By Ben Murphy
Beacon Correspondent
It’s safe to say that the Munising softball program is near and dear to Jim Maxon’s heart. He has been around since Day 1 of the program, including a six-year stint as its first head coach.
Maxon is officially back with the team, as he was hired during the offseason to return as the softball program’s varsity head coach.
“It’s very exciting. I’m looking forward to the challenge and showing girls how to improve and enjoy the sport,” Maxon said. “The Munising softball program certainly means a lot to me. I’ve been around for its 20 years and have witnessed many highs and some lows with the team.”
Of course, one of those lows happened just last season, when the season was canceled because of a lack of players coming out for the team.
“Not having a team last season certainly was a low point,” Maxon said. “When [previous head coach] Casey Ford decided not to return, and after conversations with parents and school officials, I decided to return one more time and try to bring softball back to our school, as I feel it’s important to keep the girls involved and give them options. We’re also very proud that Munising softball provided the opportunity for five young ladies to get scholarships for college, with several more who earned the opportunity but chose not to play at the college level.”
Maxon played a key role in bringing the program into existence 20 years ago as part of a group that helped get it off the ground and approved by the school board.
He isn’t letting the fact that there was no season last year keep him from molding the program into what he wants it to be, though it does add an extra hurdle.
“I believe anytime you lose a season or just playing time, that is development time, which is very difficult to recover,” he said. “Our goal will be to work hard and improve every day, but to do it in a fun way to keep all the young ladies interested in learning the game. We are a year behind, and the girls are aware of this. That is the challenge, as most teams progressed and improved in that year. We accept the challenge.”
Maxon was hired in October, and his first order of business was to make sure there were enough players to greenlight the upcoming season.
“I visited the school numerous times to promote softball, and during our initial signup I was elated to have enough players to have a team this year,” he said. “[We want] to have some fun, to improve every day and to become competitive.”
While he’s excited to get things going, with winter returning in full force this week, it might be awhile before the team gets on the field for practice. In the meantime, they’ll be honing their skills indoors.
“We will be working in the gym on fundamentals for the first couple weeks and then more advanced things heading into the season,” Maxon said. “There are numerous drills to do this to keep it fun while learning.”
Assuming the program stays on solid footing, the future could be trending up for the Mustangs.
“Looking down the pike, 4-H has a strong youth softball program with talent and interest from both the girls and coaches, and we all look forward to growing our high school team into a strong and competitive team,” Maxon said. “As we know, our school is getting smaller with fewer numbers, so athletes are encouraged to do dual sports. Thank you to [Munising track head coach] Matt Mattson for working with us so the girls can participate in both sports. We hope to have community support. Please come out to watch us.”