Harper cancels softball season, looks for new coach

Months after discontinuing the school’s football program, and followed by the cancellation of the conference portion of the women’s basketball season several weeks later, the Hawks have opted out of another sport.

Harper softball coach Brenda James sent an e-mail to the Daily Herald earlier this week which read, simply, “The 2012 Harper softball season has been cancelled due to a lack of participation.”

“Canceling a season is not where we want to go” said Harper athletic director Doug Spiwak. “It’s dissappointing to end the (basketball) season early, and not have a softball season.”

This is the first time since Spiwak was named athletic director that the school has had to cancel a season before it started.

“Some things are out of your control,” Spiwak said. “The hardest part of all this is to see the disappointment of the student-athletes who wanted to participate.”

During winter workouts, the coaching staff had hoped to recruit enough athletes from the student body for this spring’s season.

James went so far as to cancel the first week of the season in hopes of getting more participation.

“We waited as long as we could (to cancel the season),” said Spiwak.

Thusday night James said she wouldn’t be returning to Harper.

Spiwak said the search for a new softball coach will begin immediately so that person can “begin recruiting.

“To Brenda’s credit, she has worked hard; it just did not work out,” Spiwak. “The program had not developed to the point where it needed to be.”