Having a ball

Through

ANDREA MUJICA STAFF WRITER

The West Orange Girls Club has been serving the West Orange community since its foundation in 1978.

The club was established as a nonprofit organization to promote the “health, social, cultural, vocational and character development of the young women in our community,” according to its website.

The club also promotes scholastic achievement, sportsmanship, honesty and development of good character while offering girls in the community six baseball fields where they can also learn the sport of softball.

“We provide a place for any girl that wants to play softball to (be able) to play,” Recreational Director and Vice President Michaal Rossi said. “(Their) level of ability doesn’t matter. I have girls in my team (12U) that have never played before, middle schoolers who decided they wanted to try softball.”

The beauty of the club is the type of bond the girls form between them over the years they get to play together — from when they are 4 years old all the way to when they are 18 years old.

“It becomes a community, which is neat,” Rossi said.

SEASONS OF SOFTBALL

The West Orange Girls Club provides girls in Orange County with nine months of playtime during the year. The girls — of all categories — can enjoy two different leagues: spring and fall.

Currently, there are 113 girls enrolled in the spring season roster. According to Rossi, spring season usually sees a lower number of girls in the roster because of high school play. Last fall, for example, the club had about 140 girls.

“The really cool thing this year in the spring is that our senior division is smaller, because we have so many girls that made their high school teams,” Rossi said.

Because the West Orange Girls Club services all Orange County — girls come all the way from Clermont and other surrounding cities — the club has girls who have been playing there for years that are now part of the softball rosters at Horizon High, Win-

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