Thanks, Commish

He took a fledgling senior softball league and turned it into a beloved league with three divisions and 16 teams. Teammates and opponents alike were moved to tears Tuesday, March 14, when they took to the microphone to honor Bill Shurina’s 18 years as the Marco Senior Softball league's architect.

A group of 15 players, all vying for positions on the league’s board of directors, spoke to a gathering of up to 200 players. Many of them were on the verge of tears as they spoke of Shurina.

“Here’s a man who has put 18 years of blood, sweat, and tears into this league,” said Tom Polston, who was later elected to the board. "Nobody could imagine how good this league would become without him. Every person past, present, and future who plays in this league thanks you, Bill.”

Shurina is known throughout the league for being a person who avoids the limelight.

"Bill, this is for you,” Polston told the audience while handing Shurina a package. "It’s quite thick. There are a lot of gift cards in there from everybody. I’ve worked with Bill for the past two years, and I see how hard this is. He’s done this for 18 years. He doesn’t want any recognition. I knew he’d probably be mad at us for doing this today.”

"For 18 years Bill had this vision of what he saw as Marco Island Senior Softball,” said Bill Thompson, a longtime league member and leader. “For that reason we’re going to present him with this plaque that will be permanently displayed here. We’re going to have a plaque in honor of Bill."

Thompson then read the words on the plaque. “Bill Shurina, the Commish, served 2006 to 2023, the architect of Marco Senior Softball.” The crowd rang out with applause and shouts of thank you.

“Bill was so adamant - it impressed me a lot,” Thompson said. "He said, ‘This league is about Marco Island senior softball. It’s not Naples senior softball, it’s not Southwest Florida softball. It’s Marco Island softball.’

"Bill and I actually worked together at Johnson and Johnson, although we didn’t know it at the time. At those kinds of companies you learn a lot about branding. Bill actually used the term branding in the league. What a brand means is it’s bigger than what you’re doing. This is bigger than softball, it about socialization, fraternity, camaraderie, sportsmanship, and self-development. If you come out here any day you’ll see guys out here hitting balls off a tee, trying to improve, trying to stay in shape."

Gary Grefer quoted Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw while honoring Shurina.

"As George Bernard Shaw said ‘we don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing,’” Grefer said. “I think that’s why we’re all here.”

“I want to offer my personal thanks to Bill Shurina,” John Toti said. "I know it’s been said, but I don’t think it can be said enough. I really appreciate all you do for us. It’s amazing when you think about how this whole organization has grown, but at the same time has gotten better. That’s really hard to do. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you’ve done, Bill. Thank you very much.”

“Bill, you’re the reason why 200 people here are enjoying their retirement, “said colleague Randy Wesolowski. “We’re doing what we love to do. We have a great thing going here.

"Bill took this league from a small league of six teams, about 70 people, to 16 teams and over 200 people,” said Wesolowski. “We all share one field, which presents its challenges, but we’re able to work it out scheduling-wise. We’re able to make sure everybody gets in a fair number of games every year. Not only do we play January through March, but the people who live here year-round have pick-up games - they can play every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday."

Shurina predictably deflected the praise that was heaped upon him.

"It was very nice,” Shurina said of being honored, "but not necessary. This is a softball family. Whether you’re on the board or you’re not on the board, everybody is there to help out. The league will carry on with me or without me, so it doesn’t really matter at this time.”

But Shurina enjoyed sharing some of the many memories he has from his years as commissioner.

"When I was thinking about not running again,” Shurina said, "I thought back to all the people that served with me on the board over the years. I can’t possibly remember them all. I remember my first year was a very unique board. It was the first time I ever went to a board meeting where there was fisticuffs. We have come a long way as a league over the years. A large part of that is attributable to spouses and the support they have given the players here.”

Shurina’s wife, Barbara, was honored with a large bouquet of flowers and a spa day at the JW Marriott.

Shurina recalls the early days of the league. Spouses were nowhere to be seen.

"It’s really changed from when I first started playing,” Shurina said. "Maybe you’d call it a beer league. With a bunch of guys with no spousal interaction whatsoever. Now you come out here any day and you’ll have 100 to 200 people at every game. All the spouses go out with the ballplayers after the game to eat and have a good time. It’s really transitioned over the years. We had flip cards in the back for keeping score and what inning we were in. Once we built a booth the whole league changed. There were a lot of people who were very instrumental in that. There were a lot of people who worked very hard over the years. One of them, I call him a brother, we fight like heck, is Billy Moors. We don’t always agree, but somehow, we work it out.”

Shurina looks back on the COVID years as the toughest ones for the league.

"I think the toughest thing I went through was when we had the Covid,” Shurina said. "It really tore this league apart. Should we play, shouldn’t we play? Should we have masks? Should we be in the dugout? I know the board really struggled with that. I know I was very frustrated during that time. But it all worked out. I want to thank everybody that went through that time with us. Hopefully, this league will go on without the Bill Shurinas, the Tom Polstons, the Billy Moors, Bill Thompsons, Eddie Casters. The one guy who is relatively new to the board, he took over a lot of my responsibilities at the time, because I had had it, and that’s Randy Wesolowski. Writing those newspaper articles every week is a real challenge, with press deadlines."

Wesolowski said the draft that was instituted during Shurina’s tenure as commissioner is one reason for the league’s success.

"The fact that they have a draft every year,” Wesolowski said, "that means you’re going to be on a different team, potentially, every year. You get to meet new people. It keeps it competitive. You don’t have one team that’s always on top. And all of the spouses come to the games. You come to the games and you’ll see the stands loaded with the spouses and family members. They get to make new friendships as well. You may be with a new team every year, but the friendships are still there from the previous years.”

Shurina agrees.

"All registered players go into the draft,” Shurina said. "The board selects the managers for the top division. They then select a number, one through six, to determine what number they’ll pick in the draft. The first 78 people that are drafted are the Island Division players. Then we go through the same process for the Marco Division. Then the balance go into the Gulf Coast Division, which has four teams right now.”

Shurina said the younger players tend to make up the Island Division.

"The average age for the Island Division is 66 years old,” Shurina said. "The Marco Division is 70, and the Gulf Coast Division is 76.”

The senior member of the league is in his 90s.

"John Ranieri is 92 years old,” Shurina said. “He’ll be 93 in April. He’s in the Gulf Coast Division. We’ve got a number of people in their high 80s. The overall league average is around 72.”

Dan Marinelli did a good job of putting the league in perspective.

“This is a great organization,” Marinelli said. "It’s become a family, especially for me and most of the guys I know. This is where you spend three months of the year playing and prepare nine months for the next year. All of us are in the same boat, we’re trying to be the best player we can be. We’re just great friends. I can’t think of one guy here who I wouldn’t want to have a beer with or dinner with or invite to my house. They’re all good people. It’s a lot of fun."