Home of Senior Softball-USA and Senior Softball World Championships
| Jan. 14, 2026 mck71 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Roster Question Thx John, been over 5 yrs since I have done any rostering and I know you are running your teams so I will absolutely defer to you on that. I just remember there were some notifications you receive when trying add certain players but honestly wasn't sure if the higher ranking player was one of them (getting old NOT fun :), would be great if they can figure that out! :-) |
| Jan. 14, 2026 mck71 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Roster Question Shaner - There isn't a list of players. If you are a manager of a team that has paid it's annual team fee, you can then go into your team to build your roster and you will see what players are available to select from. If a player you select is a higher rating than your current team, there should be a note attached. Once you construct your team, Home Office can then let you know if you have exceeded the 3 out of Rating players and then you have a choice, play at the higher level or remove the players to get to 3. Been a while since I have done this but this was the way it was done a few years ago. Hope that helps. dkrollw364 - As best as I understand the rules, yes they count. As always "suggested", you should call the Home Office on West Coast time and ask for a Ratings person. They will be able to answer all your questions at one time. |
| Jan. 8, 2026 mck71 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Major+ playing AAA RI has 60M+ = 7 and 55AAA = 6 so technically you could but would count as a chip. That said, you should def call the Home Office and ask a ratings person to be sure, they will know you complete history and give you the correct information. Good luck! |
| Dec. 10, 2025 mck71 | Topic: Players looking to join a team Discussion: Looking for Team in Florida Might want to clarify that you are currently rated a 65M player as Spring Ford was 65AAA when you won Vegas and TOC, don't want teams to think you would count as a chip. Good luck! |
| Dec. 10, 2025 mck71 | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Age Eligibility Team roster composition age exceptions: Men’s 70+ teams may draw up to three underage players, all of whom must be 69. Men's 75+ teams may draw up to five underage players, all of whom must be 74. Men’s 80+ teams may draw up to 7 players aged 78 or 79, with a maximum of three who are 78. Not sure about roster restrictions per tournament, I would suggest calling the Home Office on West Coast time for any additional clarifications. |
| Dec. 6, 2025 mck71 | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Issa max players on roster allowed https://www.seniorsoftball.org/issa-rating-a-roster-information.html |
| Dec. 2, 2025 mck71 | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Winter Worlds revised rules T2 - You ended with "Just a suggestion". Mine was as well, as was Tim's and everyone else's. Tim's was more about a possible safety issue with a runner trying to beat a throw home and slipping on the plate you "suggested". My "suggestion" is that when a plate is not available, as it wasn't in Phoenix, what do we do about that when umpires are not making consistent calls. Sure in a perfect world all fields would be equipped with a plate in the ground that is not slippery that is in the correct place (too many times that has also been an issue). And I like catching, great position so your response to Tim seemed a little disparaging towards that position? Thx BJ for pointing out the mat part, 19 x 34 that the "poor old catcher" can place his foot anywhere on whereas a poor old guy running home has to slip on a plate, got it! And yes I know, you are a lawyer and love to debate. Please feel free to debate away but seriously doubt you will change anyone's mind, ESPECIALLY on this Message Board! :-) |
| Dec. 2, 2025 mck71 | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Winter Worlds revised rules I agree Tim, line is fine, we as players/managers need to make sure we challenge the correct ruling prior to the game, especially if line is not connected to batters box or heaven forbid the line in batters box gets erased "magically", just get the director involved early if umpire is going "rogue"! lol |
| Nov. 19, 2025 mck71 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Pitching screens for tournament play 2026 John - I wouldn't retire if mandatory but for me, would not be the same. I get the safety issue; I really do which is why I wear the helmet when playing SSUSA. When I am not required, I don't. I also play 65M so maybe I am not as worried as you would be playing 55M where I am sure balls come back much faster. Optional is fine, just worried about rule/net consistency which, as an umpire as well, I always try and be, consistent. When you don't have a steadfast rule applied consistently, there is always a possibility of a missed call because it's not something that happens in EVERY game. Too many guys complain about umpires, too high, too flat, out of the box, etc. so now you add a net rule that is used occasionally, could be asking for trouble IMO. Also, there are different nets, you mentioned 4'x7', to me, that is WAY too big, should be the size of a Pitch Safe net at a maximum but again, that might honestly not be possible for every team as Pitch Safe isn't making them any more I believe. Finally, what happens when you have a tournament you are flying to (ex. Vegas), someone's check bag is now used for the net? :-) I should also add that I am a bit prejudiced as my league uses a net, and as I was trying to get behind it because I was not allowed to field the ball, I got hit in the back leg (50M player smoked a ball), leg got infected and was a bit of a mess which cost me quite a bit of down time and money to get fixed. Now, if I didn't have that net, I am sure I make that play (been pitching a LONG time, my instincts are to make the play, so doing something "abnormal" for me got me in trouble, go figure! lol) Excellent debate will be interesting what the Committee decides. Happy Thanksgiving and holidays to all! |
