Alumni Softball Anniversary

By Tyler Kirkendall

The Grove City High School Alumni Tournament began in 1983, and has since become one of the largest alumni gatherings in the world. Though the tournament centers on softball, the fun is not limited to alumni on the field.

“It’s a huge social event,” says Kim Weber, who first began participating alongside her twin sister, Kris Ford, after they graduated from Grove City High School in 1989.

Weber was on active duty in the Air Force for 20 years and always planned her trips home around Alumni Weekend. She no longer competes in the games, but wouldn’t dare miss out on the weekend.

“That sense of belonging and knowing that you’re going to be able to see these people and catch up,” she says. “You see family and friends, renew friendships because you may or may not have seen somebody for five or six years. … You catch up and it’s like you haven’t missed a day.”

Every GCHS graduate is welcome to join the alumni tournament, and because the school is home to 2,000 freshman through senior students in an average year, there is no shortage of Greyhounds to fill the weekend’s rosters and seats. Weber says that softball is the perfect game for everyone to join since it is accessible to people of a wide range of athletic abilities.

Teams are organized by graduating class, and as time passes and players drop off the roster, they can merge with other teams to maintain a full team.

She says that some groups are more competitive than others, with some practicing throughout the year to be in top shape once the first pitch of the tournament is thrown.

“You have those classes that are very, very serious and (for example) the men’s class of ’88, they’re A-team,” she says. “They play to win. They play over at Fryer, but they’ve been together for a long time. A lot of them played baseball together; they all grew up together.

“There’s a rivalry between the class of ’88 and the class of ’83 because for a number of years, it was those two teams always in the final.”

For some, however, the best part comes after their game ends.

“It can be two-and-out and you’re done and, you know, you’re enjoying an adult beverage and watching fellow classmates and you can socialize,” Weber says.

She has a near-encyclopedic knowledge of the Alumni Tournament given her close involvement over the years, and can quickly recount facts such as

“they finished second to the (women’s) class of ’07; ’07 has some really good ballplayers on it.”

She now proudly sits on the sidelines with her family while her children, nieces, nephews and cousins play ball.

Ty, Weber’s husband, was raised in Florida, but his parents are both from Grove City. The family jokes that he is “alumni by marriage” because he is always surrounded by family members who have participated for decades.

Her father coached Little League baseball while they were growing up, and now her grandson is playing Little League and dons a “future alumni” shirt when the tournament comes around.

“It’s a huge thing that people want to participate in,” Weber says. “They want to be able to say ‘I played in the Alumni. I graduated from this class and this year and … we placed first in our division.’ The bragging rights is the fact that you see everybody, all ages come out and watch, either supporting their kids or grandkids.”

Even if you don’t care to see a single pitch thrown, the Alumni Weekend is a great opportunity to get out and enjoy Grove City.

Weber says that the festivities have grown as the years have gone on, and the many offerings in the Grove City Town Center ensure that the fun never stops.

The Grove City High School Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony now takes place on Alumni Weekend, which adds to the sweetness of coming home to remember the glory days.

Thousands gather in Town Center to enjoy food trucks, restaurants and live music. The area serves as the perfect grounds to link up with friends and family, especially with the DORA enabling patrons to carry around open-container drinks from approved vendors.

The Grove City Homecoming Celebration with a concert featuring The Menus begins Friday, July 28 at 6 p.m. to kick off Alumni Weekend. The Alumni Softball Tournament takes place Saturday and Sunday, July 29-30, at various parks around town.

“You have all these people, thousands of people down here and you kind of weave your way through the crowd and you stop and talk to classmates,” Weber says. “My husband and I always get a chair now and plop down and listen to the music and people come to us! You listen to the music and our grandson gets out there and dances with the other kids.”

The weekend is also advantageous to local businesses that benefit from visitors, but they aren’t the only ones who take advantage of the spike in traffic.

“It’s a huge fundraiser for Lions Clubs, Sertomas, the younger athletic groups, GCKA and that kind of stuff,” Weber says.

She believes that the event captures the quintessential spirit of Grove City.

“With my military career – 20 years in the military – and Grove City is home,” she says. “I’ve lived in Hawaii, I’ve lived in Washington state. I’ve been to Italy, Korea, I played softball in Japan as I represented the base team in Hawaii. I’ve never run across another event or community that’s like Grove City.”

While the Alumni Tournament centers on softball, it’s certainly not all about softball. It runs much deeper than that, Weber says.

“It’s like that down-home feeling. It’s a community and at any given time, anybody off the street, if somebody needed something, or you needed help, there are people that you may not know are there willing to step up and lend a hand,” Weber says. “I think that’s what the Alumni Tournament represents; that sense of community, that sense of belonging.”