Over the off season, the SouthAsian Softball was able to sit down with Anwar Sadat the new commissioner of the league. Get his thoughts on taking over the league and getting an idea of what he wanted to do and accomplish.
These are 20 Questions with Anwar Sadat!
Anwar Sadat is currently playing on the Savages
1 – Anwar you are now the new commissioner of Softball – how did you get this new responsibility – what were the steps that you took to earn this?
I played in SASL 1.5 years back in 2011 and 2012 and really enjoyed my time there. While I was in SASL, I was approached by Ammad to start a flag football league. SAFL was a big success in its inaugural season in 2012 and I learned how much work it takes to put a league together. Getting so many teams, players, dealing with the county, refs, etc was a lot of work, but to get everyone together to have fun was awesome. I had always had a big network and was able to piece together and help teams form and get the league up and running. Then I moved away for 4 years for work. Burhan has done a phenomenal job since then to really put his stamp on SAFL.
When I returned to NY in 2017, Ammad had a lot of ideas to expand the South Asian Network brand. Tournaments, scholarships, new website, SAS events etc. It was a natural progression for him to focus on other projects while giving up reins to SASL and I was approached to take over.
2 – Ammad has had his fingerprints on everything softball related since the days of its founding 13 seasons ago. You have lofty shoes to fill – how do you feel filling those shoes. What are you going to do differently and what are you going to continue to do the same?
That is right. Definitely, lofty shoes to fill. 12 years ago, it was a few friends playing pickup softball. Ammad turned that Into a community with 600+ active members with 4+ different leagues and other ventures for the community to enjoy.
I am not sure I want to do too much differently. Why fix something that is not broken? But with new leadership, comes a new vision. The first big decision was to split the league again with multiple divisions with different talent level like South Asian Basketball League has done very successfully. This ensures there is a highly competitive division with big talents duking it out, and also there is space for teams/players that want to come every Sunday to enjoy the camaraderie, escape from work, and just overall enjoy the game of softball. It will be a process for sure, but for the long-term health, this is the best decision.
I have also made the decision to be more transparent on decisions we make as a committee. I felt giving captains more voice (rating their own players, asking them about ideas, etc) as well as letting them know how the committee is working was important. We will also like to partner with more local companies to get sponsorships to help us drive our price lower. Teams are encouraged to find sponsors and if we can help as a league, feel free to reach out! I also want to work closely with Ammad to get at least 2 tournaments a year similar to the World Cup tournament we had last October.
3 – Why do you want to be involved in South Asian Sports? First running the Football League and then now the Softball league?
I have met a lot of great people thru South Asian Sports. It is a great community to be part of and network thru. It also gives me a chance to stay close to my friends that I grew up with. Everyone has a busy life, and if we can find some time to get together on Sundays, it feels great to get together with the guys. Also, the competition is awesome. I have always played a lot of sports growing up and having softball, football, etc to look forward to during the week and strategize to win games is great. Also, who doesn’t like collecting trophies and getting their butt kissed once in a while on the website? SAFL MVP, SASL champion, all-star in both sports, etc.
4 – You were away for a while moved down South. While you were there what were some of the things that you missed the most?
There is no city like New York. Home is where the heart is. Being in the South was a culture shock. Charlotte is a fast growing city, but New York is NY. Family, friends, the food, the fast pace, the nightlife, everything was different. I couldn’t wait to get back. Down south, it was work, a happy hour once a week, then home. In NYC, there aren’t enough hours in the week to do everything you want.
5 – How will you juggle being the captain of a team and being the commissioner?
Due to being Commissioner of SASL, it was best for me to give up my GM duties of Savages in order to be as impartial as I can while making decisions that affect all of SASL teams.
I am very confident in our new GM Zulfikar Musliwala, who will lead Savages to back to back titles! Take it to the bank! He has already secured a mega sponsor for our team (it is easier when you have the trophies), and he has already cut team cancer Yasar Bokhari (addition by subtraction). JK Yasar (love you!).
6 – Have you felt that people’s behavior has changed towards you now that you are the commissioner?
Most people have congratulated me with a hint of ‘you must have no life, accepting this role’ look. They wished me well and I know I can count on a lot of the veterans to help me out. Everyone has been great (except Prince who I have 1 am conversations with about the league!).
I am sure there will be a lot of politics involved to steer the decisions in their team’s favor. I am looking at you Solyman. But the great thing is we have a committee full of diverse opinions and we talk through every single decision and get feedback from captains which eliminates a lot of bad blood.
7 – How do you see technology affecting the league, Ammad was a big proponent of pushing technology on the league. What are your thoughts?
I am a big proponent of it. There is already some discussion on some cool stuff. Radar guns to track the speed of Sanjay’s heaters, camera challenges to see if Saad was really obstructed with, machine to check for Irfan’s doctored bats etc.
No, I am an old school guy. But I understand where the world is going. There will be more use of social media, videos, etc to bring exposure to the league this year. I am hoping to work with Ammad on some other cool projects as well to make SASL more dynamic.
8 – What has the impact of South Asian Sports on you?
