A few minutes after filling out my Stern College admission forms on April 30th, 2008, I emailed Murray Sragow, associate director of undergraduate admissions. Mr. Sragow, my Stern College interviewer and an advocate of forming a softball team at Stern had convinced me to come to Stern partially because of the ability to play sports without affecting my Sabbath observance. Responding to my email on May 6th, Mr. Sragow suggested that I email Joe Bednarsh, the athletic director, about my goal to found a varsity softball team.
After spending two days working up the courage to email the athletic director personally, I finally contacted Joe Bednarsh. Just eight days after my decision to attend Stern College, I was determined to found a women’s softball team at Yeshiva University.
Despite sending that email more than a year before actually attending Stern, Joe – to his credit – took my email seriously. Joe responded optimistically about setting aside money for the team and scheduling a meeting for when I would actually arrive at Stern College.
Joining the women’s soccer team my first semester on campus provided me with the opportunity to personally meet Joe and to demonstrate that I was determined and committed to starting a softball team. I met with Joe and Esther Goldfeder, our assistant athletic director at the time, and hung flyers around the school. We knew pulling together a team that year would be highly unlikely, but we decided to test student interest.
We had about forty students sign up for that original team. Many were scared away after learning of the necessary time commitment, but a sufficient number remained for a team. One of those committed students was none other than half of our campus couple, Esty Rollhaus. (In fact, some of you may not know this, but Esty still keeps a glove in her midtown apartment!)
Ecstatic with the level of student interest, we decided to go through with the team for spring 2010. Despite student interest, however, we were unable to overcome an obstacle: renting a field. In New York City, finding athletic space for a collegiate team can be very difficult, as well as financially taxing. Without a field, the team was a no-go.
Fast forward to fall 2010. We again tried to pull together a group of women to field a team. Right before finalizing the team, however, Yeshiva University announced a large Athletics Department budget cut. Not only could softball no longer become a reality, but men’s golf had to be disbanded to sustain the department following the cuts.
Thoroughly disappointed and discouraged, I am embarrassed to say that I gave up on softball and decided to focus on my experience as a soccer player, despite the fact that softball had always been my primary sport. Nevertheless, there were a few students who refused to give up on the game and scheduled weekly Friday softball practices in Central Park. Notable among them are current softball player, Tikki Yudin, and alumnae Becky Weiss, Ruthie Zisblatt, and Orli Haken.
Organized by Weiss, groups of students would walk to Central Park on Fridays to play catch and hit around a ball. While these alumnae were not able to experience the team coming to fruition this year, the team would not have happened without their determination to keep softball interest alive among students and administration alike; we owe Weiss, Yudin, Zisblatt, Haken, and the other students who attended these Friday practices for our successful team this year.
With the new budget cuts during my third year, pushing for the team was not plausible. Yet, hope came at the very end of the year. At last year’s Athletics Banquet, Joe and Esther commented on the foundation of a softball team – not being a choice, but a necessity – due to Title IX, a federal law enacted forty years ago that effectively creates equality in men’s and women’s athletics.
When Christine Serdjenian took over as assistant athletic director this past fall, as Joe put it, founding a softball team was at the top of her list of responsibilities. Although she unexpectedly became the head women’s soccer coach and spent about twenty-five hours on the soccer pitch with the team, Christine was determined to found a softball team, even having nightmares that the team did not work out. Through hard work and perseverance, Christine managed to pull together an incredible and highly qualified coaching staff and schedule practice on a softball field at nearby Fordham University.
Well, there is now a team – a successful one at that. In fact, the softball team is the first team in Yeshiva University history to win its first collegiate game, even as a “Club” level team against Sarah Lawrence’s “Varsity” level team. The Yeshiva University softball team, and its success, is a testament to the determination of the Athletic Administration, alumnae, and current student-athletes.
The softball team will always be a reminder never to give up hope; despite numerous unsuccessful attempts, with vision and fortitude, dreams can be reached.