Hugh Cantrell is the Founder, CEO and President of the NSA. It all started, “in 1982 around his kitchen table in Lexington, Kentucky, he announced his plans for The National Softball Association to his son Eddie Ray, Don Moore, Ernie Browning, eventual board members Jim Miles and Bernie Livers”.[1] Cantrell was a former player, coach, sponsor and tournament organizer for over 25 years. He stated that he saw that there was a need for an organization where it would put the teams and players first and do it better than the rest.
In the autumn of 1982, the plans were set in motion for Hugh and his fledgling National Softball Association to get off the ground as incorporation papers were filed in Lexington”.[1] The official conference took place in November of the same year and it discussed the framework and groundwork for the construction in the spring of 1983.
In January 1983, Hugh appointed the first six Board of Directors that would serve as the decision-making body of the NSA”.[1] Hugh was the seventh board member and he handled the everyday business and his six board members acted as the Rules Committee. “Six original board members are still with the NSA in some capacity as of November 2002”.[1] This means a lot about what kind of people that Hugh selected.
In 1983, the NSA sanctioned 638 teams in three states. In 2002, the NSA does or has done business in all 50 states, Canada, Guam, Puerto Rico, Mexico, The Bahamas, Russia and Holland”.[1]
In 1985, The Presidential Award of Excellence was awarded to Hugh Cantrell, which is the NSA's highest honor”.[1] In 1992, Hugh Cantrell, “fittingly became the first person inducted into the NSA Hall of Fame”.[1]
In its most recent activity in the “Chattanooga Times Free Press[2]”, its states that the National Softball Association is bringing its girl's fast-pitch Class B World Series for the Eastern half of North America to Chattanooga next summer. It also states that this event will not only feature many attendees, but their average stay is five nights, and with girls’ events there are often parents, siblings and grandparents attending.
