USA Softball of South Mississippi

Official Website of USA Softball for South Mississipppi

2024 USA Softball of MS Rec All-Stars South State Tournament

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Welcome to the Championship Play.  You’ll notice by the name change, classifications are changing.  Classifications A, B and C are for travel ball.  Our group will now be called Rec and Rec All-Stars going forward.  That’s consistent with the way other associations around the country classify their teams.  This year, we have a strong 36 teams competing in Rec All-Stars South State.  Tee Ball and Coach Pitch both have 10 teams each.  That bodes well for the years ahead.

The South State Tournament will be held at the Bayou View Sports Complex.  The address is 4300 Hewes Av, Gulfport, MS.  The Tournament Entry Fee for each age division is $250 for 6u/8u and $350 for 10u12u/16u.  Teams can pay by cash, check, CashApp or Venmo.  User name for online payment is tstanley2128 for each.  Checks should be made out to USA Softball of South MS.

Attached is the Tournament Information Packet.  It should have most everything you might need.  It has a checklist of items you’ll need including brackets, rules, and other stuff.  You must have proof of age (birth certificates) and recent photo for each player on the roster.  The roster form must be completed with each players’ name, address and birthday.  Parents must sign the consent form.  The President for your league must also sign off on it to certify all players are eligible for the respective All-Star team.
Teams must check-in before you play.  I’ll start check-in at 4:00pm on Friday and 6:30am on Saturday.  It will be in the press box behind Field 2 (Two story building).  There will not be a coaches meeting, but we’ll be glad to answer any questions you might have.  Players will not sign-in this weekend.  You will turn in your rosters and I’ll do a 100% check on birth certificates.  Please allow enough time to check in.. Organizing your packet will make this go so much easier.
ACE Training is required under the USA Softball Code.  Federal law also mandates Safe Sport training.  Dedicated to ending sexual, physical and emotional abuse of athletes.  Governing bodies for all the Olympic sports are required to provide this training.  Only one coach needs the training and it does not have to be the head coach.  The training can be found at registerusasoftball.com.  I will say the background checks have been extremely slow coming back.  I’ve never seen it so slow.  Do the best you can.  It’s all pretty good training.

Each team needs to leave the dugout as soon as possible. Teams meetings must occur off the field. The next team needs to be ready immediately following the prior game. That means lineups ready when you hit the dugout. There is no warmup on the field. Be conscious of the games being played… you could start earlier than the schedule states. It’s your responsibility to keep up with the brackets. Please keep an eye out on the bracket in case any changes are needed.

The forecast is mixed this weekend.  Typically South MS weather pattern of very hot with a 50% chance of showers.  We’re hoping to get the tournament in on Friday and Saturday.  But we’ll hold Sunday in reserve for weather.  State Championships only come once a year and we really want to get this in.  Please have your players start hydrating early. Also please watch grandparents during the day.
One final reminder… I’m asking everyone to be especially nice to each other this weekend.  We’re all there to have fun and see the kids play.  We have a very imperfect game played by very imperfect people.  Players, coaches and umpires will all make mistakes this weekend.  You never know what people have going on in their lives and pressure they are under.  It’s our job as adults to be examples for these young adults.
Thanks for Playing USA Softball!