Independent Softball Association

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One of the 4 Major governing bodies of softball in North America, the Independent Softball Association was founded by a man named Larry Nash in 1984 in Shelbyville, TN. First introduced to the sport of softball in 1967, Nash was hooked from his first game. “I played from early March until late October each year, averaging over two-hundred games a year, I loved it!” said Nash. After years of playing, Nash decided that although he may have lost a step or two in the game, he still had much to offer the game of softball in the form of coaching and organizing teams. He managed a local team for a while and also became a director for one of Tennessee’s existing softball organizations. Then after many years of enjoying the sport, Nash decided he had ideas to help make softball even more fun and enjoyable.

So as the saying goes, “if you want it done right, do it yourself” in 1984, Nash and a few softball buddies with a handful of loyal teams jumped headfirst in to the association business.

“I got involved in a local tournament that the Shelbyville Jaycees hosted along with the local community. The tournament grew to be one of the biggest in the south and was known as the Southeast Regional Spring Shootout. We had teams from twenty-four different states attending and the whole community would get involved. The teams really looked forward to coming every year. So, in 1984 the ISA held their very first tournament the “ISA Southeast Regional Spring Shootout” which hosted sixty-four teams. “We had some frustrated teams and coaches when they showed up to find out we were playing the new ISA rules. But after they played the game and they experienced how much fun it was, they were all asking ‘how can I take this game to where I am from?’ “I have always said the game sells itself, once a team plays it they are hooked,” stated Nash.

From the first tournament with sixty-four teams and the associations first National in Conyers, GA that saw sixteen teams, the growth began to explode.

Nash worked around the clock balancing an insurance agency, a life, a home and a growing softball association for ten years until 1994 when Nash’s health came into play.

“It was hard I was running the insurance agency, working my farm and traveling around the country growing ISA softball. It was very exciting, but I knew that my dream had out-grown me and it needed full time attention,” said Nash.

That’s when long time softball player, enthusiasts, sponsor and businessman Bill Ruth of Washington State stepped in. Ruth had come across the possible sale of the ISA and figured with his love of the sport and his knowledge of business, this could work and actually acquired the association amidst some other business dealings.

“ISA turned out to be the best park of the deal,” laughed Ruth. “I have to say that as the owner of the association, the two men who were instrumental in starting the wheels that it runs on today are Chet Tyl and Roger Gookstetter. They were the original troopers in the office in Conyers, Georgia, unraveling records and such when we first took over. Then, Chet took some trips around the South looking for a place to move the National Office to. Polk County was very eager to get us in Winter Haven and helped out tremendously. It has turned out to be a partnership that has been mutually successful and I am very happy with it.”

Ruth says that with Chet Tyl at the helm of ISA, the softball business looks more and more lucrative everyday. “Where we are going with softball is big,” says Ruth. “I am thankful to Larry Nash for getting ISA rolling. It’s funny because during the National meeting over the past several years, I have met some of the very first umpires and other people that were around during the beginning of ISA. It’s thrilling to think of how any business begins, you know, minimal cash, a few guys with some dedication, and many, many hours of unpaid work. I have to stand in awe of them.”

In February of 1997 the ISA moved to Winter Haven and a period of unprecedented growth began.

Tyl, who joined the association in 1995 as Northern Region Vice-President and was promoted to the position of Executive Director in December 1996, began by establishing the first ISA Executive Board. Consisting of Gookstetter as Western Region VP, Mike Dembicki of Michigan as Northern Region VP, Hank Heffner of Georgia as Southern Region VP, and Don Stratton of Florida as National Recording Secretary, the group committed the association to operation on a sound financial plan with national expansion a top priority.

The association surged forward and today continues to grow as the association “where the teams come first.”

“I have been involved with slow pitch softball since my youth on the playgrounds of Detroit. It is a sport that is in my blood and one that I love. Moving to ISA was one of the best things that have happened to me,” said Tyl, “to able the shepherd of Nash’s dream and work with all of the wonderful people in ISA is a great experience.”

Late in the 1990's the association expanded into Youth Fast Pitch and followed that expansion with the addition of Modified Pitch. In 2007 the association began it's new Baseball program.

Looking back the association that began in Shelbyville, TN with one tournament now operates in thirty eight states and Canada and is growing daily. Tyl says “I firmly believe our best days lie ahead and look forward to working to making ISA not the largest softball association in America, but the best.”