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SportsBreak JULY 2008 E-NEWSLETTER FROM ISSA |
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ROANOKE VALLEY SET THE STANDARD FOR SENIORS
SALEM, VIRGINIA - When the last out was rung up to conclude the 7th ISF Senior World Cup at Salem, Virginia and the surrounding jurisdictions, the senior participants had been treated to a level of tournament management and support unlike anything most had ever witnessed before. The attention to detail to provide the visiting players an exceptional tournament experience was awesome. To begin with, the softball complexes used for the event were as good a quality and met a higher standard than most playing fields in the United States. But the Roanoke Valley set itself apart from the others with the field preparation throughout the tournament. Each field was dragged, wetted and relined between the games. Most dugouts had water fountains and restrooms in the dugout itself, yet the staff provided coolers with ice water in each dugout and they were replenished after every game. And the electronic scoreboards were operated by well trained and experienced official scorekeepers at each field. And there were dozens of other behind the scenes staff making sure the tournament was managed in a professional manner. Here is what some managers had to say about the tournament:
When the site for the 2008 Senior ISF World Cup was announced last winter, a number of players and managers asked “why the move to Salem?” “Now all the participants in this year’s competition understand,” offered RB Thomas, Jr., Tournament Director. “The City of Salem has earned the reputation to be called the CITY OF CHAMPIONS. The Roanoke Valley is a sports-minded community which takes great pride in hosting National and now World sports events. We could not be more pleased with the excellent tournament support that was provided to go along with their first-class facilities.” THE VII ISF SENIOR WORLD CUP
SALEM, VIRGINIA – The following senior teams emerged as their division champion at the conclusion of the ISF Senior world Cup competition held on June 20-22 in the Roanoke Valley of Virginia:
Virginia Merchants Glen Allen, VA
Thomas Engineering/Tanel 360 Manassas, VA
The complete results with game scores can be viewed on the ISSA Website at www.seniorsoftball.org. Congratulations to all the champions this year. THE SENIOR SOFTBALL CAPITAL OF THE WORLD
Competition has been programmed for senior women beginning at age 40 and senior men at age 50. Again this year the World Championships will also include Masters Divisions for 35+, 40+ and 45+ men's teams. The Prince William County/Manassas CVB has mailed tournament packets to all teams that have previously expressed an interest in participating. Others may request a tournament packet from the ISSA Office or copy the needed forms and information from the ISSA website. BURLINGTON, NC SITE OF THE ASA SENIOR NATIONALS
BURLINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA – The City of Burlington, NC looks forward to serving as the “official host” for the ASA National Senior Tournament again this year The Burlington Recreation & Parks Department under the leadership of Tony Laws is proud to be hosting the 2008 ASA Men’s Senior Nationals Softball Tournament August 29- Sept.1. As the previous host in 2005, 2006 and 2007, this event has a proven track record with the senior teams who enjoy the North Carolina hospitality. Mark Cryan, City Athletic Director will serve as Tournament Director and is very excited to have the seniors coming back to Burlington and looks forward to a great senior tournament. Teams will find the tournament information for this event on the Burlington website at www.burlingtonnc.gov, “Tournament Information.”. There will be no charge for spectators this year and souvenirs and food concessions will be available at each venue. Also, the format will be the same as last year; two pool games on Friday with double elimination starting on Saturday. Tournament officials plan to finish on Sunday and only use Monday as a make-up day for bad weather or overflow of teams. Hotel reservations may be made through the Alamance County Convention & Visitors Bureau web site at www.burlington-area-nc.org or by calling1-800-637-3804. Teams should make their reservations early since nearby Elon University has an early start this year and the tournament weekend overlaps with the University’s move-in day! The Amateur Softball Association which sanctions this event was founded in 1933, and is the National Governing Body of softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. The ASA has become one of the nation’s largest sports organizations and now sanctions competition in every state through a network of 83 local associations. The ASA has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 240,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than three million. The ISSA has been an Allied Member of ASA since 1996. For more information on the ASA, visit www.asasoftball.com. THE ISSA WINTER NATIONALS
Competition will be held for Senior women’s teams from 40 and Over to 65 and Over. All age classifications and skill level divisions will be included for the Senior men’s teams. Men’s Masters competition will be scheduled for 35 and Over, 40 and Over and 45 and Over. And a new division of play for ISSA will be a 35+ Coed Division. The Winter Nationals will permit players who are eligible for an age division in 2009 to compete in this October tournament. Teams can use this tournament to begin the process of putting their tournament team together for 2009, a concept that many senior teams find helpful.
