Just finished digging through some 18 years of scrap books and programs from the Sun City Saints. They played in Sun City from 1966 through 1984. These amazing young women were wildly popular, drawing 2000 or more fans to the professional stadium just off the corner of 111th and Grand Ave. The Del Webb Sun Cities Museum board approved holding an event to recognize and honor the role the Saints played in helping build a sense of community in Sun City. Bev Stewart (Dryer) at one point owned the team and was a manager fr0m 1966 through 1973. She said a handful of the women (prior to the pandemic) used to meet the first Friday in November. We selected that date (Friday Nov 4) to hold the gathering. Details will be worked out by the museum's event committee. I offered to help Linda Borton, museum's lone employee try and find as many of the players as humanly possible. The good news is, we have all summer to do that. The list of players compiled is 112 long and that's with missing a year. Out of those 112, 18 of them are in the Arizona Softball Hall of Fame. Amazing. Sadly, their rec0rds report three of those 18 have died but i suspect there are more we have lost than just those three. If anyone has any suggestions for chasing people down, feel free to share them. The lists go back 40 plus years and between divorces and marriages it should be quite the challenge. That said, it is exactly why this event should be so much fun. We'll see eh?
People often ask me, what happened to the Sun City Saints? It's a great question and one worthy of an explanation. We know their roots go back to the mid 1960's and once the new stadium opened for the Cactus League, their presence and future looked pretty secure. The Del Webb Development Corporation (DEVCO) was wholly invested in bringing members together and building a sense of community. It was John Meeker's mantra and he understood if Sun City was to survive after they left, they needed a solid base. The Saints were a part of the glue that held the community together. The stadium was first class and the young women playing there were world class softball players. They weren't just well known in Sun City, or just Arizona, they toured the World. Their team travels are legendary. I still marvel when i open the programs and see how far and wide they went. As impressive as all that is, back at home their fame was even more fanatical. In fact, without it, they would have been gone sooner than 1984 (their last season). That piece of property the stadium sat on was highly coveted. DEVCO left Sun City in 1978/1979 to build Sun City West. Bob Johnson and John Meeker were both gone by the end of 1981. There's no question the company was changing gears and with the high cost of interest, home sales slowed to a trickle. New leadership came in and looked at selling off assets to make the bottom line look better. For as long as the Saints played here, the Sun City Saints Boosters played an integral role in promotion. Businesses supported them as well and the team worked hard to keep it a profitable venture. When the stadium was sold, they managed to keep it open for a handful of years. The one month lease with the professional baseball team for spring training kept the lease for the Saints affordable. When that ended, so did the Saints run in Sun City. The new stadium owners told the Saints their rent was going from $1 a year to $6000. Ouch. There was no way that was going to happen and the Sun City Saints were no more. It was a crushing blow to the community. Attendance in that stadium that held 3500 was a setting of pure joy for so many years. Stories from the games; double headers that lasted 8-10 hours, kisses sold to raise money for trips and an amazing cast of characters who become legends in the world of women's fast pitch softball all are alive at the Museum. Most of them buried away. This event will allow us to unpack them and show it all to the newest Sun City residents. We think it is/will be a story that can reach well beyond just those of you living here. We will be reaching out to PBS, Arizona Highways, the Arizona Republic and a host of others. A handful of team members are already involved. That's a good thing. With 112 team members to try and find, it will be no small task. We have a major sponsor signed on to support our effort, now it's up to us to make it happen. I am excited to be a part of something that made Sun City the remarkable community is has become. Set aside, mark your calendar now, Friday November 4, 2022.
OMG! We pulled the files for the Sun City Saints from the Del Webb Sun Cities Museum yesterday, an absolute treasure trove of information. It is such a shame we can no longer post pictures on this site. We have so many great photos in our collection of those amazing young women who helped shape this community. Until yesterday, i never fully understood the role the members of the community filled in keeping the dream alive. Known as the Sun City Boosters, this group was near on fanatical to help insure the Saints played on year after year. I had no clue the cost. They got a break as the Del E Webb Development Corporation (DEVCO) leased them the use of the stadium for $1 a year. A good portion of the cost was covered by the professional teams that used it for the one month of the Cactus League, but another article i read claimed it took $40,000 a year to keep the Saints playing. I guess it shouldn't have been a surprise, but it was. The team carried a roster of players, coach and bat girls around 20. They traveled to games around the country, and that wasn't cheap. Uniforms, bats, balls and umpires all added to their costs. They also took several trips over seas. It was a constant effort to raise money. The Boosters worked the games for free, donated money and solicited advertisers for the programs. They also, initially, ran the concession stands until they were taken over by the girl scouts. After all i have read, i am absolutely certain the Sun City Saints added to the quality of life residents enjoyed. More importantly, they helped build that sense of community and sense of ownership that was so ingrained in the Sun City way of life. My best guess is, these young woman just wanted to play fast pitch softball at a very high level (which they did), they probably never fully understood how important a role they played beyond the field in the lives of so many. Kudos ladies, kudos.
