17/09/2026
It's our last week of Player in Focus for the season, and who else could we go to but one of the most well known characters in the club, The Bartman Bart Lethlean!
Bart joined Norths Softball Club (as it was back then) way back in 1991, and in a ridiculously fated turn of events is DUE TO PLAY GAME 700 THIS WEEK IN THE DIVISION 7 GF!!! Bart has been there, seen it, done it all in his time at the club. Coaching, Registrar, VP, and a 12 year stint as President of Vikings is just the start of it. He is also one of the most prominent umpires in the club, has attended numerous Worlds Masters and Pan Pacs games, and umpires non-stop at skins and the infamous Gero tournaments.
On the rare occasion when Bart is away from the diamond he is an avid supporter of the West Coast Eagles and the Western Force, and loves nothing more than getting away with the family for a bit of camping and fishing. When he gets the chance to get away the North West is always a favourite area with Shark Bay being a particularly favoured spot. Set him up with a feed of chili mussels, a bottle of red, and slap on a bit of “Sweet Caroline” and he is in heaven.
Bart’s favourite softball memory is medalling at a World Masters Games, he played and even pitched in that one. It narrowly pipped out filling in for a Division 1 night game and managing to dent G’s bat (hitting, not pitching). He rates his greatest sporting achievement as being a part of the support staff for the WA Men’s open side that took out the 2010 National Championship, where he earned himself the monikor “Mis-Management”
We asked Bart what it is he most enjoys about being at Vikings, and he said “Vikings is my second family, We all spend an excessive amount of hours at the Longboat. The players old and young, the banter and the skullduggery makes it a constant laugh and I cannot stay away.” When we asked him about reaching the 700 game milestone he replied “Wow that is a pretty decent number, but it is just a number. It is a lot of memories, stories, people and places. Wouldn’t trade them for the world. “
It took Bart 15 seasons to win his first premiership, let’s hope they come a bit quicker nowadays starting with another Div 7 premiership this Sunday! Win or lose bring him over an Emu Export and congratulate him on an incredible 700 games.