Now, over 500 persons annually attend the National Meeting. This move has benefited USSSA and Osceola County in many positive ways. Along with this new blood in the leadership position, registrations by teams and umpires grew tremendously. 0 bids. In 1995 Don DeDonatis was elected to a two year term as National President of the Association. All information filled in below should match the information as shown on USSSA.com. Attendance at the National Meeting topped 600 delegates. It all began in a motel room in Pittsburgh, PA, in 1968 when a group of disenchanted slow pitch managers of past National championship teams and directors met to find an answer to advancing and updating the popular game of slow pitch softball. In 1989 Jim Ports was voted in the president position of the USSSA as its eighth president and American Airlines became the first official airline of the USSSA. USSSA governs 13 sports across the US, Puerto Rico, various US Military bases and Canada, and has a membership of over 3.7 million. The manufacturers could see the future potential of the USSSA. See USSSA rule below. All-Stars is a playing level for actual All-Star teams formed from USSSA Sanctioned Drafted Leagues. His shrewd ability to stay one jump ahead of rivals, who did not want to see USSSA survive, was amazing. Several more meetings resulted in the birth of the United States Slo-Pitch Softball Association. So, we ended up (yeah for us) with a red on … The players have now formed a new team. USSSA Soccer / 2 years ago. The next year was a great year for the USSSA as they elected their first members to the USSSA Hall-of-Fame. USSSA is the World's Largest Multi-sport Athletic Organization. The remaining 9 sports account for over 350,000 registrations in USSSA, including Tae Kwan Do and Soccer, two sports that USSSA holds events in Osceola County. Mueller advised the Association that he could no longer serve as Chief Officer. The USSSA had over 95,000 teams registered with 20,000 of the registrations being from fast-pitch, baseball, basketball and golf. Many call it a miracle, but somehow the USSSA was able to survive every setback and refused to go down for the count. Accreditations; Our Clients; Our Services. Also has a nice grip. Pros: Bat works great my 7 year old son used it in league ball last year was crushing the ball off the coach. But in 1977, USSSA was forced to reopen the lawsuit against the ASA to stop actions by some ASA Commissioners who refused to abide by the settlement agreement. Needless to say, the history of USSSA represents a “Real Success Story”. In 1979, the 11-inch softball was adopted for the Women’s and Youth Programs in a dramatic move. Players shall be permitted to participate with an All-Star team and an A, AA, AAA or Major team pursuant to USSSA Rule 3.00. The B, C, & D World Tournaments are not only expanded to 64 teams but have implemented a policy to give the top team in each state a berth to the appropriate World Tournament. Needless to say, the Executive Board had its work cut out when it met in November of 1971 in Petersburg, VA. Board members who took part at that eventful meeting, included Ramsey, Ellis, Ciaccia who was elected Eastern Division Executive Vice-President, Betty Minter of Louisville, KY, elected National Women’s Coordinator; Floyd Salter of Rochester, NY, elected National Umpire-In-Chief. In 1987, the membership total passes 100,000, an all-time high for this organization. ⚾️ ⚾️ It’s baseball time! If the bat speed is equal, you will get better power out of the -8, but that simply because you will have more mass behind the ball. The 1987 season marked the year USSSA passed 100,000 in total membership, and Al Ciaccia was elected the seventh president. The alliance was dissolved in January of 1976 after ASA amended its bylaws to allow teams to participate in non-ASA sanctioned tournaments without penalty or suspension. A year later, Harry Marsh was named full-time Director of Communications and Media Relations. Your state director governs your roster in events not included in the Conference. They made decisions that turned the USSSA around and headed it in the right direction. Softball History USA © 2021. Al Ramsey made USSSA softball what it is today. After careful review, the decision was made to continue and the Executive Board elected Al Ramsey, a 40-year old Petersburg native, as National President. In the fall of that year, a meeting was held in Petersburg, Virginia to decide whether to continue with the organization. The USSSA, founded in 1968 as the United States Slo-Pitch Softball Association, but renamed in 1997 to the United States Specialty Sports Association, is the only association that still has a men's major slow-pitch program alive. In 1972 things started to happen. With strong leadership in all six divisions, USSSA enjoyed a great year. USSSA was chartered that year in Wisconsin. In debt and with directors resigning, the Association reached a climatic point of whether to continue. The meeting also saw J. Larry Palmer, USSSA Legal Counsel from Hopewell, VA, elected as the sixth USSSA National President. On Monday, Texas-based Scrap Yard FP faced off against The USSSA Pride in Melbourne, Fla., in what was supposed to be the first of a seven-game series. The Association headed into 1991 with an expanded specialty program, with World Tournaments added for Black American and Women’s Industrial Programs. Several more meetings resulted in the birth of the United States Slo-Pitch Softball Association. For the first time in the history of the association, Robert Boudreaux was elected a second term as the Associations National President. Tom Raines was elected National President of the Association. The City of Petersburg sent a delegation to the 1976 USSSA National Meeting and offered to donate two acres of land to construct a National Headquarters and Hall of Fame Building. Slow-pitch softball, baseball, fast-pitch softball, and basketball athletes make up approximately 90% of USSSA's membership. Communication lines are now wide open throughout the country. The USSSA organization was formed in the spring of 1968 after the founders' ideas were turned down at a different national softball association's national meeting. The entire complex will include 1.3 million square feet (120,774 square meters) of turf. The USSSA expanded even more to have divisions in the Army along with a couple other branches. The court ruling was a total victory for the USSSA and slow pitch softball teams. In 1999, Vice Presidents were named for the baseball and basketball sports and for the first time in the history of the organization, Robert Boudreaux was elected to a second term as the National President of the Association. After a banner year in 1994, the Association at its National Meeting, approved a Mixed World Series for the 1995 season. Several more meetings resulted in the birth of the United States Slo-Pitch Softball Association. The 1978 season saw the birth of the Youth Program which has grown steadily ever since. The complex is a new $50 million state-of-the-art multi-purpose complex with15 multi-purpose all-turf fields and a new 18,000-square-foot (1,700 m2) building which houses the USSSA National Hall of Fame and Sports Museum. For the government agency, see, United States Social Security Administration, "United States Specialty Sports Association", Learn how and when to remove this template message, Amateur baseball in the United States § Youth baseball, "United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) - Court & Field Dimension Diagrams in 3D, History, Rules – SportsKnowHow.com", "Having a Blast at Space Coast Marlins' New Spring Stadium Seemed to Have Something for Everyone", "Royals Become Park's First Loser Marlins Pound Appier in Inaugural Game for Space Coast Stadium", "Space Coast Stadium transforming to youth sports hub". Many of the Association was completely out of Viera, FL Communications and Media.... For slow pitch softball and sporting goods manufacturers basketball and Golf team classification system in the of. The post-season Tournament Program was adopted to offer teams sound accident insurance coverage at low cost 65-foot base and... 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