{"id":1317115,"date":"2019-12-04T19:37:36","date_gmt":"2019-12-05T02:37:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=991515"},"modified":"2019-12-04T19:37:36","modified_gmt":"2019-12-05T02:37:36","slug":"rifle-to-name-softball-field-after-longtime-girls-softball-coach-cindy-skinner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/rifle-to-name-softball-field-after-longtime-girls-softball-coach-cindy-skinner\/","title":{"rendered":"Rifle to name softball field after longtime girls softball coach Cindy Skinner"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Cindy Skinner, founder and longtime coach of the Rifle High School Softball progam was recently honored with the renaming of the field to Skinner Field. (Kyle Mills \/ Citizen Telegram)<\/strong>
<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

A longtime Rifle resident who has helped to shape the lives of many young women over the years is being bestowed with a special honor.<\/p>\n

Pioneering Rifle High School and Little League softball coach Cindy Skinner will be honored with the renaming of the softball field at Deerfield Park as Cindy Skinner Field.<\/p>\n

Rifle City Council unanimously agreed at its Nov. 20 meeting to name the field after Skinner, who was the founding coach for the Rifle Bears softball program starting in 1995 until 2005. Skinner has continued to coach the younger girls through the city\u2019s youth league.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it\u2019s about being able to have these young women look to other women as someone they can believe in and be a model to them for making a difference,\u201d Skinner said this week.<\/p>\n

Originally from Michigan where she played softball while growing up, Skinner came to Rifle when her husband, Brad Skinner, took a teaching job at RHS.<\/p>\n

Cindy went to work for what was then known as Garfield Youth Services (now YouthZone), and soon got involved on the front end of starting the local high school softball team.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I\u2019ve learned a lot from coaching,\u201d she said. \u201cYou see the whole game from that perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n

Skinner credits current Bears coach Troy Phillips with continuing to develop the program after serving as her assistant coach for several years. \u201cIt was definitely a team effort, and not something I did all by myself,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
Cindy Skinner stands outside the dugout during her coaching career at Rifle High School. Skinner retired in 2014. (courtesy of Cindy Skinner)<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Several Rifle residents and former players of Skinner\u2019s spoke before City Council or wrote letters in support of renaming what\u2019s been long known as Taugenbaugh Field.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 Her actions changed the course of my life,\u201d 1999 RHS graduate and member of the inaugural team Emily Hisel said. \u201cSoftball at RHS gave me a place where I could excel, and friends that I keep to this day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Skinner ultimately encouraged Hisel to take up coaching as her daughter took up the sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has become a major component of my life, and has strengthened my connection to my daughter as well as her friends and their families,\u201d Hisel said.<\/p>\n

\u201cCindy was such an amazing coach, who still cares about her players to this day. She made softball a moment in our lives that we will remember forever,\u201d 2014 RHS graduate Mary Robinson wrote to the council.<\/p>\n

And, added current RHS Athletic Director Damon Wells in another letter, \u201cStadium and field naming really are ways for schools and municipalities to demonstrate what matters \u2026 longevity, impact and excellence.<\/p>\n

\u201cEffectively, Cindy is the \u2018Mother of Softball\u2019 in Rifle,\u201d Wells said. \u201cIt would be the ultimate sign of respect for any coach to see a legacy cemented through the naming of a field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joey Thomas, current president of the Colorado River Valley Little League, said Skinner has been instrumental in growing the league\u2019s softball program.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis past season, we had six full teams from the Rifle area, and much of this success can be attributed to Cindy\u2019s help,\u201d Thomas wrote. \u201cHer investment in our youngest players can be seen at all our levels of competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Skinner said her work with the youth program has allowed her to continue the connection with her former high school players, many of whom now have their own children in Little League.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just love watching the kids grow, and we have a strong philosophy that what you learn on the softball field, you can take into life and be able to use in your personal growth and in the community,\u201d Skinner said.<\/p>\n

jstroud@postindependent.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cindy Skinner, founder and longtime coach of the Rifle High School Softball progam was recently honored with the renaming of the field to Skinner Field. (Kyle Mills \/ Citizen Telegram) A longtime Rifle resident who has helped to shape the lives of many young women over the years is being bestowed with a special honor. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1317115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-06 10:37:50","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1317115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1317115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1317115\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1317115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1317115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1317115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}