First of all, I’d like to thank everyone for your contributions to girls softball in South Mississippi. Years ago, I took over the Biloxi league for one simple reason. The girls deserve everything the boys have… the same opportunities. A place where they can play and compete against one another. They can learn the game and all the great life lessons that come from it. Without everyone’s combined efforts, these girls wouldn't have a chance to play this great game. For that, you have my sincerest appreciation. Secondly, I’d like to thank everyone for playing in one of the tournament trail events. Girls enjoy league ball, but weekend ball is a new experience for most. It’s brings together kids from all over the region for a fun weekend at the ball park. They don’t even know the life lessons they are really learning… teamwork, sportsmanship, and resiliency to name a few. They come to play softball.. and wound up in leadership training. We had a great weekend in Woolmarket at the Gulf Coast Championships. We had a strong showing of 44 teams. Competition was tough with some great games. I’m very proud to say we had very few problems. We also ran fairly close to on schedule. Thanks to everyone in Woolmarket that help make the tournament a wonderful success. This weekend is the final event of the season. It’s the USA Softball of Mississippi South State Championships. We do understand some may be ready for a vacation or just some air conditioning. But we hope most teams will hang in for one more weekend. Teams can register at https://usasoftballsouthms.com/?page_id=4305. You can see who’s registered at https://usasoftballsouthms.com/?page_id=4307. The entry fee for South State for Tee Ball is $250, Coach Pitch is $250 and Fast Pitch is $350. The event will be held at the D’Iberville Sports Complex at 15641 MS Hwy 15, D’Iberville, MS 39532. The website asks for payment online. That’s a state requirement. If you’re not able to pay online, it will take your registration without it. Just close the window. Then check the Teams Registered page to make sure you’re on the list. Please register as soon as you can for this weekend. I’ll close registration off late Wednesday night. D’Iberville only has four fields; so we’ll need the extra time for planning the event. At this point, I don’t whether it’s a Friday/Saturday, Saturday/Sunday, or Friday/Saturday/Sunday event. We’re prefer to keep it to a two day event.. but it’s going to a challenge. Teams will need the following: Championship Roster (I’ll bring the ones submitted at the GCC) Birth Certificates for each player Recent Photo for each player ACE Certification for at least one coach. (Completed at registerusasoftball.com) If you’ve played your last event for the summer, we hope you have a great vacation before school starts. We hope to see you for fall ball or next spring. Thanks for Playing USA Softball! … [Read more...] about 2023 USA Softball of Mississippi South State Championships
2023 Gulf Coast Championships
We are rapidly approaching the end of our summer. This weekend we have the Gulf Coast Championships. Next weekend, the South State Tournament. Then I get a life back… It’s been a great year in many respects. But also one of the hardest years on record. We get through next weekend, there will be time to reflect and figure out how we do it all better next year. Below are brackets for this weekends 2023 Gulf Coast Championships. Tee Ball and 16U will just play Saturday. But it’s a Saturday/Sunday affair for most. The tournament will be held at the Woolmarket Sports Complex, 16520 Switzer Park Rd, Biloxi, MS 39532. Tournament Entry Fees are TB $150, CP $225 and FP $250. This is a rostered event. Attached is a roster form that each team will need to complete and turn-in at registration. We’ve had such a bad time with accusations of teams picking up players that didn’t participate in league play that we are requiring the respective league president certify that all the rostered players are eligible for All Star play. Teams should start collecting birth certificates and pictures. If there is an age eligibility protest, then I’ll need to verify birth age. There will be a 100% birth certificate check next week. As a reminder, here’s some basics: This is All-Stars. If they player did not play in at least 7 (50%) of league games for a team in your league, they are not eligible for All-Stars. If a player played on middle school or high school, then wanted to pickup on All-Star team so they can play. They cannot be on an All-Star team unless they meet the minimum game criteria. This mostly affects 12U and 16U. A player can only play on one team per weekend. They can play 12u one weekend, then 16u the next weekend, and then go back to 12u if they are age eligible. But they are locked into the team they first played with on a weekend. No pickups even from your own league are allowed once the first game has started. Tee Ball and Coach Pitch will play no new inning after 55 minutes. Fast Pitch will be no new inning after 65 mins. 10U will play 3 outs or 7 runs. All tie games at the end of regulation will use the international tie break rule. Any If Games will be a two inning shootout. Also below is a copy of the Zero Tolerance Policy. There is no need to have a policy if it’s not going to be enforced. Umpire abuse is a national epidemic and our member leagues have taken a strong stance on coach misconduct. Head coaches should be aware they are responsible for their players, coaches and fans. Let’s all work to make this a great weekend for the kids. Please have them start hydrating on Friday night. It’s going to be a hot one. Also watch out for grandpa’s and grandma’s this week as they can be quickly effected by the heat. Thank you for Playing USA Softball! Brackets --- Roster Form --- Zero Tolerance Policy … [Read more...] about 2023 Gulf Coast Championships
2023 Long Beach Invitational Updated Brackets
Below are updated brackets for this weekend's Long Beach Invitational Tournament. Bracket times were changed for 10u and 16u. Then an adjustment to Tee Ball was made for one team that couldn't play on Friday. Updated Brackets … [Read more...] about 2023 Long Beach Invitational Updated Brackets
