For the last five years Albert Lea has been the only Big Nine school without a viable summer softball program and the ramifications are apparent as the Tigers have not won more than five games in a season during the past six years.

There are perhaps a myriad of reasons why there has been a lack of success at the varsity level, but the most glaring might be a lack of a feeder program.

Summer softball, which was nearly nonexistent in years past, appears on the rise in Albert Lea with the recent additions of the Alden-Albert Lea Blackhawks, a U-16 traveling softball team, and an Albert Lea U-12 traveling softball team.

Most often the first introduction to the game for girls came at a 12-and-under in-house softball league. After girls reached junior high they were left with a short season and no summer ball to improve, which ultimately led to coaches still implementing the fundamentals at even the varsity level.

“It’s been really quite frustrating,” said Dan Harms, who coached the junior varsity team last season. “We’re still working on catching and throwing properly at the high school level. We’re trying to develop skills that should have been developed very, very soon in their playing career.”

Prior to 2008 there wasn’t traveling softball in Albert Lea, instead just in-house softball through the Albert Lea Parks and Recreation Department. In the past there have been traveling fastpitch softball teams, but those teams faded away after 2003. At one point there were three different teams, a U-18, a U-14 and a U-12.

“We’ve struggled to compete in the Big Nine and that’s why we’re really trying to change that,” Harms said.

Gary Chicos is one of the coaches of this year’s U-12 team and has focused on teaching the team the fundamentals.

“It’s been real positive and they’re having fun,” Chicos said. “I think it’s going to help.”

Harms has helped coach the team as well this summer. Teaching the players earlier will help bridge the gap to the varsity level and will allow the high school coaches to implement what they want to teach.

“We’re trying to coordinate what they want to do with the varsity down to when they start here so they learn the same stuff,” Chicos said.

The softball team has never won a Big Nine championship and has relied on the athleticism of its players in the past to be competitive.

The disparity between teams that have summer programs and those that don’t is often great. Take for example this past high school season where Mankato West, where the youth program is one of the biggest in the area, dominated Albert Lea in a 23-0 win and an 11-0 win.

“We haven’t been very successful because we haven’t had a feeder program,” Harms said.

The key to any successful high school program relies on the strength of its youth program, which coaches like Chicos hope to build.

The U-12 team has 21 players and plays in the South Central League against teams like Blooming Prairie, Hayfield, Austin, Stewartville and Triton. The team plays twice a week and practices twice a week teaching the players the fundamentals of the game at a younger age than in the past.

“We feel if we do it younger it’s going to help when they are juniors and seniors,” Chicos said.

Prior to last summer Alden had never had a summer fastpitch softball team. Lori Nelson’s daughter Krystle and Nikki Schultz played for a fall team two years ago and that gave Nelson the idea to start a team.

The Alden-Albert Lea Blackhawks are off to a 7-6-1 start in the second season in the Southern Minny League.

“I think the girls that are interested know that they need to improve their skills and this is an opportunity,” Nelson said. “I think they saw that it was well worth the time.”

This spring it was clear with many of the players who played last summer with the Blackhawks had improved.

“The girls from last year could definitely see the difference,” Nelson said.

Others took notice after last season and the team had a waitlist this spring because of the rise in interest, Nelson said.

Nelson said the team has gotten good support from the Albert Lea softball boosters because it sees the team as a feeder program for the varsity level.