Softball hasn’t been one of the strongest sports at Panther Valley High School in recent times, but all indications are that could be changing.

After a string of difficult seasons, the Panthers made the District 11 softball playoffs this year.

Part of the reason is that a program for younger softball players has been incorporated into the Anthracite Little League. So far, the results have been nothing less than incredible.

Last year, not only did three different age groups win district championships in Little League play, one team went as far as the state playoffs.

“The success we’ve had is mind-blowing to me,” said Tom Goida, one of the Anthracite softball coaches and an officer in the Anthracite Little League.

This is the seventh season Anthracite Little League has had softball teams. Prior to this, many girls entered high school and joined the softball team without ever having played the sport.

Goida recalls how the program has grown over the years.

“The first year, the numbers were really thin. As we kept it going, it caught on. By the fourth year, we won the league (championship) with 12-year-olds. A year after that, 12-year-olds won the district Little League champion.”

Last year, the 16U team and 10U team both won district titles, while the 12U team won districts and sectionals, then traveled to Indiana, Pennsylvania for state competition.

Also, l)ast year, the Anthracite team joined with Towamensing Township for the all-star competition because of due to a lack of numbers.

This year, Anthracite plans to field its own teams. There are four softball age groups in the Anthracite Little League Softball, beginning at 8U. That team is coached by Mary Hoffman, who is experiencing her first year as head coach.

The 10U girls are coached by Riley Wehr, a Panther Valley High School graduate who played softball at PV until she graduated and last year became a volunteer coach.

Goida coaches the 12U girls. It’s his second year coaching this age group, though he has been a coach since the league started. He said his daughter, Paige, who just turned 13, played on the 10U team when she was just five years old “to help us start the program.” Goida is assisted by Paul Fretz. This is their third year coaching together.

Ashley Shirer coaches the 16U team.

Goida is an organizer for the Anthracite Softball League. He said he approached Roobhenn Smith - then president of the Anthracite League - 1 1/2 years before the softball league ultimately formed. At that time any girl wanting to play ball had to join the Anthracite Baseball Little League.

One of the girls who started as a baseball Little League player on boys’ teams was Mikayla Yuricheck, who emerged as one of the leaders on the high school softball team this year, where she was the starting catcher and leading hitter.

“My daughter didn’t want to play with the boys,” Goida said, which inspired him to work on getting organized play started for the girls.

Initially, the Anthracite teams joined the Schuylkill League. A few years ago, they became official Little League teams where they can actually advance to district, regionals and state playoffs.

There are a number of girls who played for Anthracite who are now on the high school team. He said there are also a number of eighth graders who have shown a lot of promise, and could play high school ball next year.

To complement the play, major improvements have been made to the facilities on which the girls compete. In Lansford, new backstops were put up, and there will be new dugouts added in the fall. Covering for the bench areas were lent to the softball program this year by Rick Reaman and the Kovatch Corporation. The dugouts will be built by students from the Carbon Career and Technical Institute.

In Nesquehoning, a new concession stand is being built, as well as a garage for field maintenance. “We also will re-do the fencing, and replace the roofs of the dugouts at that field,” Goida said.

Also complementing the Panther softball feeder program is the formation of a travel team - the Coaldale Tigers, who this fall will be starting their third year of existence. The Coaldale Tigers were originally started as a travel baseball team run by Tom’s brother, Tim Goida. Tom now coaches the softball players, while a younger brother, Toby Goida, currently coaches a younger Coaldale Tigers baseball team.

Although the Tigers primarily play in the fall, they have been in two tournaments already this year. The first tournament was in Woodbury, New Jersey, where they got a second-place finish. The second was in Williamsport, where they finished fourth in an eight-team event.

While the Little League season is occurring, the Tigers will be idle because Goida said he’s a strong believer in local ball.

The Little League season began in late April.

“In the short amount of time for our softball program has been operating, the amount of success we’re seeing is incredible,” Goida said.

Baseball has been a way of life for Tom and his brothers all their lives. All started playing when they were youngsters in the Lansford Little League program.

Their father, the late John “Gabby” Goida, coached in the league for years.

The Little League team that Tim played on was the league champion for four consecutive years.

“My major push in getting the program started was seeing how bad the high school softball team was,” said Goida, noting there were recent years where the team had very few wins - mostly because of the inexperience. Many of the girls never played softball until their freshman year.

“The game’s fun itself,” Tom said, “but once you see the production and results, that’s when it really gets fun.”

He said, “It doesn’t matter what sport the kid is playing, every kid should play as many sports as possible. In this small area, all the kids who are athletes should play as many sports as possible to help their school.”

His daughter, Paige, is following what her father preaches.

“Her number one sport was always volleyball, but she also likes basketball and softball,” he said. “She took some pitching lessons, and is now more successful than ever. She already has had two no-hitters.”

Goida said of his coaching and his time spent with the program, “We don’t do it for ourselves. We do it for the kids.”