Gremlins co-owner excited for Lincoln tourney
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BY LORI GRIFFIN / Lincoln Journal Star
Ron “Doc” Simmons is excited to be returning to the cozy, neighborhood softball fields he remembers playing on during the early days of his career.
Simmons no longer plays the game at a competitive level, but the former basketball and baseball player at Nebraska in the late 1960s now shares ownership in one of the premier sports franchises in the state of Nebraska.
The Broken Bow Gremlins are ranked fourth in the latest International Softball Congress rankings. The ISC is the governing body of men’s fast-pitch softball.
And after traveling as far as Canada during their 10-week tournament season, the Gremlins are staying close to home.
The squad will compete against five other teams beginning Saturday in the A&L Farms Tournament at University Place and Ballard Fields.
“I’m excited to come to Lincoln. We haven’t played in Nebraska for three or four years now,” Simmons said. “When I was young, I played in Lincoln but then, fast-pitch in the area started to fade away and I decided to go ahead and play on a national level.
“But I used to love the Lincoln fans — and there used to be a lot of them — that came out to watch the team. There is a lot of nostalgia (at Uni Place), and nothing can ever take that away.”
Broken Bow will open the tournament with an exhibition game against A&L Farms of Lincoln at 7:30 p.m. Friday at University Place Park.
The success of a team like Broken Bow comes not only from traveling to play top-notch competition, but also from recruiting the best players from around the world.
Simmons, a dentist who began his dream of softball world domination in 1995, has spent the past 13 years dedicated to the sport.
He spends a lot of time traveling and recruiting the best players from Canada, New Zealand and Australia, as well as the United States.
“To have the best teams, you have to have international players,” Simmons said. “Fast-pitch softball is really a super, super sport in New Zealand and Canada.
“They really know how to compete. In those counties, men’s fast-pitch is a youth sport, unlike here in the United States, where boys play baseball.”
And because Simmons has built a top-ranked team, he has very little trouble convincing foreign players, who largely are similar to professionals, to come to the Midwest.
“(The team) has just built a name over the years and we create an environment for young kids to be able to be very competitive at the top level,” Simmons said.
“You just build a reputation and go from there. But you must consistently try to get better and younger talent.”
The youngest members are 22, while the oldest is 45.
Jarrad Martin, from Waitare, New Zealand, is a long-standing player for Broken Bow. He has been with the team since its inception.
“But every year is a new year and you feel you must update and replace,” Simmons said.
Broken Bow has won three ISC world championships, as well as finishing runner-up three times. The Gremlins finished fourth in 2007.
Reach Lori Griffin at 473-7174 or lgriffin@journalstar.com.
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