under and 14-and-under girls on Thursdays. The 12-and-under, 14-and-under and 16/18-and-under boys divisions all play on Wednesdays.

This summer, there are 41 girls and 17 boys teams competing in Watertown.

A majority of teams are made up of Watertown players, but there's also teams from Castlewood, Claremont, Clark, Clear Lake, Gary, Redfield, Sisseton, Volga and Willow Lake.

Just though sheer numbers, small towns have been forced to travel to play games. Sioux Falls has a 26-team youth league this summer, but the sport has struggled to stay float or get off the ground in other bigger South Dakota cities in part due to fastpitch softball.

"We just try to make it work," said Ebbers. "In the end, there are no college scholarships for slowpitch softball, so it better be fun for the kids."

It's not all about wins and losses

Having more teams and more players has definitely led to a ton of success for teams in the Watertown league. Those teams often win many of the state championships or have the most top-four teams in all divisions.

After coming through the Watertown Park and Rec programs, teams are formed to compete in the Junior Olymic league. The 10-and-under league, which was recently taken over, has teams formed through a draft.

"Our focus is not on state championships or place-winning teams and that's one of the reasons that when we started the U10 league, we made it a draft league," said Ebbers. "Our goal is to make a lifetime sport for the kids. We want them not only playing at age 9, but well after that."

The association is thriving

Many people through the years have been instrumental in helping the Watertown league get to this point.

Current Association board members include Ebbers, vice president Travis Ronke, treasurer Margo Spiering, secretary Jeff Hansen and umpire-in-chief Kelly Johnson. There are countless others who help coach teams.

The entry fee for players is $50, but Ebbers said the association can help financially with those who want to the opportunity to play.

Money raised from this weekend's tourney is used to keep the program thriving.

"We've used it to buy equipment for our league and to make field improvements or buy field equipment for the complex," said Ebbers, who first got involved with the program when his kids played and has served as association president for the past decade. "We also donate to the Park and Rec every year. They maintain the fields and that's our way of giving back to them."

Tournament Schedule

Here are the pairings for the JO Classic this weekend:

• 12-and-Under Girls (Field 2) — Saturday: Clear Lake vs. Sioux Falls Faini, 8 a.m.; Watertown Crush-Meyer Insurance vs. Watertown Velocity, 9 a.m.; Watertown Moyer Construction vs. Clear Lake-Sioux Falls winner, 10 a.m. Loser's bracket games at 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. and winner's bracket game at 2 p.m.

Sunday: Loser's bracket games at 8 and 9 a.m. Championship, 10 a.m. Second championship, if necessary, 11 a.m.

• 14-and-Under Girls (Fields 1&4) — Saturday: Watertown Thunder vs. Redfield Knockouts, 8 a.m. (F1); Sioux Falls Dakota Sanony vs. Watertown Service Plus, 8 a.m. (F4); Castlewood vs. Clark, 9 a.m. (F1); Watertown Green Machine vs. Watertown Rampage, 9 a.m. (F4); Winner's bracket games at 11 a.m. (F1&F4); Loser's bracket games at 10 a.m. (F1&F4), noon (F1), 1 p.m. (F1), 2 p.m. (F1) and 3 p.m. (F1).

Sunday (Field 1): Winner's bracket game at 9 a.m.; Loser's bracket games at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Championship, 11 a.m. Second championship, if necessary, noon.

• 16/18-and-Under Girls (Fields 1,5&6) — Saturday: Clark vs. Watertown Blaze, 8 a.m. (F1); Watertown L.A.P.D. (Lake Area Pediatric Dentistry) vs. Watertown Wildcards, 8 a.m. (F6); Redfield Fireballs vs. Volga Venom, 9 a.m. (F6); Watertown Duane's Floor Covering vs. Clear Lake, 9 a.m. (F5); Orient vs. Clark-Blaze winner, 10 a.m. (F5); Winner's bracket games at 2 and 3 p.m. (F6); Loser's bracket games 10 and 11 a.m., noon, 1 and 4 p.m. (F6), 5 p.m. (F1&F6) and 6 p.m. (F1).

Sunday (Field 6): Winner's bracket game at 9 a.m. Loser's bracket games at 8 and 10 a.m. Championship, 11 a.m. Second championship, if necessary, noon.

• 12-and-Under Boys (Field 3) — (Saturday Only) Round Robin: Watertown Duane's Floor Covering vs. Watertown Moon Squad, 9 a.m. Moon Squad vs. Watertown Night Fire, 10 a.m.; Duane's vs. Night Fire, 11 a.m.

Bracket Play: No. 2 seed vs. No. 3 seed, 1 p.m. Championship (No. 1 seed vs. No. 2/3 winner), 2 p.m.

• 14-and-Under Boys (Field 7) — Saturday Only: Watertown Velocity vs. Watertown Benchwarmers, 8 a.m.; Watertown Kranz Insurance vs. Watertown Base Invaders. Winner's bracket game at 10 a.m. Loser's bracket games at 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. Championship, 2 p.m. Second championship, if necessary, 3 p.m.

• 16/18-and-Under Boys (Fields 4&5) — Saturday: Sioux Falls Kitchen & Windows vs. Watertown Mama Boys, 11 a.m. (F5); Watertown VTech vs. Watertown Slumberland, noon (F5); Watertown Vanilla Ice vs. Watertown Goonies, 1 p.m. (F5); Watertown Duane's Floor Covering Orange vs. Watertown Duane's Floor Covering Blue, 1 p.m. (F4). Winner's bracket games at 3 p.m. (F4&5); Loser's bracket games at 2 p.m. (F4&5), 4 p.m. (F4&5) and 5 p.m. (F4&5).

Sunday (Field 5): Winner's bracket game at 9 a.m. Loser's bracket games at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Championship, 11 a.m. Second championship, if necessary, noon.

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Bigger and Better: Watertown Area Junior Olympic Softball Association set to host 24th JO Classic