2023 Long Beach Invitational Brackets
We’re coming down the backstretch headed for home. Only a few more weeks left in the summer season. The competition is tough, temperature is warming up and a lot of teams are wanting to come play. This weekend, we have 34 teams playing and it could have been a lot more. Long Beach didn’t want to play on Sunday due to family obligations, so we put a limit on the number of teams. I can certainly respect them for that. Especially in light of the next two weekends will be very long and very hot. Attached are brackets for this weekend’s tournament. The address will be held at the Long Beach Softball Complex, 780 Klondyke Road, Long Beach, MS 39560. Gate fees will be Adults $7 per day or $10 for a weekend pass. Kids ages 6 to 11 will be $5 per day or $8 for a weekend pass. Kids 5 and Under are free. This is a fundraiser for the Long Beach Girls Softball League and 100% of the proceeds will go to help Long Beach girls play softball. Tee Ball and Coach Pitch will play no new after 55 mins. Fast Pitch will be no new after 65 mins. It’s been working well. There will be some notable changes this weekend. The 10U game lengths have been horrid with one game lasting 3 hours.. So they will play 3 outs for 7 runs along with Tee Ball and Coach Pitch. We will be more formal as we approach Championship Play. During Fastpitch games when on defense, only 1 coach will be allowed on the field. You’ll only be allowed to have a First Base and Third Base coach on Offense. I am still receiving numerous complaints about certain teams. Those allegations are really hard to prove.. plus I don’t want to be the roster police. It’s a bureaucratic nightmare. I’m asking everyone to play fairly and ethically. It’s going to cause a lot of changes as we go into next week and next year. It’s sad when a few cause a whole bunch of work on everyone else. Also, please don’t misconstrue anything I said last week as tacit approval. Here’s some basics: This is All-Stars. If they player did not play in at least 7 (50%) of league games for a team in your league, they are not eligible for All-Stars. If a player played on middle school or high school, then wanted to pickup on All-Star team so they can play. They cannot be on an All-Star team unless they meet the minimum game criteria. This mostly effects 12U and 16U. A player can only play on one team per weekend. They can play 12u one weekend, then 16u the next weekend, and then go back to 12u if they are age eligible. But they are locked into the team they first played with on a weekend. No pickups even from your own league are allowed once the first game has started. Starting next weekend, league presidents will have to sign the team roster certifying all players were registered in their respective league and played the minimum number of games to be eligible for All-Stars. It’s a shame that it comes to this… One final word… let’s be nicer to each other. There is way too much arguing and way too much trash … [Read more...] about 2023 Long Beach Invitational Brackets
2023 Biloxi Invitational Brackets
Below are brackets for this weekend’s Biloxi Invitational. We have an amazing 48 teams playing this year. It has to be close to a record. We are full to the gills and then some. That in itself poses some challenges… but there are a number of other conditions we have to manage around. Fast Pitch games will play Saturday and Sunday. We can’t play enough on Friday to not play on Sunday. Tee Ball and Coach Pitch will be Saturday only. No pool games, sorry. With especially big brackets, it’s probably not wise to overwork the pitchers with a practice game anyway. We can use both the baseball and softball side; so that helps. Field 1-4 are on the softball side (left). Field 6-10 are on the baseball side (right). By city ordinance, we cannot start a new inning after 10:00pm and we must suspend play at 10:30pm. With that in mind, our last scheduled game time is 8:00pm on Saturday night. If we run out of time on Saturday, we’ll re-start on Sunday morning. Game times will be no new inning after 55 min in Tee Ball and Coach Pitch. Fast Pitch will play no new inning after 65 minutes. Given the limitations above.. we have to stay on time. If necessary games will be a two inning shootout in all age groups. TB and Coach will play two innings.. if it’s tied, they will play another inning until we have a winner. Fast Pitch will play the same format.. but using International Tie-Break procedure. This is an All-Star tournament and will use the rules for Tournament Play.. They can be found at https://usasoftballsouthms.com/?page_id=4084. The address to the A.J. Holloway Biloxi Sportsplex is 765 Wells Drive, Biloxi. It’s supposed to be very hot on Saturday and Sunday. It’s imperative the girls star hydrating on Friday night. I’ll also ask everyone to watch out for grandma’s and grandpa’s too.. they don’t realize how hot it is out there. They get be highly sensitive to the heat. Finally, I’ve had a number of emails, texts and phone calls this week about teams, eligibility and poor sportsmanship. Everything from she is too old, she isn’t on that team, she didn’t play in that league, etc… I ask everyone to 1) worry about your team and getting them better and 2) adhere to ethical coaching standards; not just doing whatever for a trophy.. 3) provide a role model for these young athletes. Frankly, I’ve got way too much going on to tolerate too much foolishness. It’s been a really tough week for me personally. Both my mom and dad are in the hospital. The news isn’t good and and there will be more difficult weeks ahead. I’m stretched to the absolute limit. The good lord doesn’t give you more than you can handle.. Well the good lord thinks a lot of me… If you’re so inclined, please say a prayer for them.. They need all the support they can get. Thanks for Playing USA Softball! Brackets … [Read more...] about 2023 Biloxi Invitational Brackets