From the Dugout: When COVID-19 Strikes

Sept. 1, 2020

By Terry Hennessy
SSUSA CEO

This week, two 60 AA Colorado players and a girlfriend reported feeling sick after leaving the tournament and tested positive for COVID-19.  Additionally, three 60 Major Plus and three 55 Major Plus players, all from Texas, also tested positive for COVID-19. 

As soon as we found out about the cases, we contacted all the 55 and 60 division managers of teams and we strongly recommended their players be tested as soon as possible.  We also asked that they let us know as soon as possible if there were other cases. 

The hotels in which the players stayed were contacted, as well.

To put this in perspective, this is nine people out of more than 2,000 players in the first session. However, we could not take any chances.

We found out about the first reported cases on Monday afternoon, and Tuesday morning we dramatically tightened the restrictions on the fields in hopes of staving off any spread of the virus during the second and third sessions of the WMC. 

All spectators were moved out of the complex and required to watch the games from outside the outfield fence. Masks in the complex were strictly enforced.

We have been asked why we don’t just stop holding tournaments until there is a vaccine.

We believe the nature of the sport, the good health of players, and the pandemic rules we put into place make the tournaments as safe as possible for those players who want to compete. 

We have been able to run 27 of the 90 tournaments we normally hold.  Thousands of players have competed and only a handful of those have contracted COVID-19 – and almost all of those cases resulted from family gatherings, not the tournaments.

More importantly, there have been no serious cases or deaths reported from our tournaments.

There is still a risk.

Players and their families need to make up their own minds on that risk: We cannot and do not pretend to guarantee that no one will contract COVID-19 at a tournament. Our goal is to make the tournaments as safe as possible for those who recognize the risks and still want to compete.

I played in the second session of the World Masters, just like several hundred other players.  I will not ask anyone to take a risk that I am not willing to take myself.  Having said that, I can’t wait to get back to tournaments when we don’t need all of these pandemic rules!

Terry Hennessy is chief executive officer of Senior Softball USA and can be reached at terryh@seniorsoftball.com.