Cold, windy, wet! These are some adjectives to describe the beginning of the 2008 senior softball tournament season. Icy winds prevailed over the early tournaments, making the events miserable. Stockton led off with cold winds and rain and was not able to finish the first day. Tournament director Lanny Witt worked tirelessly to keep the fields dry, but the increasing drizzle finally turned the lights out. The tournament was cancelled for the second day.

A week later a shortened tournament, played in icy winds at Modesto’s Rainbow Park, had only two three-team brackets that survived. The teams played a four-game round and then the play was over.

The weather co-operated the following week at Big League Dreams Park in Manteca.

Sunny and mild temperatures made this tournament the first pleasant venue of Spring. The weather brought back misery the following weekend at Brentwood.

Sunshine at Brentwood? Forget it as the icy wind blew across the four fields both days. There were six teams playing on four diamonds. Players wore every kind of sweat shirt and lined jacket to stay warm. Fortitude was the word for the weekend as all teams finished their brackets. Finally a tournament completed the schedule even though most of the play was miserable.

Finally the weather smiled on us last weekend in March. The Tournament Players Association hosted a senior tournament at Yuba City and Sacramento. Warm and sunny weather made the event a pleasure. The enthusiasm of the players signaled the beginning of balmy summer weather. Fans were in attendance and with the cheering and camaraderie of old friends visiting each other, it was the start of another year of competition and camaraderie in senior softball.

Most of the local senior leagues have finished their annual drafts and have started their summer schedule. The estimate is that there are over 457 teams playing in thirty-seven local senior leagues in the north and west, plus many more playing in southern California and Las Vegas.

From all these local players comes the ninety-seven plus tournament teams in the Northern California Senior Softball Association. Some teams do not register until they enter a tournament, so the number at this time is less for 2008 than 2007.

The Northern California Senior Softball Association has again utilized its ranking system. This is a system that places teams from a number one position down to the last team listed. The initial rank starts at the fifty year old teams and drops to the eighty/eighty five age group. Teams are weighted by several factors, their win-loss record, number of tournaments entered, and tournaments won.

This method allows a team within an age group to improve its roster. The stronger a team becomes, the higher it is ranked. It is possible for a sixty year old team to be seeded in a fifty year old bracket. Conversely, a younger, but weaker team may be dropped into an older age bracket.

The purpose of this system is to give parity to teams so they can compete in more evenly matched brackets. The ranking system is fluid, so teams may move up or down throughout the year based on their record.

The Reno Senior Softball USA qualifier is scheduled for May 27 to June 1. The event – Rock ‘n’ Reno Challenge Cup – will host many of the top senior softball teams from the western states. This event is the qualifier for teams planning to go on to major championships sponsored by SS USA.

Beginning this year the NCSSA Tournament held at the Big League Dreams Park in Manteca will not be classified as an NCSSA Championship. The event will instead be an NCSSA Hall of Fame tournament. NCSSA is looking for suggestions on how to qualify members to the Hall of Fame and the Board and its Hall of Fame Committee are seeking nominations for candidates.

There are a lot of players who support the NCSSA. One of those is Dick Martin from Talent, Oregon. Dick has been a sponsor and a player for many years. This year he has registered three teams with the NCSSA: one team sixty-five year olds, one team seventy year olds, and for the first time a seventy-five year-old team. Another first-time entry into the seventy-five year bracket is the Sacramento Mavericks, managed by Dick Seward. These teams will join the Redwood City Chiefs seventy-fives managed by Dean Perkins. Soon there will be enough seventy-five year old teams for their own league.

This is my second contribution to Softball West Magazine. I will consider your ideas for this column, contact me at heypete@sbcglobal.net.