“Queen Margaret” recalls glory days
Long before there was a Marion Jones to look up to there was another young Belizean woman who dominated the local sports pages. Margaret Usher was her name, and while she was only one member of an immensely talented group dubbed “The Golden Girls”, Margaret stood out for her single-minded dedication to the game of softball. Back in Belize this week to accept a major international honour, the all-star pitcher talked old times with News 5’s Patrick Jones.
Margaret Usher, Hall of Fame Inductee
“I think it’s a great honour. After playing for many years and then retire, and then something like this, It’s very good.”
Patrick Jones, Reporting
Margaret Usher’s name is forever etched in the history books as the first, and still the only pitcher in Central America and the Caribbean to beat softball power house, Team U.S.A. That feat was accomplished in 1979. Twenty-five years later, Usher is marking another milestone with her induction into the International Softball Federation Hall of Fame.
Margaret Usher
“It’s not easy, because it’s going to be nerve wrecking because that kind of stuff I really don’t care for. I’m crowd shy and all that stuff, so it’s going to be hard.”
Although she prefers the diamond over the stage, Usher says Friday night’s induction will cap an incredible career that started in her home village of Gracie Rock.
Margaret Usher
“A friend of my dad use to coach the team up there and one time he asked my dad if I could play and he said yes. So I started at about thirteen of fourteen years old and I was happy because I always wanted to play. I still don?t know, but that?s one of the fondest memories and it’s like going out there and play and just do the best you can and beating the United States was a great accomplishment for us. And of all my years of playing that was the first time I ever trembled in a game, because I was so nervous. I couldn’t believe that we were beating the United States.”
While beating Team U.S.A. at the Pan Am Games in 1979 was the upset of the decade, Pat Bennett who played centre field behind Margaret Usher for the Guinness Dunrite Team, says Margaret’s pitching success was no fluke. It was the result of countless hours of hard work.
Pat Bennett, Usher’s Former Team Mate
“Certainly Margaret Usher brought a serious work ethic to the diamond, even in our practice session she was always a hard worker. She endeavoured to do her very best, and many times one can see Margaret putting in the necessary work to be one of Belize’s best pitchers. And certainly her team mates felt good in playing behind her.”
Usher says gaining national and international acclaim took a lot of hard work over a number of years. She credits her success on the field to a small group of people who never lost faith in her abilities.
Margaret Usher
“You know I thought about Mr. Gill a lot. He is not here in person, but I know he is here in spirit. He is the person that made me who I was as a pitcher. I don?t know what made him think that I would have been a good pitcher. But he and then my parents, they supported me a lot. And Charles Solis, he has been like a surrogate father to me, so yeah, my family.”
Pat Bennett
Margaret Usher, I felt is perhaps one of the best softballers this country has ever seen. Margaret Usher knew what it was to be a champion. And one does not become a champion just so; one becomes a champion not only locally on her own team and nationally for Belize, but also internationally. And Margaret Usher was prepared to work and work and work, morning and evening. And it gives me a very good feeling to know that she will be able to join the ranks of the best in the world, and I say the best in the world because that is where Margaret Usher belongs.”
And Usher’s advice for the next generation of players?
Margaret Usher
“Set your goals and work hard to achieve them, reach for the star. And always believe that you are the best.”
Patrick Jones, for News 5.
The I.S.F. induction ceremony takes place at the Belize Biltmore Plaza on Friday night. An invitational tournament in connection with the induction will be played at Rogers Stadium on Saturday and Sunday, featuring the Belize National female team taking on visiting squads from Jamaica and El Salvador.
