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Sports

Meet the Girls of Summer

A lot of players you see on the high school softball team got their start with the Geneva Foxes.

Any coach will tell you that a key to success for high school sports is inheriting or developing a feeder program, starting sometimes from the earliest ages and grade levels.

In Geneva, the football program gains experienced players from the Tri-City Youth Football Association. Soccer Coach Ryan Estabrook sees kids come up through various club soccer teams, such as the Eclipse Select, Chicago Kickers, and Team Chicago, and volleyball players for the state-qualifying Vikings often get started with the Sports Performance Volleyball Club.

But where do Geneva softball players develop their skills?

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For many, it's with the Geneva Foxes, an organization that's grown quietly but steadily over the years.

The Geneva Foxes debuted in 1996 as a competitive traveling softball program—singular—one team for girls ages 9 and 10. Now celebrating its 14th season, the Foxes program has blossomed to as many as eight teams, with age brackets that range from 8 to 16.

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The program is designed for girls interested in playing fastpitch softball to fine-tune their skills and have fun over the summer. Teams play against neighboring suburban teams, such as the Wasco Diamonds and Aurora Raiders, and participate in weekend tournaments throughout the summer, from St. Charles to Rock Island.

There have been some successes over the years. This summer, the 13U team qualified for the National Tournament in Ohio. The team went 2-4 overall after going 1- 2 in pool play and 1-2 in the double elimination round. Overall the team placed 13th out of 27 teams.

Way back in 2002, the 15U team played in Orlando, Fla. Since then, the 13-and-under (13U), 14U, 15U, and 16U teams have traveled to Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana and Iowa. 

Each year, the Foxes host an annual Fourth of July Firecracker tournament, which this season included 10 teams.

Carly Sperber, who just finished her seventh year on the traveling team, said the Firecracker tournament was the highlight of the year for the 16-and-under Foxes team.

"We went 3-and-2, won our elimination round on Sunday, and ended up getting fourth place in the tournament," she said. "It was pretty exciting because it was the best we did all season."

Charlie Campbell started the league in 1996, and since then the program has undergone several changes in management. Campbell's goal was to "give the girls who loved to play and were talented the opportunity to be more competitive," he said.

Players pay an average of $750 when registering for the program. Because it is a self-funded organization, teams rely on player fees, fundraising, and team sponsors to stay afloat.

In 2010, the Foxes held a Cookie Dough Fundraiser that raised around $4,000, which helped pay for uniforms, umpires and traveling dues.

Some Foxes go on to play for Greg Dierks and the Geneva High School varsity squad. Last season, most players on the varsity program had played for the Foxes at some point in their careers.

The lower-level softball teams at the high school are also filled with young Foxes. The feeder program has become essential to the success of the Geneva softball teams at all levels.

"I just love playing, and the Foxes team becomes a second family to me," Sperber said. 

Each summer tryouts are held in August so that practices can be held throughout the winter. Although once restricted to Geneva residents, the Foxes now recruit girls from St. Charles, Batavia and other surrounding areas. The 2010 season included five teams: 10U, 12U, 13U, 15U and 16U. The number of teams depends on the number of girls who try out.

"As we get older, girls are looking to play for more competitive teams. The Foxes program, for some reason, is not as competitive as it could be," Sperber said.

Sperber said she'd recommend the Foxes to young girls as a starting point.

"It's a good place for a girl looking to dip her feet into traveling softball and see if it's a good fit," she said. "The coaches have big hearts and our team always picks each other up. There is not much drama or negativity; everyone just loves to play."

Want to play for the Foxes?

The 2011 Geneva Foxes fastpitch softball season will kick off in the early part of June. Players may register by visiting the Geneva Foxes Web site at genevafoxes.org. 

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