If you want to meet a coach who is excited about a sport, look no farther than Anoka-Ramsey Community College’s new athletic director and women’s softball coach, David Alto, who is up to bat with the college’s new women’s fastpitch softball team which began practice this fall for the spring season.

“It has been a goal for several years to bring sports to the Cambridge Campus,” says the new Athletic Director and softball coach, David Alto. “And Women’s fastpitch softball was a logical choice. We need to ensure we meet our NJCAA requirement for gender equity in sports, and softball is a very popular sport in the Cambridge/Isanti area.”

Pitchers and catchers start practice on Jan. 19 and the full squad starts on Feb. 16. Alto plans to keep 20 active players on the team. If more women are interested in playing, he will hold try-outs Feb. 16.

Games begin Friday, March 5 in Rochester.  March games are held inside, and games move outside in April. Weather permitting, the team is scheduled for 40 games throughout the first season.

The team is part of the Minnesota College Athletic Conference (MCAC), which has two divisions, one northern and one southern. The Anoka-Ramsey team will play in the Southern Division with six other schools for a total of seven teams in the division. Anoka-Ramsey will play each of the other schools in its division twice, once home and once away. All conference games are doubleheaders.

Home games for the Anoka-Ramsey team will be held at the new community fields in Cambridge, located east of town, past the fairgrounds. Next year, the team will practice and play home games at the new field currently being planned and constructed at the Cambridge Campus.

“This is a first year program,” says Alto. “We are very excited about being the first sport to be played out of the Cambridge Campus. The team will play hard, be fundamentally sound and will represent Anoka-Ramsey Community College with pride.”

Dean of Student Life at Anoka-Ramsey, Cindy Nutter notes, “We hope to expand sports at the Cambridge Campus as funding permits."

For more information about Anoka-Ramsey Community College women’s softball program or other athletics, click here or call 763-433-1360.