Softball player profile: Doug Friesen

Larry Wolfe

A Wyoming native, Doug Friesen grew up in Cheyenne, the state capitol. After graduating from East High School, Doug began his professional career in finance with the Ford Motor Credit Company. Today that job might make him a reality TV star playing the role of Repo Man. Even though he was only shot at once, he decided that was not the type of high finance job he desired, so he decided to go back to school.

Doug earned a degree in computer programming at the University of Wyoming in Laramie where he became a life-long Cowboys fan. He then began his real career in the banking industry. Soon thereafter, Doug got involved in government contracting for computer services. He was a pioneer in writing specialized software for Uncle Sam which involved the use of personal computers in place of the massive main frame computers then in use. He also developed a warehouse inventory system which included bar code scanning functionality which is still in use today.

Tiring of the cold weather and snow up north, Doug and his family moved to Arizona in the 1980’s; however, after a couple years here the bank he worked for sold their computer center so he ended up back in wintry Colorado for the next 25 years.

When it was time to retire, Doug and his lovely wife, Anna Marie, knew that Arizona was the place they wanted to live. Doug’s mother lives in Casa Grande, so they knew of the Sun Lakes community. When he saw the Field of Dreams, Sun Lakes became a done deal. Their original intent was to be snowbirds, but after enjoying the Sun Lakes lifestyle for a few months they decided to become full-timers. He says that, “You can have as much fun here as you want to pursue and that’s not the case in most places.”

Prior to joining our softball association, Doug played for top teams in Colorado, Wyoming and Arizona. He also played on city league basketball teams in Colorado. Today, he’s one of our best all-around players and is adept as both a middle infielder and fleet-footed outfielder. He’s also a solid hitter, averaging .651 and .641 in his first two years in our program.

Doug’s hobby on the side could be the basis for another reality TV show: “Flipping with Doug.” He previously bought, renovated and sold several homes in Colorado and is beginning to do the same here in Arizona. He’s skilled at nearly all of the necessary trades and does most of the fix-up work himself. But, alas, so far HGTV has not called!

Anna Marie and Doug enjoy couples bocce ball and he recently got into racquetball. They also enjoy visiting their two daughters and families back in Colorado and Nebraska and usually take at least one vacation each year for fun. Their next for fun destination will be Hawaii. Doug carefully added, “That’s not to say family visits aren’t fun!”