For over five decades, the Broken Arrow Girls Softball organization has encouraged sportsmanship, fair play, teamwork, and lifelong friendships through both competitive and recreational softball.
Recreational league girls' softball is offered from Monday to Thursday at Arrowhead Park, 300 E. Washington St., where girls have been playing ball since 1995.
“They come out and that’s where they start, anywhere from T-Ball on up to ages 14 and under,” said Broken Arrow Girls Softball Chairwoman Tammy Seale. “They just get to come out and play and compete against each other.”
On the weekends, girls of all ages come to Arrowhead Park to play competitive tournaments.
However, Seale says Arrowhead Park's 12 softball fields, which still have dirt infields and grass outfields, need to be updated. From the 2018 General Obligation Bond, a new umpire’s room, a restroom and concession building, a concrete breezeway with a picnic area, and new sidewalks were constructed. The organization is hopeful that the city can continue to make improvements to Arrowhead Park with the 2026 General Obligation Bond.
“The challenges we have are with the Oklahoma weather, and we can’t change that,” Seale said. “But we want to turf the infields so that once it rains, we can, shortly thereafter, get back out there and play.”
While the grass outfields for each of the fields are to remain, a drainage system is needed to facilitate water run off following the rain.
In spring 2025, two-thirds of the organization’s games were canceled due to rain.
Additionally, Seale says, due to the lack of turf and the likelihood of rainouts, especially in the spring and fall, there has been a significant decline in the number of teams coming into the city for tournament play.
“Turf is really important because there are a lot of teams in the area that do not want to come and play tournaments and spend all the money to be here and sit in hotels because of the rain,” Seale said. “So that’s one of the challenges, as well as a lack of lighting. The lighting is very outdated and needs to be updated for safety.”
Seale has been involved with the organization for 20 years, first as a parent and now as a grandparent.
“I have three granddaughters now that have started; they are ages five, four, and three," she said. "Hopefully they'll fall in love with the sport as much as their moms did, and I did, and they'll continue to want to play as well.”
By volunteering, Seale is giving back to her community, and she enjoys seeing the sport’s positive impact on young players, as it gives them confidence and helps them continue to grow.
“It helps us build leaders in the community, and you know what we’re doing is, we’re trying to help them become better adults too,” Seale said.
With Olympic Softball coming to Oklahoma in 2028, Seale sees an opportunity to work with the city to promote the sport.
When asked about the importance of residents becoming engaged with their city by voting for quality-of-life improvements, Seale said that every vote matters and that Broken Arrow is a caring community.
"We want to make sure that we’re putting our money, our funds, where it needs to go to continue to grow our community, but we also want to be good stewards of our money as well.”
For more information about leagues, tournaments, and USA Softball, go to BrokenArrowGirlsSoftball.squarespace.com.