| Nov. 5, 2025 mck71 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Player rating You will have to call the Home Office DD, ask for Ratings person (Bobby helped me with the same question last week). Good luck! |
| Oct. 27, 2025 mck71 | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: What’s the Correct Call? Based on the fact that it is a judgement call, I believe most of us would have granted the base but possibly it was intentional so maybe a good call by the ump. I believe that is why mechanics are very important and if I see contact which I deem to be non intentional, arm goes out and that signals to the runner that I have noted obstruction. If I am running and that happens to me, it's the first thing I look for before continuing onto the next base. Sadly I have been called out when I felt there was obstruction but either umpire didn't see it or possibly believed it was intentional. |
| Oct. 17, 2025 mck71 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Team Ratings TJSenior - I would say in the past 10 yrs I have been playing, they generally go by 10% so if you look at the ones where you have question marks, my "assumption" is they "rounded down" and took only top 3. I feel pretty good about that statement where you show 60AAA with 38 and they took 4 so they rounded up! :-) Also, sometimes they won't make the changes immediately for all winners IF a team has told Dave/Home Office their intentions of attending TOC in Jan because those teams can compete at the level they qualified and then will be moved up after TOC is completed. This has just been my observations in the past 10 years, not perfect but pretty consistent. |
| Oct. 8, 2025 mck71 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Pitching screens for tournament play 2026 As a pitcher I am personally not a fan of screen John. SSUSA mandates that P wear masks, not sure other assoc do that, I know ISSA doesn't mandate it. As a P you can wear protection is you are worried about getting hit. The addition of the screen does add a different rule set to the game and more chances for player/umpire issues for something that is "OPTIONAL"(IMO). All that said, if you send an email or letter into SSUSA Home Office requesting they add it to their discussion for year end rules mtg, they will discuss it. |
| Sept. 2, 2025 mck71 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: SSUSA Individual Player Ratings RI stands for Rating Index. See the sheet below, found under TOURNAAMENTS and then RULES https://seniorsoftball.com/wc/wc2016/Ratings-Index-Chart.pdf |
| Aug. 30, 2025 mck71 | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Rule Question Larry, please tell your friend that they should then AMEND your league rules to make it that way, pretty simple, no? As an umpire, my responsibilities are to make sure the runner does not get in the fielders way EXCEPT if they are STATIONARY on the base because the fielder should know where the base is. So your buddy now wants me as the runner to try and decide how the fielder is going to catch a ball? So if I move to try to get out of the way and the wind blows the ball or the fielder drifts into me trying to move out of the way what is your buddies call? How about if a guy is running so hard after a ball that he goes to the hospital because he ran through a base that quite possibly IF unattended he now trips over that base (where the runner was) and now goes to the hospital with a blown out knee? I am sorry you don't agree with the rule as stated by our UIC and confirmed by BJ (and not DD) but the GREAT thing about local leagues is you CAN work with your league and add/amend your own rules. The line Even if SSUSA has said "we will tolerate runners standing on a base getting sent to the hospital" was a bit much honestly without any known data to back up your statement. And what I mean by data = how many times has this actually happened where someone ran over a player standing on a base and one or both went to the hospital. Bottom line, your playing a moving game, if the runner stays on the base and the fielder tracks the ball and gets close to the base, one would think the fielder should know that and if said fielder was barreling at me, I might move so I don't get run over but I shouldn't have to because THAT IS THE RULE! |
| Aug. 21, 2025 mck71 | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Giving runs to another team Don't think he is complaining Jim, just wasn't sure about the "double" equalizer. And honestly, def a play on words since the equalizer is 5 runs (we already play with 11) so "double" you would think is 10 but it's 7 so really not double based on the def of the word (I know DD would agree on the word play, not the actual rule! lol) We played a 55M team in an earlier tourney (we are 65M) and were given the 7 runs so yes, def a difference as you age up. |
| Aug. 4, 2025 mck71 | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Results from Eastern and Western Championships Eastern results are posted on Tournaments page, Western has Saturday's results and some Sunday. Refresh your downloads possibly? |
| July 24, 2025 mck71 | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Rosters different Age Group Good to know, thanks again Dave! :-) |
| July 23, 2025 mck71 | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Rosters different Age Group Thought because they were different AGE divisions it would be ok but see the difference now (though truly sux when you thought you could help another team out even with some play in games and now you can't because the schedule conflict made it so). Learned something new today, thx Dave and John. |
| July 23, 2025 mck71 | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Rosters different Age Group Not the same division technically John so I believe they can. Eventually there could be a conflict and person would have to pick one team. That is my understanding but as always, call the home office on west coast time for the answer that matters. |
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