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 talking. I had one umpire was driven to tears last weekend due to abuse. Subsequent situations will be handled via the Zero Tolerance Policy. Remember it’s supposed to be about the kids.. We should be the role models for how we relate to one another. Let’s make it a great weekend of softball.
Thanks for Playing USA Softball,,,