Home of Senior Softball-USA and Senior Softball World Championships
| Jan. 12, 2026 DaveDowell | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Roster Question There's nothing to drop to get down to three because you're NOT ALLOWED to have four (or more) out-of-rating players at your disposal on that master roster ... What I wrote earlier seemed reasonably clear: "Your Master Roster may not at any time have more than the maximum allowable three "out of rating" players __________ §4.21 A. • QUALIFYING ROSTER COMPOSITION "..NOTE: Re-rated players may be included in the maximum of three out-of-rating players allowed for Major, AAA and AA teams.." __________ |
| Jan. 12, 2026 DaveDowell | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Roster Question dkroll3364 ... JohnO28 has accurately stated both the issue and our approach to handling it ... Your Master Roster may not at any time have more than the maximum allowable three "out of rating" players ... We do not permit stockpiling those players because it denies other teams the opportunity to have them available for their own rosters ... Please see the NOTE in the online 2026-27 Rulebook at §4.21 A. • QUALIFYING ROSTER COMPOSITION (page 20) for specifics ... |
| Jan. 11, 2026 DaveDowell | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Fair or foul FOUL BALL - See Rulebook §1.28 C. or §1.28 D. on page 5 ... The critical/sole determining factor is where is the ball in relation to the vertical plane of the foul line AT FIRST CONTACT? ... If it is over foul territory, it's a FOUL ball ... If it's over FAIR territory, it's a fair ball ... |
| Jan. 8, 2026 DaveDowell | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Major+ playing AAA The prohibition against Major+ also playing AAA applies only in the same age division ... So, the answer is: YES, according to the rules, if the player is otherwise eligible as to residency AND the target team has one of its three allowable "out-of-rating" exemptions available ... |
| Jan. 5, 2026 DaveDowell | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Equalizer Question If you're referring to the Senior Women's T.O.C. division, it's a 5-Run equalizer ... If it's Men's play, then it will be either those 5-Runs OR an 11-Defensive-player choice by the team receiving the equalizer ... The Rating Index numbers are only one apart: 50-AAA = 7 and 60-Major = 6 ... |
| Jan. 5, 2026 DaveDowell | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: TOC Fields The 60-AAA are playing at the Auburndale Sports Complex ... That facility has a Winter Haven, FL mailing address, is in an unincorporated CDP ("Census Designated Place") known as Jan Phyl Village and is NOT in the City of Auburndale! ... So, to keep you from getting lost (it has happened to all of us once), here's the best thing to do: Set your GPS or cell phone for the "Auburndale Speedway" ... When you turn into the speedway area on Florida Citrus Blvd., simply go about a quarter mile to the end of the road ... The Softball Complex is on your left, parking on your right ... If you don't see the complex from there, we'll just have to make you an umpire for the weekend ... Good luck! |
| Jan. 1, 2026 DaveDowell | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Total Hip Replacement db14 ... In what looks like a pretty identical story as FOFO's, I had my left hip replaced on 12/02/2020 ... I also had the anterior approach and was 69 years young at the time ... I was in the afternoon surgical window, so they made me stay one night, otherwise it would have been on an out-patient basis ... A physical therapist was in my room and had me up and walking less than two hours after departing the recovery room ... In the morning, another PT showed up, walked me out of the room and made me climb the stairs to the next hospital floor ... We took the elevator back down and when I got back into the room, the discharge nurse was waiting with my "papers" ... I enthusiastically did the PT regimen, and was done with the walker in less than a week and the cane before Christmas; just a shade over three weeks total ... I worked normally as a Tournament Director at the T.O.C. six weeks later in early February ... You didn't mention the PT side of things, but I believe that was the key to my quick recovery ... As always, lean (pun intended) on your orthopedic surgeon for counsel ... Your experience, in my limited non-medical view of the world, seems atypical ... Almost everyone I know who has had this surgery looks back on it and says: "..I can't believe I didn't get this done years ago!.." ... Hopefully that's you saying it too very shortly ... Good luck! ... |
| Dec. 19, 2025 DaveDowell | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: WOW 2026-27 RULE BOOK Thanks B.J. ... We transmitted it to the printer yesterday, so as soon as we have a chance to review the mock-up, we'll be getting the first press run of this iteration out ... Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours, too! ... |
| Dec. 17, 2025 DaveDowell | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Age limit Mark ... It's pretty close to exactly the same answer I gave Greenie above: The age you turn in a CALENDAR YEAR is the age of your eligibility for Senior Softball ... You'll be 60 in 2027, so it's not hard to figure out that the 2027 Season is when you're "Little League 60" ... That season begins in November 2026 ... Good luck! ... |
| Dec. 13, 2025 DaveDowell | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Age limit The age you turn in a CALENDAR YEAR is the age of your eligibility for Senior Softball ... Your "guy" will be 50 in December 2026, therefore he is eligible to play 50+ Senior Softball in the 2026 Season ... That season began on November 1st ... Good luck and have fun! ... |
| Dec. 13, 2025 DaveDowell | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: TOC Field Assignments As with every multi-venue tournament, they are determined and announced shortly after the stated entry deadline ... That's a good date to look back here again ... In the case of the upcoming TOC, that will be Monday, December 29th ... Merry Christmas! ... |
| Dec. 10, 2025 DaveDowell | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Clarification of Rule: PROHIBIT SPECIFIC 'CHIPS' I'm currently drafting the new Rulebook provisions language for these and other sections affected by the National Rules Committee actions ... These two issues will be codified and incorporated in: §4.2(6) • PLAYING IN TWO AGE DIVISIONS and §13.1(1) • DIVISIONS OF THE SSWC • B.3. (for Major teams) • C.3. (for AAA teams) • D.3. (for AA teams) |
