Rick Seifman Inducted into SSUSA Hall of Fame

Nov. 1, 2019

Rick Seifman (right) with SSUSA CEO Terry Hennessy, is presented with SSUSA Hall of Fame Plaque.

PHOENIX – Rick Seifman, a guiding force in the development of Senior Softball USA since 1996, was officially inducted into the Senior Softball-USA International Hall of Fame during the 2019 Winter World Championships here.

As part of the Class of 2019, Siefman was elected into the Director/Umpire Category.

Seifman currently serves as an SSUSA National Director, as well as SSUSA Vice President of Umpires. Additionally, he serves as the Southwest Region VP - Arizona State Director for Independent Sports Association (ISA).

“Rick has been instrumental in developing softball in Arizona for a number of decades – and he and his wife Marjie Patterson have been key to Senior Softball USA’s expansion into the sport’s premier senior program since 1996,” said Terry Hennessy, SSUSA’s chief executive officer, in his induction speech for Seifman.

“Rick and Marjie began running softball tournaments in 1987 to pay for a competitive men’s team, Dudley Sports/Thunder.  Rick played first base and coached Thunder at the time,” said Hennessy.

Marjie Patterson recalled the team’s success: “In 1990 we placed 2nd in the Men’s C World Qualifier out of 212 teams at Twin Creeks in California.  At the time in USSSA only the top 16 teams in the nation - 2 from each qualifier could travel to the World tournament.  That same year we traveled and won the C World in Lexington, South Carolina.”

Not too long after that they met Bob Mitchell and Terry Hennessy, and started traveling and working SSUSA tournaments in Colorado, Florida, Arkansas, Georgia, Canada, California, Nevada and Illinois.  

“There WERE interesting memories,” said Hennessy. “Searching for balls in the snake-infested swamps that surrounded fields in the deep South to recruiting umpires to work for free in Chicago (that experiment, not surprisingly, failed quickly), to dodging sleet during an early (and thankfully short) storm in Canada.”

“Through it all, Rick always showed a “can-do” attitude – despite some pretty crazy ideas early on from Bob Mitchell and me,” said Hennessy.  “We tried most of them, learned from the failures and Rick built one of the best national umpiring corps in the nation.

The Class of 2019 also includes Joe Franco (Player Category), Ken “Bogie” Van Bogaert (Player/Specialty Category), and Hugh Brotherton (Manager Category).

Franco held his induction earlier this season during the Northwest Cup, while Bogaert and Brotherton will both be inducted during the Hall of Fame Banquet at the 2019 SSUSA/ISA National Convention in Las Vegas next month.

SSUSA International Hall of Fame

Class of 2009
Bob Mitchell, CA - Special/Founder
Jim Sherman, WA - Player

Class of 2010
Billie Harris, AZ - Player
Otis Rowland, CA - Director

Class of 2011
JB Barner, FL - Umpires
John Chacon, CA - Player

Class of 2012
Jack Hudson, FL - Manager
John Meeden, IL - Player

Class of 2013
Guy Grasso, NV - Player
Terry Hennessy, CA - Director
Steve Simmons, MN - Director

Class of 2014
Jerry Jackson, IL - Director
Mike Vetovich, WA - Player
Top Gun Softball Club, CA - Organization

Class of 2015
Michael Boone, NJ - Player
Bill Ruth, WA - Lifetime Achievement
Chuck Towne, TX - Manager

Class of 2016
Audie Hollis Jr., FL - Player
Al Murray, FL - Manager
Clyde Phillips, CA - Player
Don Stratton, FL - Director

Class of 2017
Norm Blackwell, CA - Manager
Daniel Minnick, CA - Player

Class of 2018
Bobby Davis, FL - Player
Fran Dowell, CA - Director
Diana Gano, AZ - Manager