WMC Session 4 (Men's & Women's 50) Moves to Phoenix on New Dates

Sept. 1, 2020

The fourth session of the World Masters Championships (WMC) is moving from Las Vegas to the Phoenix area at the end of October.

“We were very lucky to be able to find an area with enough good fields anytime in October,” said Fran Dowell, SSUSA executive director.  “We appreciate all of the efforts of LVSSA and the Las Vegas area parks to try to get permission for us to use Las Vegas area fields – but unfortunately, they could not confirm that we would be able to use the fields under the Nevada governor’s phase-in plan.”

Now all four sessions of the WMC have been moved from Las Vegas to different locations.

Two weeks ago, SSUSA received notice that Las Vegas fields would not be open for tournaments through the end of September.  As a result, the first and second sessions (55-85 men’s divisions) were moved to St. George, Utah, and the third session (Men and Women 40 Masters) were moved to Kingman, Az.  The first three sessions will be played on their original dates. Schedules for the first two sessions have been posted on the tournament page.

The phase-to-open orders in Nevada, like many states, are based on a formula of the number and percentage of COVID-19 cases in each area throughout the state.  At this stage in Las Vegas, tournaments are not allowed at least through the end of September, and there is no timeline for tournaments to be allowed.

SSUSA and LVSSA worked with both the Nevada governor’s office and the Nevada Attorney General’s Office in an attempt to get permission to run the tournament from Oct. 1-4. 

That effort also failed.

The fourth session of the World Masters Championships, featuring all 50 men’s and women’s divisions, will be in Mesa and Glendale, Az.

Oct. 30 – Nov. 1: Men’s 50 Major-Plus, Men’s 50 AA and all Women’s Divisions.

Oct. 29 – Nov. 1: Men’s 50 Major and AAA

The City of Phoenix fields are closed, but Mesa and Glendale fields are still open.  The tournament will use the Red Mountain, Skyline and Eastmark Softball Complexes in Mesa and Victory Lane in Glendale.

The new Deadline for Entry:  Oct. 8

SSUSA has sent notice to all 50 managers and players entered in the WMC and will be calling managers next week.  Teams that cannot make the new dates will get a full refund.

Roster Help for WMC

In order to help teams losing players during the pandemic, SSUSA is allowing teams to use their master roster for the World Masters Championships. All teams may use their master rosters, including teams that were not able to play in a qualifier.

Those rosters may only have three higher skill level players.

If a 40-65 year old team drops below 15 players, the team may add players in the same age and skill level to get to 15 players.

If a 70-85 year old team drops below 16 players, the team may add players in the same age and skill level to get to 16 players.

In addition, teams can add two (2) players from out of their region (same side of the Mississippi River) if they are in the same age/skill level this season to get to 14 players in 40-65 age groups and to get to 15 players in the 70 and older divisions.

After the entry deadline, teams cannot add players that would change their rating.