There’s nothing soft about these Solivita® guys and gals
September 16, 2009
POINCIANA, FL --- When Long Island native Bob Gaudioso and his wife Rosemarie first visited Solivita® in 2001, they turned to drive into the active adult community’s Village Center and one of the first things they saw was the championship caliber softball diamond in Freedom Park.“As soon as she saw the softball diamond she said, ‘Oh, oh, we’re going to be buying here, aren’t we?’,” Guadioso recalled with a smile. Rosemarie was right.
Today Bob, an eight year resident in the award-winning active adult community by Avatar® Properties Inc. and past commissioner of the Solivita® Softball Club, is among more than 70 men who participate on four teams four days a week year-round in league and tournament play.That wasn’t the case when the Club was formed in Solivita’s® infancy back in 2001. “In those days if we got 10 or 12 guys to play that was a lot,” recalls Al Quattrochi, the league’s first commissioner and a Chicago native who gets around the community in his Chicago Cubs-themed golf cart. “Now, during the slower summer months, we’ll get as many as three dozen guys showing up on a given day.”
To maintain parity, teams are selected by talent, and “believe me there’s plenty of it,” said Guadioso, a former shortstop who now plays second base. “In fact, one of our best pitchers is 75 years old and was a tournament MVP (Most Valuable Player).”
While the league “keeps getting better every year,” Guadioso emphasized it’s not without a lot of laughter and the ability to poke fun at each other. “We have an incredible amount of good-natured fun with each other. The only thing we take seriously is our personal performance.”
So do the players of the Diamond Women’s Softball Club, which earned a gold medal while participating in their very first Polk Senior Games earlier this year by knocking off the Tampa Sun City Vintage Babes and the Villages’ Diamond Girls.
With a roster of some 35 women, the Diamond Women’s Softball Club currently participates at Freedom Park on Tuesday and Friday mornings.
“We don’t play baby softball. The action is hot and heavy,” said Naomi Willey, former president of the Diamonds, one of 144 resident run clubs and organizations in the community which has four times been named one of America’s 100 Best Master-Planned Communities for active adults by Where to Retire magazine.
And playing softball is a great way to stay in shape, the gals claim. After 20 minutes of pre-game calisthenics and an hour and half game, the gals say you can often burn off more calories than participating in a fitness class at Solivita’s® two award-winning lifestyle centers.The 4,300-acre community, located just 21 miles from Walt Disney World® in Orlando, includes 12 neighborhoods with detached and attached single-family homes, two 18-hole championship golf courses at the Stonegate Golf Club, the 32,000 sq. ft. Riviera Spa & Fitness Center, The Palms with its 20,000 sq. ft. lifestyle center, the 17,000 sq. ft. Starlite Ballroom, a total of 18 lighted tennis and pickleball courts, two restaurants, and the Waterfront Galleries with a computer lab, billiards parlor, library, financial gallery, and studios for a variety of arts and crafts.
For more information about the Solivita® Softball Club, contact club president Karl Lengle at (863) 427-6975. To learn more about the Diamond Women’s Softball Club, contact president Ingrid Bornstein at (863) 439-8430. For more information on Solivita®, contact the welcome center at (800) 592-6099, or go to the community’s Web site at http://www.solivita.com.