| Dec. 5, 2025 DaveDowell | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Issa max players on roster allowed Just a wild guess here, but how about calling ISSA and asking them? ... |
| Dec. 3, 2025 DaveDowell | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Winter Worlds revised rules Thanks, Mike ... The SSUSA National Rules Committee 2025 annual meetings begin this (Wednesday) morning in about 90 minutes ... There's no mention of mandatory scoring plate(s) present in the three-dozen or so items on the official Agenda ... Committee Members from all over the country hit town yesterday, so we'll be busy! ... |
| Nov. 29, 2025 DaveDowell | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Winter Worlds Dates for 2026 Actually, you can narrow it down even further to just the days your 50's would play: November 13th to 15th or 20th to 22nd ... |
| Nov. 22, 2025 DaveDowell | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Winter Worlds revised rules I was the Tournament Director in Phoenix and have asked the Field Directors if such an instruction had been given by them or their U.I.C.'s on site ... The answer was "Nope" for both locations ... The only logical conclusion is that the umpire(s) either [1] misunderstood the concept or [2] just "made it up on the fly" for some reason ... That was wrong and we apologize if there might have been incorrect call(s) as a result ... Runners may run through the unchalked area, but may not run through or over the batter's box or strike mat area ... The V.P. of Umpires has also been advised and may issue a clarification to his crews ... |
| Nov. 19, 2025 DaveDowell | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: SSUSA National Rules Committee 2024 (December 4-6 - Tucson) Please send your identifiable (as to your name and contact information in the event of inquiries) suggestions in writing, preferably by email, to: info@seniorsoftball.com and put "Rules Committee" in the Memo line. They will forward your correspondence to the Chair. Time is relatively short on this because the Chair is currently preparing the meeting Agenda and supporting materials ... Thank you ... |
| Nov. 18, 2025 DaveDowell | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Atta boys LM26 ... The 60-Major "If" game doesn't show up, but the Iowa Demons defeated Regee's Rams (13-12) ... The last game that shows is the Championship game #1 ... That's part of a growing list of "bug fixes" we will be addressing ... Thanks for mentioning it ... This release is a bit of a "beta test" version, and the technical side of Who I Follow did a great job in my view of implementing in a very short time my custom Scheduling System developed over the past 20± years ... First priority was speed and accuracy of individual game scoring (they nailed it) and secondary was bracket advancement ... They did that reasonably well, too, but programming "conditional If-needed games" isn't as easy as it looks! ... |
| Nov. 18, 2025 DaveDowell | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: What is the ruling "Not really" ... But when someone must have said something like, "Hey, where did he go?", you could consider that a casual appeal! ... That's a continuing violation and he can be called out at any time upon discovery ... |
| Nov. 17, 2025 DaveDowell | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: arbitrary new rule change in the 75 AAA Phoenix Winter Worlds Jerry ... In your initial Message Board post (welcome to the community!), you asked that someone respond to it ... I am happy to do so ... Here are some relevant points on topic for you ... • There is NO ..arbitrary new rule change.. of any sort as you state ... For at least the last 15 years, longer than you have been playing SSUSA softball (since 2013 with Sims 60-AA), the following statement has appeared on every event tournament page ... It was no different this time, and I'm somewhat surprised, in your 13 years of SSUSA ball at principally the AAA and AA level, you do not remember experiencing blended ratings in a single competition division ... The 75-AA team that won your division did not ask or plot to "move up", but rather were placed there by us because we believed that was a better competitive place for them instead of 80-AAA ... Note: SSWC reserves the right to combine divisions of three or fewer teams within one age level and/or skill level. • You also seem to believe that you have earned Championship awards by virtue of finishing second in your division ... On the actual tournament schedule, published a full TWO WEEKS prior to beginning play, the handling of Awards was clearly and specifically stated ... There was NO 75-AAA division of play, and you (and everyone else) lost to a team in the 75-Silver division with an inferior rating level ... The governing format information appears below, but the simple and accurate explanation is that you did NOT win your division, and therefore did not earn first place awards ... I'm not sure where your misunderstanding arose that you could buy Championship shirts, but that is not true ... If you want to acquire the official Tournament shirt for your players from Elite, that is certainly permissible so long as you don't put the word "Champion" or similar on them ... __________ Format Two (2) game Round Robin to seed 75-Silver Three-game-guarantee bracket NOTE Team #6 must WIN bracket to earn 1st Place Awards and 2027 T.O.C. bid in 75-AA • If Team #6 wins, Runner-up earns 2027 T.O.C. bid in 75-AAA • ONE AWARDS SET __________ • Your site field Director accurately explained all of this to you, and he graciously honored your request to discuss it with me as the Tournament Director ... I asked him to convey that our decision to follow our published format and rules would be maintained. Since there was NO RULE CHANGE, you are certainly welcome to propose such a change to our National Rules Committee, which considers potential modifications one time annually ... This year's sessions are coming up in the first week of December in Sacramento, and we would welcome your participation ... Thank you for taking the time to write ... |
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