REGION CONTINUES TO THRIVE WITH LEAUGES AND TOURNAMENTS

Sept. 1, 2010 – Steve Simmons New England & North Regional Director, Clubs & Leagues

CHARLESTOWN, RI – Almost one year ago the decision was made at the SSUSA’s annual convention to divide what then was the association’s East region into two separate regions, the Mid-Atlantic region (Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia) and the Northeast region (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont).

Steve Simmons, who had been the SSUSA Clubs & Leagues regional director for the East region, assumed the same role for the Northeast region. Michael Boone was named the SSUSA Clubs & Leagues regional director for the Mid-Atlantic region.

Simmons inherited two area directors in the East region, Tom Marum the SSUSA Clubs & Leagues New England area director and Chuck Sharkey the SSUSA Clubs & Leagues New York state director. During the course of the past year an additional clubs & leagues director came on board in the East region with the naming of Bill Read as the SSUSA Clubs & Leagues Rhode Island state director.

Five years ago there was no SSUSA presence in the Northeast region. There were no SSUSA tournaments played in the area and the clubs & leagues program did not exist. But during that year, 2006, the first Northeast SSWC qualifying tournament was scheduled and that was held at the Connecticut Sportsplex in North Branford, CT.

That fledgling eight team tournament was the beginning of what has evolved into a healthy and active SSUSA program in the Northeast. That tournament acted as a springboard for launching the clubs & leagues program in the area and spawning a circuit of SSWC qualifying tournaments throughout New England and New York.

During 2010 the Worcester County Senior Athletic Association, MA (Frank Marcel – league contact) became the sixth Northeast senior softball league to partner with the SSUSA utilizing the association’s clubs & leagues program. There are a total of 84 teams, and approximately 1300 players, in those six leagues who now benefit from the products and services (primarily league insurance) offered through SSUSA’s clubs & leagues program.

The other five leagues, who already were SSUSA partners, are the Cape Cod Old Timers League, MA (Van Khachadoorian – league president), the EMASS Senior Softball League, MA (Stu Gray – league president), the Littleton Senior Softball League, NH (Cliff Crosby – league contact), the Middlesex Senior Softball League, MA (Paul O’Brien – league contact) and the Rhode Island Senior Softball League (Emilio Notarantonio – league president).

The Connecticut SSWC qualifier, held in 2006 and every year since then, introduced the SSUSA to the Northeast region. Familiarity with the SSUSA, through this SSWC qualifier, helped establish the clubs & leagues program in the Northeast and bring the aforementioned six leagues on board. Conversely more teams and players came to know about the SSUSA through their league involvement with the association and this generated enough interest to establish the current SSWC qualifier circuit that now exists in the Northeast. To the delight of the SSUSA the whole process has been self perpetuating.

The 2010 SSWC Northeast qualifier circuit included four qualifiers that attracted around a total of 80 teams. The tournaments were the Connecticut SSWC qualifier (Steve Simmons – tournament director) played in mid-May in North Branford, the Massachusetts SSWC qualifier (Tom Marum - tournament director) played in mid-June in Palmer, the New York SSWC qualifier (Chuck Sharkey – tournament director) played in mid-July in Syracuse and the Rhode Island SSWC qualifier (Emilio Notarantonio – tournament director) played in mid-August in Warwick.

The biggest news with 2010 SSWC qualifier play in the Northeast was the introduction of a senior women’s division in two of the qualifiers. Senior women’s teams played in both the Connecticut and Massachusetts qualifiers and hopes are to establish a women’s division in both the New York and Rhode Island tournaments next year.

In five short years the SSUSA / SSWC program in the Northeast has taken a firm foothold in these seven states. The future looks bright for senior players in this area. To learn more about the program you can contact your local area director or contact Steve Simmons – SSUSA Northeast Region Director, (H) 952-470-9250, (C) 952-239-7674, (E) stnlsimmons@aol.com.