Just a number: Seniors compete in ISSA softball tournament at Freedom Park

Published 8:06 pm Friday, April 6, 2018

VALDOSTA — Fifty is the new 25; at least for the athletes competing in the International Senior Softball Association tournaments held this weekend at Freedom Park.

Nearly 50 softball teams made up of players ranging from 45 years old to 70 or more converged on Valdosta from as far away as Michigan and Maryland to compete in the ISSA TitleTown USA Championship and the 2018 Women’s Spring National.

The tournament’s began Friday and conclude today as a generation continues to prove age is just a number.

“It’s remarkable how athletic seniors are today,” said ISSA executive director R.B. Thomas Jr. “I like to say that seniors today, ones who stay active, are ageless.

“If you watch the 70-and-over teams that are here, you’ve got guys still hitting it over the fence, and they run, and they slide, and they destroy the stereotype of an old 70-year-old man.”

It doesn’t take long to be able to corroborate Thomas Jr.’s statement — the athletes competing at Freedom Park didn’t hesitate to drop down to the dirt to make a defensive play or slide head-first into base.

The ISSA held its first senior event in Virginia in 1995, but since then its spread across the country as the sport continues to grow in the senior community.

“We were content there for a number of years just to do some stuff in Virginia, and six years ago, we decided we needed to go national,” Thomas Jr. said. “It’s been a phenomenal success, really. Last year, we had a 25 percent growth, and already this year, our entires have exceeded 25 percent more than we had last year.

“We posted our entry forms online January 15, by February 15 we had 1,200 entries.”

Last year, the Valdosta-Lowndes Parks and Recreation Authority successfully earned a stop on the ISSA circuit with some help from the Valdosta Tourism Authority.

VLPRA executive director George Page said, at the time, it was a goal for the organization to bring the first senior tournament to Valdosta. After playing a good host a year ago, the VLPRA convinced the ISSA returned Friday.

Although there’s no locally sponsored team in the field, Lowndes County is represented by a handful of players scattered among the rosters.

There’s never been a local senior softball league held by the VLPRA, but that could change soon.

Aside from the ISSA tournaments, the city of Valdosta has secured the right to host the Senior Softball USA Eastern National Championships at Freedom Park from July 31-Aug. 5, which will bring together between 70-80 teams from around the country.

If local interest continues to grow as some of the best senior players in the nation compete in Valdosta, the VLPRA will explore hosting its own league.

“We are looking at a 50-and-over, possibly,” Page said. “We’ve not had that before, not since we’ve been the authority. So, one of the things we are looking at, we’ve not done that yet, but is to gauge the interest in a senior league, if we could.”

The VLPRA does have adult softball spring leagues open to players 17 and up. Registration is open now at vlpra.com.

Derrick Davis is the sports editor at the Valdosta Daily Times.