Ralph Bishop League turns 60 | Select

“Hank was a committee of one,” Wakefield Legion baseball coach Paul Eaton said. “And the league was better for it. He knew what he wanted and he did things the right way. He always said, “Kids get better by training, not by riding in a vehicle.” “

The league was established for Pee-Wee (ages 8-10), Little League (11-12), Pony League (13-14) and what is now American Legion Juniors and American Legion Seniors.

At first, to be a member of the league, each city must have had a team in all five divisions. In 1969, softball was added.

The charter members were Wayne, Laurel, Wisner, Emerson, Wakefield, Pender, Winside and Bancroft.

“There were no weight rooms and no sports camps when the league was formed,” Eaton said. “Referees were often community members or volunteers. Games were played on dirt courts (usually the same place where street snow piled up in the winter) and most teams traveled by school bus.”

The buses were driven by coaches and provided by the local school district for a nominal fee, according to Eaton.

He also recalled that Wayne had his own blue and white city recreation bus that was driven to away games, pretty cool stuff in those days.

Pee-Wee, Little League and Pony League played on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, while the Legion teams played on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings.

“I remember Wayne’s Pony League players and the younger ones wearing blue jeans and white T-shirts for a uniform … well, we all did,” Eaton said. “Hank believed that uniforms were something players should look forward to wearing. They had to earn them.”

Eaton played in the league when it was organized and then began coaching the Wakefield teams in 1967.

“My wife, Janelle, and I were very good friends with Hank and his wife, Glenda,” Eaton said. “Hank was very willing to share his baseball knowledge and easy to find. Just drive up to the ballpark (now Overin Field) around noon and you could find him throwing to little kids or on the steps across the street eating lunch surrounded by kids. .

“I miss coaching against Hank and many of the former coaches in the Ralph Bishop League.”

Today, the league stretches from central to eastern Nebraska and as far north as Ponca and Hartington and as far south as Arlington and West Point.

Mainly includes Legion programs from Battle Creek, Columbus Lakeview, Pierce, Hartington, Laurel, Pender, Arlington, Ponca, Wakefield, South Sioux City, Crofton, Oakland-Craig, Tekamah-Herman, Wisner-Pilger/Dodge-Howells and Wayne .