Joan Hoffman, softball league founder
by DAVID F. SHERMAN Managing Editor

Hoffman

Joan Hoffman, first president of the Amherst Girls Softball League, died Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007.

Mrs. Hoffman, 74, was a retired employee of both The Amherst Bee and the Amherst Engineering Department.

While the town had a girls softball league in the '70s, it was for older players. Little league for boys began much earlier, in 1954.

One day in 1973, Mrs. Hoffman was approached by the daughter of one of her friends. In a 2000 interview, she recalled the girl's simple request.

"Mrs. Hoffman, could you start a baseball league for little girls? I'm sick of watching my brother play," said Stephanie Dryden, then 7-years-old.

Mrs. Hoffman's late husband, Don, was equipment manager for the Joe McCarthy Little League and had access to some worn bases. The girls were granted permission to use the fields behind the Academy Street School, although there were no diamonds there at the time.

She said a handful of politicians, including Hal Collier and the late Jack Sharpe, contributed a total of $200 for balls and caps.

When the first registration day for the new league was held, 66 girls showed up in the first 15 minutes and the surprised Mrs. Hoffman had to recruit more coaches. The enrollment grew to 100 the next year and 320 the year after that.

"I did it strictly for the kids, not my own satisfaction," she said. "It did my heart good because their enthusiasm was unreal."

Today, the Amherst Girls Softball League has more than 600 players in its house league, plus the Thunder division and the more competitive Lightning travel league with a dozen teams.

The tournaments it sponsors are known across the United States and Canada.

Mrs. Hoffman, best known around Williamsville as "Joanie," worked for four years in the production department of The Amherst Bee. She retired from the Engineering Department in 1999 after more than 20 years of service.

She is survived by two sons, Donald and David; a daughter, Louise; her stepmother, Sally DiPota; four grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

A Mass of Christian burial was celebrated on Monday, Nov. 12 at Christ the King Church. Arrangements were made by the Dietrich Funeral Home.