Families enjoy PARA softball league, tournament

SALT LAKE CITY — The Parish Athletic Recreational Association (PARA) co-ed softball league has been in existence for about 20 years.

"This is a family league," said Ernie Reyes, who is in charge of the softball league and a member of Saint Ann Parish. "We currently have 10 teams made up of family members from different parishes throughout the diocese. We have four teams from Saint Ann Parish, a team from Saint Thomas More Parish, and a team from Saint John the Baptist Parish. We also have other denominations playing in the league. We have a team from Christ United Methodist Church, two teams from Southern Methodist, and a team from Shadow Mountain Church, who won the sportsmanship award."

"The league plays every Sunday at Harmony Park on Main Street and 3800 South in Salt Lake City," said Reyes. "We have players who come all the way from Ogden. Sometimes we have double headers. The league brings families together, and some families bring their picnic lunches or barbecue here in the park. It is just a good way to relax on a Sunday afternoon."

"The teams have fun even if they lose," said Willie Price, PARA commissioner, who has been with PARA for more than 50 years. "The teams are friends and have known each other for years. Some of the adults grew up playing PARA basketball together. The beautiful thing about PARA is they still want to participate. There is such a friendly atmosphere. There is no squabbling or arguing. It is just a fun recreational softball game. Reyes, who is on the PARA board, has been the spearhead of this league since it began."

"The league starts the first Sunday in June through the end of August," said Reyes. "We have an extra base behind home plate so runners do not get hurt, we have designated runners, and there is no sliding so people do not get injured since it is a co-ed league. We have an official umpire, and it only cost $275 per team to play in the league. Each team has five males and five females to play.

The championship games were played Aug. 24, at Harmony Park. In the first game a Saint Ann team beat the team from Saint Thomas More to move on to play the team from Christ United Methodist Church. It was quite a game. In the first two innings, Christ United was behind 10 runs.

"The seven inning game does not have a time limit, so we had plenty of time to come back," said Mark McGill, Christ United coach. "We came back and scored runs to make the final score 29 to 15."

Christ United moved on to the final championship game and beat another Saint Ann team 20 to 19.

McGill played PARA basketball and softball all through junior high and high school.

"I have been playing with PARA for about 15 years," said McGill. "Christ United has always played with the Catholics in PARA to developed a cohesiveness with the local youth group. Christ United has a really big youth group but there are not that many Methodist churches to have a league such as this. So in order to participate, we joined PARA, and it is great. There is good sportsmanship and it is completely different than high school athletics, especially in that age division. PARA is not as competitive and cutthroat as is high school varsity athletics. PARA is fun and everybody gets to play. The values by which we play are great. There is no swearing, good sportsmanship, and everybody plays fair. I think there is no getting around those values. Vulgarity and fighting are not tolerated, which is great.

"Playing in PARA is just a lot of fun," said McGill. "The Catholic Church sponsors the league, and it is inexpensive to play. Playing softball in other leagues is so expensive that people cannot afford to play. But more than anything is the fact that I like the people on all these other PARA teams. It has been great getting to know Ernie and his sons, and all the other people I would have never met without playing PARA softball. We also play in other leagues together now and we see each other all over the place, and we have truly become friends through PARA softball."

"I look back at the beginning of the program when it began and then when Reyes took it over, and you can see how it has grown over the last 20 years with his leadership," said Price. "The program is good because Reyes puts in about 30 hours a week practicing, getting all the equipment together, and planning. Mike Chandler is the official umpire who comes out every week. Reyes has designed the league so it is friendly. He knows everybody by their first name. You cannot beat the camaraderie that comes about with teams from different parishes and churches getting together, having a good program, and playing softball with family members.