Many a high school, college, and beyond baseball and softball field has been touched by the history of the former Neelys Bend Youth Softball League. Coordinated by Neelys Bend household names, The Menees Family, the league opened in 1983 with 70 children in their very first year. The league was in coordination with Neelys Bend Baptist who owned the land located at 417 Nawakwa Trail.
In 2021, the nearly 10 acre pasture sold for $498,000 not before hosting its largest season of softball league ever with over 400 kids playing in the league. The Menees took great pride in the fact that they never played on a Sunday and brought the community together in a special way.
In the early years, they only played on the big field near the back. As the decades went on, they added the middle field and finally the little field.
If you played in the last years of the park, here are several links to many games held in 2017.
May 3, 2017 Games
May 17, 2017 Games
May 2017 Team Photoshoots
Attribution:
Content, Photos, and Video by Brian Copeland
Further details provided by Sara Menees Miles