SPONSOR CATEGORY, NATIONAL HALL OF FAME
Jerry Backman – Jerry Backman caught softball fever while playing for the U. S. Navy for three years. After leaving the service, Jerry teamed up with Eron Smith, who was instrumental in Jerry’s rise in softball and was the eventual architect of numerous championship teams in Greater Cincinnati. Smith was also a 2016 inductee into the Greater Cincinnati Softball Hall of Fame. The tandem played in the class A division of the Cincinnati Metro in 1992 and 1993, when they posted a runner-up finish and went on to finish 7th in the ASA A Nationals. The following year they participated in the Major Metro, then captured the Major division in 1995. Two years later, in 1997, they added a runner-up finish in the Major Metro to their resume. After retiring as a player, Jerry returned to the game as a sponsor in the fall of 1997, initially showcasing his team with a victory in the USSSA Men’s One-Pitch National Invitational Tournament at Expressway Park in Milford. That event was the springboard that launched his 20-year career and propelled him to the top level of the game. Jerry soon partnered with legendary sponsors Dan Smith and Ed Menosse with the goal of winning a USSSA Men’s Major World Series title, ultimately realizing that dream twice with titles in 2000 and 2004. Jerry remembers his 2004 team as the best team he was ever associated with due to the team’s chemistry and camaraderie on and off the field. He was inducted into the USSSA National Hall of Fame in November of 2016 at Fort Myers, Florida.