CAPITAL CLASSIC HELD AT MANASSAS MANASSAS, VIRGINIA - Local ASA officials began holding competition for seniors at the tournament sites this year for the young teams. Tournament officials had been noticing a number of senior age players hanging out watching the young guys on their tournament weekends and decided to give them an opportunity to play as well. The first local senior tournament was the Capital Classic on June 7. When the dust settled on that Saturday evening, Al Tefft’s Diamond Fever Gold from Fairfax, VA emerged as the Tournament Champion. And to most participants surprise the Diamond Fever Silver team finished in the runner-up position. Third place went to Joe B’s AC managed by Dick Barratte and finishing in fourth place was the Northern Virginia Force managed by Alan Gillespie.. Northern Virginia ASA officials will be including senior divisions in their remaining tournaments for the 2008 season and beyond. The concept is an alternative to the current “regional qualifying tournaments” now being offered by others. “Based on numerous recent experiences, several senior teams have expressed a desire to have a lower cost, weekend tournament (one or two days) and we believe that we can provide that,” offered RB Thomas, Jr. “We are very flexible in the format, our response from teams indicate a need for some one-day tournaments on the weekend, although most teams did not have a strong opinion on one or two day events as long as it was on the weekend only. We thought we would begin with an open roster concept since we will obviously not have enough teams to create 20 divisions of play based on the ISSA Ratings. Teams will email their list of players with age and current team info. We will place them in divisions accordingly with the aim of creating some parity. Obviously, the more teams that we get, the better job we can do in addressing age and skill levels. No expensive special ID card required, a drivers license will do. A one-day three-game minimum tournament will be $150 and a two-day five-game minimum tournament will be $250. We can provide the fields, umpires and awards for seniors to have a nice experience in a good softball atmosphere.” The following are the remaing senior tournament dates: August 2 35th Battle of Manassas August 23 Northern Virginia Championships (open to all) Anyone wishing to enter a team in these tournaments or would like more information or provide additional feedback can contact Thomas at 703-368-1188 or email to issa94@aol.com.
JULY 4th FIRECRACKER SENIOR TROUNAMENT HAS SPECTACULAR FINALE
These local ASA senior tournaments seem to be catching on with the local teams. In the Firecracker some old faces familiar to softball fans showed up this time to participate. Hall of Fame players like Jim Wheatly, Bobby Coleman, Jack Cantrell, Randy Moses and others were out playing and these young teams got to see some of the regions “softball legends.”
THE SOFTBALL TODAY SHOW ON THE INTERNET PLANT CITY, FLORIDA - Softball Fans are now tuning in to the newest Internet Radio show as West Central Florida ASA's Softball Today Show is coming to you every Sunday evening at 7 pm Eastern Time. Go to www.playasa.org and then click on Webcast on the top right hand corner and then Today's Broadcast. They will be giving you the updates in the Softball World including the Senior Division. If you would like to be a part of the show send in an email of what's happening in your softball world. If you miss a show you can listen to the archive broadcast later. Tune in you might like it, if you do let Carlton Benton know at cb@playasa.org ISSA AND DUDLEY SPORTS PARTNER TO PROVIDE THE BALLS FOR FUTURE ISSA TOURNAMENTS MANASSAS, VIRGINIA - The ISSA has announced that for the future they will use the Dudly ball for their senior tournaments. The ball at the ISSA World Championships and the ISSA Winter Nationals will be the Dudley Thunder Advance. “We seem to have better acceptance of the Dudley softballs when we have used them in the past,” offered RB Thomas, Jr., ISSA Executive Director, “so we will be going back to using the Dudley ball for our future tournaments.
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By far the best maintained and prepared complexes we have played on in 2008 (this is our sixth tournament.) Thank you. My infielders especially appreciated the wetting down and dragging of the fields before EACH game, nothing even came close to being a bad hop. Scoreboards and scorekeepers have become an endangered species in Senior Softball Tournaments. Thanks for providing them, they make a managers job much easier. Umpires - where? They were so good they were almost invisible, as they should be. - Ed Davis, GA Nuggets 65
MANASSAS, VIRGINIA - Teams going to the 14th ISSA World Championships at Manassas, Virginia this year will be part of a milestone event. The tournament will be the 20th world-class senior softball event held in Prince William County which gave rise to the area becoming known internationally as the Senior Softball Capital of the World. Teams from throughout the United States (and sometimes international locations) find this event to be a preferred destination to compete in senior softball. With excellent softball facilities surrounded by many historical sites that were significant to the growth and development of the Country, some players schedule in additional days to visit area attractions including our Nation's Capitol. So why not explore our nation's heritage and learn more about the people, the times and the decisions that made America while in Manassas for the ISSA World Championships this year.
VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA – Interest continues to build within the softball community for this first time event. Many players on Masters and Senior teams got the chance to experience playing softball at the beach in their younger days. This October these players will get to Experience the Fun at Virginia Beach, on and off the field again. City officials, the ASA Tidewater District staff and the ISSA staff have teamed up to host the first ISSA Winter National event which is planned for October 3-5. This world-class resort city recently completed a new 8-field state-of-the-art softball complex which will supplement other nearby quality fields to accommodate the Senior and Masters teams expected to participate. 
MANASSAS, VIRGINIA - Talking about a strong finish, Hal Weed and his senior team, The Gents pulled off a remarkable feat in the July 4th Firecracker Senior Tournament at Valley View Park. The Gents dropped their first two games of the double elimination tournament. However, in the guarantee three-game format they got to continue in the losers bracket. That they did, first sending home Drexel Ferguson’s The Classics, 15 to 0, then Hamel Construction managed by Randy Moses, 14 to 0 and proceeded to double-dip Diamond Fever managed by Dale Corey, 11 to 5 and 11 to10 to claim the Championship. Ed Haith who had an outstanding tournament for the Gents in left center field was named Tournament MVP. As the Gents left the park to pop the cork at a local bistro, they carried with them a sports memory they will be talking about for a while.