National Senior Softball Summit Team ratings 50+ age division 55+ age division 60+ age division 65+ age division 70+ age division 75+ age division Appeals Forms 2007 national tournaments Winning teams moving up in 2008 2007 Snowbirds Snowbird application (pdf) Advisory Board Members Recommendations: Men | Women Summit minutes Archives Senior Rules Comparison of the different organizations Women's Council Summit Organizations The national senior softball organizations in America: ASA ISA Huntsman Games ISSA LVSSA NASCS NSA SPA SSUSA These ratings are posted as teams play in tournaments sanctions by any of the supporting organizations. If your team's ratings have not appeared within 30 days of playing, please contact the organization that sanctioned the tournament in which your team competed (managers only). If managers have a question about their team or other teams, please contact the organization in which you competed or call the Ratings Coordinator at (916) 326-5303. If team managers have a question regarding the ratings, or information concerning a team's ratings, you can contact any of the nine organizations listed on the home page, or call this website's adminstrator at (916) 326-5303. Web site design by Scott Flodin Privacy policy

Senior Softball Women's Advisory Council (SSWAC) Summit Meeting Minutes, January 10 & 11, 2004 The SSWAC is an organization sanctioned by the Senior Softball Summit, working on issues of interest to senior women's softball teams and players. The council membership, along with contact information, is the following: Name Rep. Primary/Alt. E-mail Pat Blackmon East Primary pat@seniorcycling.com Layla Bryan SPA Primary laylab@attglobal.net Connie Byro LVSSA Primary grannysoftball@aol.com Betti Garnett Florida Primary softball2eag@aol.com Wanda Lanham Media Primary wanda@sandbagger.com Pat Lawlis SS-USA Primary lawlis@aol.com Sylvia Mergl Canada Primary sylviarm@earthlink.net Colleen Needham Northeast Primary canjld@fuse.net Vicki Oltean SSWS Primary vickio@ci.palm-springs.ca.us Judy Lee Schreiber USSSA Primary vickio@ci.palm-springs.ca.us Del Bowyer Florida Alternate DBowyer55@aol.com Diana Gano SSWC Alternate ssaints14@cox.net Pat Blackmon, Connie Byro, Betti Garnett, Wanda Lanham, Pat Lawlis, Sylvia Mergl, and Vicki Oltean were present at the meeting. The minutes of the September meeting were distributed and approved without change. All action items from the previous meeting have been completed. The council approved a letter to be sent to the Gallatin Civic Center thanking them for the use of their facilities for the September meeting. A letter to all Summit organizations informing them of our work was discussed and some changes were suggested. Pat will provide a draft of the suggested changes and e-mail the next draft to the members. The results of the survey we administered in 2003 were discussed. We acknowledged that organizations and regions have some differences in rules, but we discussed the possibility of providing a set of common rules for all of senior women's softball. Connie Byro has already started such a set of rules, and she will head the effort to consolidate the rules for publication by the council. The rules will state that organizations may provide exceptions to account for organizational differences. A common set of rules will help to make the game more consistent among the organizations, and the exceptions will also be easy to identify. We felt that the most important rule to agree on is the alignment of age divisions for the women because there are still a lot of differences among the different organizations. All organizations except LVSSA and SSWS were either already using true age divisions or had agreed to transition in that direction. After long discussions, both of these organizations have agreed to begin a transition to true age divisions next year. The council expressed a concern that opportunities for women who are 45 through 49 should not be diminished. While these women are not true seniors, it is important for them to have opportunities to play at their age level so they can transition into senior ball when they reach 50. Other rules of particular interest include the use of the safety base at first base, allowing at least 13 players to bat to encourage participation, a consistent distance for the scoring line from the plate, a consistent commitment line, and not allowing overrunning of bases. The council emphasized how important it is for members to be willing to challenge our own organizations to make changes that are in the best interest of senior women's softball. Connie Byro brought a draft of a combined women's schedule for 2004. The members discussed these schedules and looked for ways to deconflict some tournaments that are currently scheduled on the same weekend. Changes will be made where possible. Perhaps more importantly, the council decided to discuss deconflicting the 2005 schedule to the extent possible at the next meeting in September, before schedules are published. The council was interested in establishing a playoff of the top three women's teams from each of the organizations' world/national championships. This would determine a true world (or at least North American) champion for each age division. The Summit had addressed the same issue for the men, so Pat Lawlis was appointed to a Summit committee to study how to accomplish a championship playoff. The Summit was discussing the concept of one ID card for all organizations. The council supports the concept of one ID card for one fee, with the expectation that the money would be appropriately distributed to the organizations. We believe that the idea of separate fees paid to each organization, as brought up at the Summit, defeats the purpose of a single card. Ridge Hooks presented the ideas of the National Senior Softball Hall of Fame for women to the council. He made it clear that each of the categories for hall of fame candidates (pioneer player, player, manager, director, and umpire) apply to women as well as men. Two of our members, Pat Blackmon and Vicki Oltean are already members of the Hall of Fame. Vicki Oltean will chair the hall of fame program for the women. Lisa Coffey from The Ledger, a local Winter Haven newspaper, joined the council for a short discussion. We briefed her on our purpose, and she helped us brainstorm some ideas on how to reach more senior women with information on senior women's softball. The council discussed methods of accountability for the members. In addition to the report to the Summit meeting, the council had already decided to write a letter to the Summit organizations to report on our work. We decided to continue this practice at least annually. In addition, we will post all of our public documents on the Summit web site. We also continue to ask Wanda Lanham to post our work (or links to it) on sandbagger.com. Connie Byro indicated that she is in the process of putting up a web site for senior women's softball that will not be affiliated with any particular organization. It will be at www.womensseniorsoftball.com, and Connie will also post our work or links to it on this site. All organizations are also encouraged to post links to our documents on their web sites. Pat Lawlis will put together a historical notebook of all public documents of the council's work that will be available at all council meetings. The next meeting will be at the USSSA Women's World Tournament in Sherwood, AR on September 9th. The council requested that Judy Lee Schreiber try to get the managers' meeting scheduled as early as possible, with the SSWAC meeting immediately following, so we can have as much time as possible to meet. Action items: 1. Pat Lawlis will provide a new draft of the letter to the organizations concerning our work. 2. Pat Lawlis will prepare meeting minutes and send to the council members. 3. Connie Byro will consolidate the list of women's rules. 4. Connie Byro will consolidate the tournament schedules from all organizations. 5. Judy Lee Schreiber will arrange for a facility for the next meeting at the USSSA tournament on Thursday evening, September 9th, immediately following the managers' meeting. 6. Pat Lawlis will get all SSWAC public documents posted on Summit web site. 7. Wanda Lanham will post SSWAC public documents or links on www.sandbagger.com. 8. Connie Byro will post SSWAC public documents or links on www.womensseniorsoftball.com 9. Pat Lawlis will put together a historical notebook containing all SSWAC public documents. 10. Judy Lee Schreiber will ensure that a rule change proposal is properly submitted to USSSA for action as soon as possible on true age divisions for women (possibly including one transition year). The National Senior Softball Summit approved a National Combined Senior Softball Rating System in its annual meeting in Marietta, Georgia, in February 2000. This website represents the combined ratings that are supported by all nine national softball organizations. If you have a question regarding the ratings, changes in team names, disbanded teams, or teams that have moved up in age group, or information concerning a team's ratings, you can contact any of the three members of the Ratings Committee listed on the appeals form.

Summit Organizations The national senior softball organizations in America: ASA ISA Huntsman Games ISSA LVSSA NASCS NSA SPA SSUSA National Senior Softball Hall of Fame