Bandits showing they want to be a part of our community

The Chicago Bandits want you.

The Bandits, who won the National Pro Fastpitch championship last season, opened their second season in Elgin earlier this week.

But while the Bandits are a softball team, they also want the city of Elgin and its surrounding areas to know they are part of the community. They don't just play softball and then go on their way. They are visible around town and around the area and they want people to know who they are both on and off the field.

"We're doing visits around the city at restaurants and night life spots trying to get people to follow us," Bandits owner Bill Sokolis told me during a sit-down at the Bandits office in downtown Elgin Friday. "It's very important to us that our product brings in outside fans to the economy of Elgin. If we bring people to Elgin, Elgin can help support us."

The city certainly did that last year when it gave Judson University $750,000 to upgrade the softball facilities to pro quality, which they most certainly have become. But at that time the thought was the Bandits would stay at Judson for a three-year stint while the city built a softball stadium on the Spartan Meadows property. The downturn in the economy has put that plan on the back burner for now but Sokolis says the Bandits have no plans to leave town anytime soon.

"I'm in very close contact with the city and we're game-planning," said Sokolis, the sole owner of the Bandits now that Bill Conroy has turned over his interest in the franchise. "They've asked if we'd stay at Judson for a longer period of time. I love it at Judson and with a few more upgrades we could stay there forever. I don't need a stadium."

Sokolis believes the product the Bandits put on the field, and the production their games come with, is a good reason to check out a game or two. Attendance the last two nights has been 600-plus, a figure the Bandits are working hard to increase.

"People need to embrace it and understand the demographics and the monetary issues," he said. "We've created a form of entertainment that's cheaper than anything you can do. You can't go to a movie with your family for the price of a Bandits game. It's 2-3 hours of nonstop fun and if you get out there you want to come back. You need to see that contact between the players and the fans. That will tell you what's so special about it."

The Bandits, of course, have the marquee name in softball pitching for them again in Jennie Finch and she loves to interact with the fans after games, signing autographs and making little girls' hearts go pitter-patter. But the Bandits have a plethora of talented and personable players on their team, young ladies who love the game of softball but also love being a part of a community willing to embrace them.

"Our players are out there meeting the fans face to face," said head coach Mickey Dean. "They do a great job of that. Our league isn't like the NBA or MLB. We really have to work on our base and that's the Elgin area. We want our players to have a personal relationship with the community and that's difficult to do in a three-month season. But we're working on doing more things in the offseason."

Stacy May, the returning NPF Player of the Year who played her college ball at Iowa, appeals to those who recently watched the sold out Women's College World Series on TV to come and check out the Bandits.

"There is interest in the sport," May said. "More and more games are being televised. The college game is great but this is a step above college. It's great quality softball and I think we can be just as popular."

The Bandits are doing a lot in the community already, other than just playing exciting softball. Their players read to kids at Gail Borden library, they serve food through the senior services program, they pass out groceries for the Salvation Army, they work with the boys and girls clubs, they volunteer at Children's Memorial Hospital and they raise money for Bare Necessities, a children's cancer research charity.

And, on Friday, the Bandits and the Northern Illinois Lightning women's fastpitch team agreed to play a Pitch for the Cure exhibition game at Judson on Sunday, July 5 to benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

"Families are important to us and we want the Bandits to be a family organization," Sokolis said. "We want to be involved in the community as much as we can."

And for those who think "these are just girls and girls sports aren't important", I challenge you to go to a couple of Bandits games and not notice what athletically talented young ladies these are.

"I want these girls to be known as athletes," Sokolis said. "And I want the city of Elgin to be known as a city with a pro team."

The Bandits are home tonight and Sunday afternoon against the Philadelphia Force, then again starting next Wednesday with a five-games series against the USSSA Pride. Their remaining schedule can be found at chicagobandits.com.

Ticket prices range between $8 and $20 and the ambience of the Fox River, a beautiful early summer weekend, and some great women's fastpitch softball is something everyone should at least give a chance.

jradtke@dailyherald.com