Jim Koltes, longtime Maple Grove softball coach, wants it known that he and other coaches within the Softball State Coaches Association have no beef with Mankato.
High school softball coaches lobby for moving state finals to U’s Jane Sage Cowles Stadium
It’s a gender equity issue, they say, pointing out that no other team sport plays its title games outside the Twin Cities.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
May 9, 2024 at 10:12PM
Specifically North Mankato, the location of Caswell Park, where the MSHSL holds the softball state tournament each year.
“Caswell has been great to us,” Koltes said.
But several influential coaches on a committee are hoping to give the state tournament championship games a more esteemed location and a higher profile. They want the four finals held at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium, the home field of the Gophers, where Minnesota softball is played at its pinnacle.
“We want something that shouts, ‘State tournament,’” Koltes said. “Every other state tournament is played at a bigger site. That’s what we want.”
A recommendation from the Softball State Coaches Association made note that all other team state tournaments have their championships in the Twin Cities. The coaches say softball would benefit from increased media coverage and a likely bump in attendance.
They also say it would bring the state tournament in line with similar state tournaments, writing, “In Wisconsin, they play their entire high school state tournament at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. We feel that for our Minnesota state tournament, we can at least do the same for our softball girls.”
Koltes, who is on the committee with Farmington coach Paul Harrington, Rosemount coach Tiffany Rose and former Stillwater and current club softball coach Bob Beedle, said the initial proposal was met with indifference from members of the MSHSL. Now the committee is raising issues involving gender equity.
“The sport most similar to ours is baseball, and they get to play the finals at Target Field,” Koltes said. “Caswell Park is a good place, but it’s a field that hosts men’s slow-pitch softball. We felt we were getting roadblocked on moving to the U, so we’re looking at it as a Title IX thing.”
Koltes said high school teams have raised funds to play regular-season games at Cowles Stadium and that cost does not appear to be a significant barrier.
The softball state tournament is expanding this season from two days to three, giving it a little room to breathe. The two-day tournament had quarterfinals and semifinals on the same day, and that day lasted well into the night. This season, quarterfinals will be played June 5, semifinals June 6 and championship games June 7, all at Caswell Park.
“The quarterfinals and semifinals can remain at Caswell, but we need to have our championships at a place that feels like a place for championships,” Koltes said. “We played East Ridge there last year and it cost $450 for one game. That’s not bad for four games.”
Six players plus head coach Garrett Raboin and assistant coach Ben Gordon are from Minnesota. The tournament’s games will be televised starting Monday.
