OTL Looks to Cross the Line, Go National

Many people think of over-the-line as an out-of-control beach spectacle in mid-July, in which obscene names of teams and skimpy swimsuits are the attraction. The sidelight has been the game, which seemingly has consisted of overweight pseudo-athletes playing a simplified version of softball and home run derby.

Dale Olson, Keith Mullin, DeRon Simon and Jordan Kitaen, who have been playing the sport for at least 10 years and have the bent fingers to show for it, know all about the public perceptions of OTL. But they see it in a different light.

They still see it as a great spectator sport--bikinis included--but the four also envision OTL with in-shape, talented athletes competing for prize money, with television beaming the action around the country.

Sound like a fantasy? It’s becoming reality. The Pro Beach Softball Assn. will present the Coors Light Over-The-Line Pro Series this weekend at Fiesta Island, the first stop of three planned for a pro circuit this year.

Next year, Olson, Mullin, Simon and Kitaen are planning a seven- to eight-month season with possible stops in Cleveland, Padre Island, Tex., Florida, Mexico, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Los Angeles.

Will it fly?

Simon, PBSA’s secretary and the editor of OTL Magazine, said you need to look no further than Fresno to find the answer.

“There were 20,000 people in Fresno watching a two-man volleyball tournament last week,” Simon said. “We think eventually we can do something similar.”

But it was the magazine, in its second year, and the Old Mission Bay Athletic Club’s July event that gave the group the impetus to start a pro tour. The magazine’s circulation has grown steadily and, according to Simon, is now at 12,000. OMBAC’s tournament now attracts more than 1,000 teams a year.

Olson, president of the PBSA, said his sport might need more converts if it is to succeed nationally.

“We think there’s a lot more softball players across the country playing softball than volleyball. We know there’s a lot of people in the Midwest that play softball. If we can just get a small percentage of those people to start playing our game, we’ll be doing fine.”

Glen Shumaker, who works for Crest Distributing, distributors of the sponsoring beer in San Diego, figures the sport will get more than its share of participation. “They really didn’t have to convince me on the idea,” said Shumaker, a two-time OTL world champion. “I’ve been playing the sport since 1977. I think it’s got great possibility. There are guys playing for top dollar on the beach. There’s no reason over-the-line can’t work. It’s fun and there’s some good athletes involved.”

In addition to the beer sponsorship, the PBSA has also secured a brand of rum and Ryno Athletic Club, and Simon says there is a possibility of another well-known sponsor joining in the next month.

But before the sport can achieve a large amount of commercial success, Shumaker and the PBSA agreed they would have to clean up OTL’s image.

“The party atmosphere that has gone on for so long had to stop,” Shumaker said. “For television or for any kind of sponsorship, the names had to be cleaned up a bit.”

Said Kitaen, vice president of the PBSA and publisher of the magazine: “I think the sport has an enormous amount of potential, but like anything for it to go to another level, we have to have the media.”

Kitaen said the PBSA has separated itself from OMBAC’s tournament by shifting the focus from the spectacle to the sport.

“We have developed the pro bracket to isolate the best competition,” Kitaen said. “In OMBAC’s tournament, amateur teams would go up against the best teams and get swamped. We have a more focused player pool for sponsors to look at.

“We’d like to see over-the-line more accessible to families. We’ll still be appealing to young people, but we’re getting away from the raunch.”

Simon said OTL’s biggest draw is the game itself.

“The game can be played by anybody,” he said. “It doesn’t take much equipment and there’s a division for everybody.”

The PBSA’s tournaments will include divisions for juniors, men’s masters (35 and over), men’s legends (45 and over), women’s masters and a women’s open. The top 32 teams will compete in the pro division, with a first prize of $1,800.

Simon said his group is close to landing a television deal with Prime Ticket, which could give OTL instant name recognition. But Shumaker said he believes OTL might even need to make slight changes in the game for television.

“The foul balls that have to be chased and brought back into play might take too long for TV,” Shumaker said. “Maybe they could somehow have another ball ready for play or make it just one pitch instead of two per batter.”

The PBSA has already decided to make a minor revision in the game that was invented in San Diego by Ron LaPolice and Mike Curren in the 1950s. It has narrowed fair territory from 60 to 55 feet.

After they coordinate tournaments, publish magazines and revise the rules, Simon, Olson, Kitaen and Mullin, the group’s chief financial officer, also plan to play a little bit. All four play on teams that will compete in the pro division.