The Paso Robles Adult Softball Organization or, P.A.S.O., was formed in 2010 by a small group of softball players including George Freitas, Tim O' Meara, and Richard Zamora. Our primary concern was the cost the city of Paso Robles was proposing to charge each team for a season of play. The fees had already escalated to more than $700 per team and were going to be increased to $1,241 per team in 2010. In addition, the city was planning on increasing our league fees incrementally each year to cover the expense of supervision, scheduling, maintenance, umpires, scorekeepers and equipment.
P.A.S.O.'s board of directors worked with the city of Paso Robles and proposed taking over the softball league. Thankfully, the city agreed and allowed us to take over those duties from the city. The first thing that we did was lower the league fees for our players to play softball in Paso Robles. We also proposed hiring two employees, an Umpire In Chief & a Softball Coordinator to oversee field preparation, maintenance, scorekeepers, umpires, equipment purchasing and the running the day-to-day operation of the softball league.
Since we took over, P.A.S.O. has reduced the fees charged to teams each year, worked with the City’s Community and Recreation Services departments to improve the softball fields at Barney Schwartz Park, managed the scheduling of games, hired and trained umpires and scorekeepers, developed fair but competitive divisions and increased the numbers of teams participating.
We also coordinate a number of tournaments throughout the year. Although limited by the number of open dates available, our tournament participation has seen steady growth, due in large part to the hiring of a Tournament Director who is responsible for promoting tournaments. Our softball tournaments benefit our Paso Robles community. Since 2014, we have donated over 6,000 non-perishable food items and 4,000 toys to our local community.
The P.A.S.O. model has garnered interest from other cities’ recreation programs interested in developing, improving and keeping their adult softball league alive. P.A.S.O.’s ability to make necessary changes quickly, manage costs, keep quality officials and solicit input from players has helped make our organization's softball program the most efficient and successful on the Central Coast.
To date, P.A.S.O. has nine board members, all active players and managers, who meet on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at Centennial Park. Our goal is to provide a fun, safe, competitive & family-friendly environment for anyone who wants to play slow-pitch softball in Paso Robles.