Formed in the summer of 2004, Sparta High School Graduate Daniel Bollmann thought of an idea to keep former SHS athletes together as a team.  Bollmann heard about a Slow-pitch softball league in Chester, IL where many sponsored teams go to battle.  He checked out the league play and signed up to join the Chester Men's League.  Bollmann formed a team called "X-396," which consisted of former Legion Post #396 Baseball players who were to old to play organized baseball.  The X-396 sponsored themselves that year with help from Moody's Pharmacy and Howell Financial.  Their uniforms consisted of navy blue tee-shirts that had a picture of the former great Legion Baseball coach, Daryl Fedderking.  The X-396 had a tough time adjusting to hitting a softball and did not have a season they hoped for.

            Later that summer, a caravan of X-396 players took a road trip to Knoxville, Tennessee.  There they saw something spectacular.  Dan Bollmann, Jon Norton, and Deven Bleem saw a pack of caged bears.  These were no ordinary bears though.  These bears were laziest creatures on the face of the earth.  Bleem saw this as a symbol of the X-396 players and represented past SHS athletics.  There the X-396 was born again as the LazyBears.

            In 2006, the LazyBears have a roster of 16 and an emergency roster of 4.  They wear authentic jerseys with LazyBears sewed across the front and are sponsored by many businesses from the town of Sparta, IL.  In the summer of 2005, the newly named LazyBears set many team offensive records that will be hard to be break.  Former and current LazyBear players have a strong bond and will be together for many years to come.  They are a force to be reckoned with.T

             In the year of 2007 the LazyBears again returned to Chester trying to reach their goals of achieving a league and state title.  In typical LazyBear fashion the season started out well, the team then wore down at the end of the year, and had a remarkable comback at the state tournament only to fall short of their goal by again finishing 2nd in the state.

           With the beginning of the 2008 season changes abound with the team.  Memebers are finally graduating college to help with constant attendance at the game and now are beginning to settle into a schedule of "real life".  The year has brought about other changes including the move to Red Bud to continue their league persuits.  Additionaly, the league only plays on Tuesday nights allowing the team to make solid plans to be there night in and night out.  The league features 3 divisions of 4 teams allowing the LazyBears to play a wider variety of teams and hopefully giving them the experience that they need to overcome their recent shortcomings at the state tournament levels.  Check out the LazyBears as often as you need to see the '08 progress and hopefully the LazyBears reaching their goals.