Local Player To Be Inducted Into Manitoba Softball Hall Of Fame

A Portage la Prairie softball player will get his call into the Manitoba Softball Hall of Fame at the 2017 induction ceremony next weekend.

Ferdi Nelissen, known mostly now for his work as a coach with the Central Plains Capitals Female Hockey midget program, played fastpitch as a teenager from 1975-79 with Albion Hotel Canadians of Portage la Prairie and went on to build a lengthy resume in the sport. He will be inducted into the Manitoba Softball Hall May 6.

Nelissen has a long resume in fastpitch. The Canadians won three League Championships and he was selected All-Star at both shortstop and centerfield. This was the beginning of an excellence that won him 24 team championships during his 26 years as an elite fastball player, and 18 selections to All-Star teams in prestigious fastball leagues including the Central Manitoba Fastball League, the Winnipeg Fastball League, the Hanover-Tache Fastball League and northern USA leagues. He's also played in such prestigious tournaments as the Westerns, Canadian Nationals, the International Softball Congress (ISC).

"I feel very humbled and very honoured to be going in," says Nelissen. "I think it's a testament that four Diamonds (players), guys that played on our team, and the entire 86' team is going in. I played at 14 Nationals, 14 Worlds, and a lot of these guys getting inducted this year were all on the National program."

Nelissen says it wasn't easy starting off as a 15-year-old in a men's league.

"The first year we were together we didn't win, we were a young team. We had some good leadership, but our leadership wasn't much older than 21 or 22. We were by far the youngest team in the league and within a year or two we were dominating it. We had all the speed, the youth, the talent. It was a good league back then just in Portage. There was an eight-team Senior Men's League, that's how popular fastpitch was. It was a tough league and we had one year where we went undefeated."

In 1982 Nelissen went to his first Nationals with the Portage Dodgers. They had a winning record and made the playoff round, but were eliminated in the first round.

"In 83' I left Portage and went to the Internationals that played out of the Western League. Larry Dewis was supposed to come but didn't, Brian Pallister went because some things fell apart here in Portage. We then went to our second nationals and we finished top four in the country. The only teams that beat us that year were the two teams in the final, so that's how good we were."

"When I started in the late 70's I had a great group of guys that mentored me and led me to play the game the right way, hard but with class," admits Nelissen. "Then when I got into the 80's we started the Dodgers, and you surround yourself with good people and players to go to Worlds and Canadians. Then in the 90's the Diamonds and other programs started to fall apart, Fargo and other teams in the states wanted me to come and play. They treat you like gold down there, and the talent really is the best of the best. In 92' when we played at the highest level with the Diamonds we went to Salt Lake City in a 48 team World Tournament and we're a local team, 90 per cent local, and we finished top 10 in the world. I'd really like to see that team get inducted as well."

The ISC was looking for some fresh blood in the 90's so Nelissen stepped up and took on a role with the organization.

"They were talking to me and in 93 the guys from Minot actually threw my name out to the ISC. I was thinking about joining and my wife said I always say the problem with any sport is the people don't give back, and they're laying an opportunity for you to give back right here, so I joined as a commissioner. One of the first things I did was ensure we were getting the best balls, we had a run where we were getting just terrible balls, and the fans don't want to see ball collapse and die out in the air. I stood up and made sure they knew it took a lot away from the game and I was immediately selected to help find a new ball."

Nelissen says he also got to do the colour commentary on a game for ESPN in 2004. The Induction ceremony is Saturday, May 6 at the Canad Inns in Portage la Prairie. Read about the 86' Diamonds in a previous article.