I don't know if anyone saw this or not. I took a look at the minutes and it looks like SSUSA has changed the ball for 2018 season... Copied from the minutes from the convention -
Effective for the 2018 Tournament Season, the Official SSUSA
Softball Specification is the BSN 44 cor/375 compression Micro‐Cell Technology
STOTE optic yellow softball. The change was made to address
concerns regarding consistent performance in varying environmen
tal conditions, specifically noticeable
with high temperatures and/or humidity. This softball will be
the official ball for all except the
LVSSA/SSUSA Southwest and World Masters Championships in
Las Vegas, which will use ”The Rock”
softball. The BSN TRUMP softball may still be used, or purchased, while supplies last.
I don't know about you but I believe this is fantastic news for SSUSA...
Congrats on making the change...
Hail Ragna
I did see this-- first off, really happy they are changing the ball to something better in the heat/humidity. This is a very positive thing and shows they listen to feedback, which is all we can really ask for.
In the opinion of some of you more experienced senior players, how would you compare this new ball to the Rock? Is it closer to the Rock than the stote ball used last year and previous years in non-Vegas tourneys?
The presumption in changing to the STOTE Micro-cell Technology is that it will not exhibit a significant performance variation/degradation factor as the TRUMP softball does in higher temperatures and/or humidity ... We did NOT make the change for the purpose of moving closer to the performance characteristics of "The Rock", nor do we expect that to be the case ...
My interest is solely better performance in heat/humidity. I played in SoCal Championships in hot weather last year and the ball was a major disappointment due to unseasonably hotter/humid conditions.
I do not believe I have hit this new ball in a tourney, so I wanted to know how it performed when compared to the ones we have it (last years stote and the rock). I am perfectly fine with last years stote under normal conditions. I am just glad we will not have a repeat of what happened last year when the ball clearly under-performed at this particular tournament.
Thanks for the clarification and the willingness to listen/observe what's really going on out there.
I'm surprised not many have chimed in on this topic, considering how many have complained about the Trump Stote (myself included).
I have never hit the Microcell Stote, so I can't comment on it.
Has anyone? Opinions?
The microcell ball by State is a consistently good performing ball in all types of weather. So much so that I used that platform for my own Team 1 Sports Softball. I Give credit to the management at SSUSA for listening and choosing a great product that the players will enjoy using. Great job SSUSA and thank you for creating great events for all of us senior players to enjoy.
Alan Tanner
Team 1 Sports
Oops
Darn spell check.... it should have said STOTE not State!
AT18
Hi All:
I was also one of the complainers about the Trump Stote so SSUSA thank you for making the change to a better ball. We appreciate your efforts.
I have not hit this new ball either but looking forward to giving it a shot.
James
I believe the new ball being talked about was used in the Homerun Derby at last years TOC....it did have better performance than the regular Trump Stote. We had a mirco cell ball in our game rotation of balls n had to throw it out! We actually thought it was the same tourney ball...hopefully this will lead to SSUSA using just one ball! Aloha, Fabe
Thank you for listening, it is very much appreciated SSUSA Staff. Now can someone point me to a website in which I can see what this ball looks like? I've tried google and I can see some balls with the Micro Cell stamp but those also say ROCK on the front. Any help would be appreciated
Fabe, most likely won't see one ball in the near future. Neither SSUSA or LVSSA is about to change.
Fabe and curveball ... The new Official Softball Specification is the only authorized softball for the 2018 season, except for the LVSSA/SSUSA Southwest and World Masters Championships tournaments ... The contractual terms of the joint tournament promotion agreement by and between LVSSA and SSUSA for those two events vests the selection of the official softball solely with LVSSA ... The only restriction on that LVSSA right is that the ball must be from the product line of the SSUSA's official softball vendor ... That vendor is BSN and the ball of choice by LVSSA is "The Rock" ...
Thank you. 214 teams at SW Worlds in Vegas and 613 teams at the World Masters same location, The Rock in play for both. Like The Rock or not, those 2 tournaments aren't broken, there is no need to fix!
I will play with whatever ball is choosen! I understand contracts, just seems odd to have various balls being used by a Large n Powerful Organization! Let's have a fun 2018...stay safe n healthy Braddahs! Aloha, Fabe
This is great news. As the person who owns the trademark rights to Microcell technology I can tell you SSUSA has chosen the appropriate mixture of materials and technology for this ball. It wont be too hot in the cold and wont suffer from thermal degradation in higher temps.
I believe many of you will be satisfied with this choice.
Great Job SSUSA
SSUSA, I think a big thank you is in order for your decision to change balls. Now if you will have more tournaments in Alabama/Georgia/Florida Panhandle we can enjoy this change.
Perl- ask and you shall receive. The Eastern Nationals are moving to Valdosta, GA this year.
And- there will soon be another tournament posted. In partnership with the Independent Sports Association (ISA) we are adding another TOC qualifier in the panhandle area this spring.
ISA Spring Nationals
March 8-10 at Frank Brown Park
Panama City, FL
to reply or add to a discussion or post your own message and start a new discussion. If you don't have a message board account,
. It will only take a moment.