Very big. Year round I get together with my friends and I am not sure I would have if it wasn’t for sports. That is a great thing. I also get to network which is a very underrated aspect of the SAS community.
Anwar Sadat the new commissioner of the South Asian Softball League
9 – When you look at the league, you have a unique advantage of being a commissioner of multiple leagues, Football and now Softball. What are some similarities between being a commissioner for the leagues, versus what is unique?
SAFL was definitely easier. I was a dictator and created the rulebook, got the teams, refs, etc. very efficiently. It was a brand new league, so there was no lingering drama, constraints, characters, etc to deal with. Most of the teams were new and were formed from my network, so they helped out a lot by taking it easy on me. I am sure, 5 years in, Burhan has to deal with a lot now since it is very established.
SASL is very established with a lot of history. It has a lot of longtime players, and you have to listen to them. Deservedly so. They have been in the league a lot longer than I have. It is definitely a challenge to listen patiently to all the captains, then discuss with the committee to come to a decision. But it is important to do so, to make sure you come to the best and fairest conclusion. More often than not, you won’t get 100% consensus from captains, but the committee has done a great job leading me to the fairest decisions and thus far there hasn’t been any major controversies.
10 – You have played in other leagues, why do you think that the South Asian Sports Network is the best? What do they do that others don’t do?
No other leagues have the stats, articles, videos, the community like we do. We support each other outside of softball. Other leagues, you rarely get to meet the other teams or become friends with anyone outside of your team. No other league would have a player like Yasar be a Finals MVP, so the competition in SASL is at the right level. No other leagues have All-Star games and festivities like we do. No other league would throw events to get family and friends together, have tournaments like the World Cup, or come together as a community when someone falls ill to help them out.
11 – Why should people play in the South Asian Sports Leagues that are out there?
Be active year round!! Softball ends, but then football, bowling, basketball begins! Basketball has 4-5 divisions. You can’t hit a shot for your life? No worries. They have a spot for you. You can grow a terrible beard? Perfect. The Browns of SAFL has a spot for you!
12 – What is your favorite sport?
Baseball by a whisker. But I am a sports fanatic. I follow all sports (except hockey).
13 – A few of the criticisms of the softball league has gotten over the years is that it is too strict. How do you combat that stereotype? Do you think that it is too strict? Do you plan on relaxing rules or creating new ones?
I personally did not feel the league was too strict. There are rules for a reason. I was suspended for a week last year due to my teammates drinking beer during a game. That is against county rules, so I saw no issues with it being enforced. I do not plan on relaxing any rules that we have in our rulebook, but have tasked the committee to ensure all the rules are being followed. Some rules will be changed to make life easier for sure. Players can play in both divisions, roster size increased to 20, nicknames allowed on jerseys (approval from SASL needed), etc. However, deadlines for payments, articles, rosters, are expected to be adhered to. If we don’t all pitch in, we won’t all be successful.
14 – One of the discussions is that you won’t have to put in stats anymore, is that true? Will someone be designated to put in stats for teams? If so what does that mean for captains?
That is correct. Great news for all team captains. SASL will now be hiring someone to do input our stats on the website for us! All captains need to do, is to take a picture of the stat book and send it over to the designated person. The stats are expected to be up by Sunday night. More information to follow.
15 – You have been on committees, describe what it is like being on a committee, how does one get chosen to join a committee, or do they apply? What should one expect if they are going to be on a committee?
The committee is actually a ton of hard work. There are rules to make, ratings to do (over 250 players!), stats to audit, suspensions to debate, and most importantly, figure out the direction the league wants to go. We are always discussing how to make captains life easier and grow the league. I brought in my own committee when I took over after 2017 summer season. It consists of Charley (Savages), Shumail (BB), Kunal (Empire), Mohan (Troopers), Salman (Bengals), Jack (NWO), and Ammad (HitSquad). I wanted an efficient, dynamic, and forward-thinking individuals who I would work easily with. I think we accomplished that with that group. It also gave voices to all different parts of the community.
However, we are now currently looking for another voice from the lower division. Most of the committee members play in Division 1 and we need to hear from Division 2 teams! Reach out to me if you feel like you want to put in the work to help the league grow.
16 – South Asian Sports did their first tournament and raised a lot of money for the community. I think that around $8500 was raised. Do you see more of these types of events happening? Is this just a league? Or do you feel that it is something greater than just a league?
Definitely something greater. The tourney was absolutely phenomenal. Not only did it raise a ton of money, but it was very competitive, gave exposure to the league, and it was all for a good cause. My aim is to help Ammad and work with him to have two of those per year at the minimum. It was awesome to have those jerseys and represent our flags.
17 – Ammad did this for over 14 seasons and 15 years ago this wasn’t even a league and just an organized pickup game. What is Anwar’s legacy going to be? How long will he have done it and how will he be remembered?
Time will tell. Ideally, I want to grow this into a 20 team league in the next 3 years, have annual tourneys, get sponsorships that pay for the league fees, etc. It will be a long road ahead, but the first step starts next month and get some established long-term teams which will be the foundation we build with. We need more Dynasty, Empire, Outlaws; teams who stick around for the long term.
