Suburban softball players get in more action with late-night games

Travel softball coach Jim Goranson often tells his daughters and players that "nothing good ever happens after midnight."

But as the organizer of one of the suburbs' only indoor midnight youth softball tournaments, he admits he might just have to change that philosophy.

In its first year, more than 50 teams have participated in the late night Saturday tournaments at the Schaumburg Sports Center, 1141 W. Irving Park Road, that offer three 1-hour games beginning at 11 p.m.

High cost and low availability of indoor facilities led coaches to look for an alternative that would allow them to play indoors during the long winter months. The off hours cost a lot less and give players a chance to see live pitching when they'd otherwise be practicing in batting cages and running drills, coaches say.

While some consider the tournaments to be genius, some sports medicine physicians question the wisdom of having children play a sport that demands quick reflexes so late at night.

Goranson, who coaches the 18 and under Illinois Bash team, said the games haven't affected his girls' reaction time or play. "The girls are wide awake and ... really having a blast," he said. "As a parent of five kids, at one or two in the morning, the kids are up anyway on their computer, texting, and so on. It's the parents who are exhausted and a little uncomfortable being there until 2 a.m."

To some extent, fatigue is part of the experience, said Jim Giancana, executive director of the Lemont Rockers and organizer of Midnight Madness in McCook.

"Usually by the start of the third game, they're tired," Giancana said. "But they know that seeing live pitching and working out is important for them if they want to continue their progress and hopefully someday be placed in college."

•••

Joe Nemetz of St. Charles stood out among the casual crowd of more than 150 cheering alongside one of three fields divided by large curtains at the Schaumburg Sports Center on a recent Saturday night.

The Schaumburg High School teacher wore a black tuxedo and an orange rose corsage, still dressed from the earlier date he had with his 11-year-old daughter, Erin: their ninth and final daddy-daughter dance, followed by ice cream.

After, instead of tucking her into bed, they grabbed her softball gear and headed to the sports center where she joined about 80 girls for a few games of fast pitch.

"I told her that it's a once in a lifetime opportunity," he said. "Not everybody can say they've played a game of softball at midnight. It's something that you'll look back on years later."

Organizers say the midnight tournaments were created based on cost and availability. Indoor facilities often are booked during prime hours by soccer, lacrosse or men's softball teams that have more players to spread the cost around.

Giancana credits his organization with creating the concept of midnight ball. They play 11 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. at the McCook Athletic and Exposition center in the near West suburbs.

Playing late at night cuts costs by half, both Giancana and Goranson said. In Schaumburg, each team plays for about $95 a game. An earlier time slot can cost as much as $175 to even $250 a game.

A large demand led to a 10-team waiting list for the six high school age tournaments that began in January, and it prompted Goranson to tack on additional dates in March for 12-year-old and under and 14-and-under teams. Travel teams came from as far away as Indiana, Kenosha, Kankakee and Rockford to sneak in some playing time.

•••

Veteran softball mom Susan Sloan has watched games in the snow. She's seen players pass out from extreme heat. And she's been soaked in whipping rain, all more times than she can count.

But after four daughters and 13 years of travel softball, the Elk Grove Village mom sat and watched her first softball game played at midnight on a recent Saturday.

"It's fun for the kids. It's crazy for the parents," she said, while cheering on daughter Abbey, 11, who plays for the Elk Grove Heat. "It's good to get the season going and get them excited for spring."

The fast-paced mini tournaments that feature different teams each weekend aren't so much about winning or losing as they are a diagnostic tool for coaches.

For older teams, such as 16U and 18U, the tournaments served as a final practice before high school softball started at the beginning of March.

Goranson recalled one time when he required his team to bunt for three straight innings, repeating fake bunts, slap bunts and sneaky bunts over and over. The experience against live pitching was invaluable, said Goranson's daughter Danielle, 15, of Elk Grove, who has since started high school ball.

"It definitely helped," she said. "With the girls who didn't play (in the midnight tournaments), you can tell they're rusty."

For 12U and 14U girls, the games give coaches an opportunity to measure progress and determine what needs improvement before they begin outdoor play when the weather breaks. "It's quite a bit easier to see what you need to work on," said Bill Weber, of Elk Grove, who coaches the Elk Grove Heat Red 12U team.

•••

Yet some health experts say there's always such a thing as too much. But it's overuse of muscles from yearround play and the resulting potential for injury that worries them more than the time of play.

"I don't think there's a specific health risk related to playing late at night," said Dr. William Briner, director of sports medicine fellowship at Advocate Lutheran General in Park Ridge. "I guess I'm giving it my official stamp of approval, as crazy as it may sound."

While sleep deprivation doesn't improve performance of any sport and tired muscles are prone to injury, there's no particular study that would suggest midnight tournaments are bad for youth, several doctors said.

"I wouldn't necessarily be concerned, unless you start seeing a trend toward certain injuries or problems," said Dr. David Anderson, an orthopedic surgeon with Lake Cook Orthopedics, who has fellowship training in sports medicine.

But Dr. Deborah Gulson, with Lake Shore Pediatrics, believes the time of the games has everything to do with potential injuries.

"I think that playing at midnight sounds like it's quite dangerous," said Gulson, a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, who is affiliated with Advocate Good Shepherd in Barrington.

It's common sense, she said, citing a recent study that found that 17 out of 100 girls who play softball get injured each year.

"Tired people make more mistakes, so of course I expect that there would be more mistakes," Gulson said. "With a slower response time and reaction time, you're more likely to be injured."

Playing softball in the middle of the night interrupts the natural sleep rhythms of the body and not just for that day. It likely makes getting up for school Monday that much harder, she said.

"It makes me very concerned that it might be putting our adolescents at increased risk of injury" Gulson said.

Several parents at the Schaumburg tournament said their daughters napped during the day to prepare for the night games.

That, plus the fact that the midnight tournaments aren't played multiple days in a row leads orthopedic surgeon Craig Cummins to feel comfortable that time of day shouldn't really affect injuries.

"It's a balance people have to find. There's definitely data showing that if you don't rest and you play too much and you don't cross train, that you're going to be at risk for overuse injuries in your shoulder and elbow, specifically for softball," said Cummins, of Lake Cook Orthopedic Associates, who is board certified in sports medicine and affiliated with Good Shepherd. "Are their reflexes a little slow? Are they too tired? I think that's not necessarily an issue here."

Players on Goranson's 18U team, Illinois Bash, say they do feel the effects of playing so late, but don't think it's dangerous.

"It's a little harder to focus because you're way more tired and should be home sleeping," said Bailey Patt, 17, of Park Ridge, who attends Maine South.

"We all get slap happy and crazy and loud," said Alyssa Robison, 17, of Medinah, who attends Lake Park High School. "It's definitely a challenge to stay awake during the day, but once you get through the first game it's worth it."

In Schaumburg, parents joked about heading out to the car to catch a quick nap themselves. They did not express concern for safety.

"You forget that they're kids sometimes. They're really resilient," Joe Nemetz said. "We don't seem to worry about their reflexes at sleepovers."

Veteran softball mom Susan Sloan agreed.

"They look OK. I'm watching their reaction and they seem fine," she said.

The tournament's popularity surprised even Goranson, who doesn't plan to give up on his adage just yet. While he may have realized good things can happen after 12 a.m., shhh, he doesn't plan to tell his girls that.

"All those years I'd tell them nothing good happens after midnight, and here we are," he said.