Walking up to the Sundown youth softball field, Coach and community legend Ron Holson held a perplexed look on his face as he saw nearly 100 people gathered at the field. Little did he know, it was all for him.
The crowd of people included the Sundown youth softball kids and leaders, Sundown High School softball girls, City Council members, community locals and media, all there for the surprise field dedication of “Ron Holson Field.”
The field existed previously, but was in a dire need of revamping, a project which Holson decided he was going to take on. The funding for supplies and field necessities came from the Parkhill Grant from the city back in February, along with fundraising efforts by the youth.
But as far as the physical modifications and makeovers, Holson lead the charge, and while he’s too humble to admit it, he did a majority of the work and even invested his own money into the field.
“He’s really the driving force that got the city to start making improvements,” Sundown Youth Softball League Manager Chad Harrell said. “As far as cleaning everything up and the work going into it, we chose him for a simple reason. You can come out here at 7 a.m., he’s here, you can come out here at 8 p.m., he’s here, picking up trash, moving bins, doing the little things. A bunch of the stuff out here came out of his own pocket.”
Along with his work at the field, Holson teaches PE, helps out with Sundown High School and Youth softball, and is also a member of the Sundown City Council. All of which contributed to the field being named “Ron Holson Field” in his honor.
The field received the name after being unanimously passed during a vote at a Sundown City Council meeting, which was strategically held when Holson was away coaching a Roughettes varsity softball game, so he could be surprised with the field’s naming. The meeting also ended up being the highest attended in City Council history.
Holson heard about the high attendance of the meeting but thought it was due to complaints about a city light that had recently been removed, which the community knowingly played along with, avoiding any suspicion.
Following the approval, the surprise dedication was setup during a Roughettes varsity practice. When Holson arrived to the missing athletes, he questioned Sundown Head Softball Coach Meagan Gonzales, who in response told him they were helping the youth at their field and to go get them.
Holson arrived to a field full of people and Chad Harrell asked him to assist in unrolling a banner, which Holson soon realized had his name on it.
Holson’s soft smile expressed his deep appreciation, and he quickly ensured the crowd how much the gesture meant to him.
He would defer the credit of the work to the greater group, but his impact was undeniable, and when humbly reflected upon his efforts, he went into his “why” on the project.
“It all begins and ends with the kids. If you can invest in kids, your future is going to be bright,” Holson said. “If you can give them something to be happy about, to be proud of, they will pay it forward in the future.”
His efforts have already shown their fruits, and they will continue to as Sundown Youth softball involvement and interest is at an all-time high, heavily in part to him.
The youth program plans to continue to build upon the great foundation provided with stadium lights, bleachers and a press box, but they are just happy to have such a great ballpark now.
“It means everything to these little girls to be able to come out to a place that they can call their own,” Harrell said. “And it’s great that it’s named after a guy that they all love and respect.”