Athletic Park. Image courtesy: Wausau Woodchucks
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Wausau’s Parks and Rec committee voted 4-1 to send a lease agreement between the city and the Wausau Woodchucks for a summer collegiate softball team to the full council later this month.
Woodchucks owner Mark MacDonald says the agreement puts Wausau on track to become a destination for some of the best college athletes each summer for both men and women. “You would highlight [female] athletes at a very high level. These women are practically professionals, like a lot of Division I athletes they are getting paid to play college sports. I think it will be good for the young ladies around town who play softball and are passionate about the sport- to be around these women who are already playing at a high level and can serve as role models.”
Monday’s meeting saw some Alders dredge up discussion regarding PFAS in the AstroTruf, which also occurred when the turf project was first proposed in 2022. Alder Carol Lukens said her questions came from wanting to understand all the options available to make Athletic Park playable for both sports. She added she wasn’t opposed to the idea of having a summer collegiate softball club in Wausau, but she also didn’t want to minimize the health risks of PFAS.
MacDonald noted that there is no full guarantee that anything can be completely PFAS-free, but so far he hasn’t seen any reason to worry about the AstroTurf products they’re considering. “All of our research on artificial turf shows there are very, very minute particles of PFAS in it. As I said during the meeting you can find more PFAS in a bag of microwave popcorn than you can in artificial turf. There are PFAS in every product out there right now.
“The actual analysis of the product we intend to put in shows no PFAS at all. Now, will they go out there after it has been installed and find PFAS because it’s come down through rainwater? Maybe, we’re not sure. But we don’t think it has any environmental impact,” added MacDonald.
At one point Alder Lou Larson called the question, saying the group wasn’t agendized to discuss the installation of turf- only the lease agreement itself. However, Alder Tom Kilian, who provided the lone no vote on the measure, noted that section seven of the lease agreement notes that the city and the club shall install turf at Athletic Park. That allowed the discussion to continue.
The City Council has already approved the turf installation plan. Macdonald notes that the turf option is best for both sports- allowing softball to be played at the pace the game requires while providing a consistent surface for baseball infielders. It will also allow more games on the field every summer with less maintenance.
MacDonald says the timeline for the installation hasn’t changed. They’ll rip up the infield at the end of August and install the turf this fall. That puts all the park’s users on track to play the 2025 season on the new surface including local high school and Legion Baseball programs.
The Northwoods League Softball circuit begins this summer with teams in Madison, La Crosse, Mankato, MN, and Minot, ND. Teams are currently scheduled to play 40 games, though MacDonald said it’s hard to tell how quickly the league will grow. “[The Woodchucks] are a summer collegiate league run like a minor league team with ticket sales and goofy stuff going on between innings, even fireworks and bobbleheads- all that stuff. This will be the first time that is applied to a softball team.
“Like the Woodchucks back in 1994 it may not be as clean as [you would expect] when you first start, but I think we’ll get there,” added MacDonald.
MacDonald also notes that the Northwoods League is the only summer collegiate softball league in America, unlike baseball which has dozens of offerings from Alaska to Cape Cod, MA, and everywhere in between. Therefore he expects many of their players will be from the Division I ranks, especially power conferences like the SEC and Big 12. Some Division II or small-school players could be brought in to fill the roster early on during the NCAA tournament and Women’s College World Series.
It’s unclear if any other Northwoods League markets will join Wausau for the second softball season in 2025.
Comments