Mike Ross, Athletic Director at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, gave Rotarians a preview of the NAIA Softball Championship Opening Round games in Chickasha this week.The Rotary Club of Chickasha met Thursday, May 9. Rotarian Mitch Williams led the club in singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame".
Committee chair Gerron Smith recapped the Rotary Run 5K, which took place the preceding weekend. The official final total was 122 registrations, and around 100 participated between the 5K and the fun run. The fundraiser achieved its goal of $10,000. An additional T-shirt order will be made for late registrants.
President-Elect Lewis Knisley reminded members of the Rotary Roll Call assembly taking place shortly after the meeting for Grand Elementary. Lewis noted that in the final quarter, across 2nd through 4th grade, an astounding 148 students had prefect attendance. For the first time, students with prefect attendance for the whole year would receive a gift bag with goodies from local merchants and organizations. 18 Grand students achieved this mark.
As Rotarian of the Day Austin Kile was absent, President Jim Cowan introduced the speaker, Mike Ross. Ross is the athletic director of the University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma, and his presentation focused on the upcoming softball national championship opening rounds being held in Chickasha.
USAO will host Midland University (of Nebraska), LSU Alexandria, Baker University and Friends University (both in Kansas) in a double-elimination bracket over four days (May 13–16). USAO is the #1 seed in the bracket. The winner will advance to the NAIA Softball World Series in Columbus, Georgia. There are 10 opening round sites in total with a newly expanded 48 teams competing overall. The Drovers earn their tournament bid automatically after winning the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament. They finished 2nd in the conference in the regular season, just behind Oklahoma City University.
This will be Drover softball's 9th national tournament appearance, 6th consecutive appearance, and 5th straight year as a host location. Ross stressed the significance of being a regular host for the school and for Chickasha. He explained that to be selected as an opening round site, the associated team must be a #1 or #2 seed in their bracket, must have a quality facility, and must have a sizable community with sufficient hospitality and dining options to host several teams for several days. USAO and Chickasha have been recognized as shining examples of this, and Ross said that their facilities have earned praise from NAIA officials.
The visiting teams will arrive Sunday and are treated to a "student athlete experience". The students will be brought to Jungle Ice Fun Zone for entertainment, and an opportunity to interview with George Plummer and KOOL 105.5. In response to a Rotarian's question about economic impact, Ross stated that he reserves 15 hotel rooms per visiting team, for a total of 60, who will each of course be staying at least two to three nights.
The full schedule is available on the NAIA website and scores on the NAIA sports portal. As the top seed in a 5-team bracket, USAO will not play until Day 2 (Tuesday). As always, the games will be streamed live through the university's official feed, which is available for free. Ross mentioned that USAO is one of very few NAIA schools to still stream their games for free and will continue to do so as long as possible.
Lunch was provided by Chicken Express.