More Than 600 Teams Expected at Sixth Annual LVSSA/SSUSA World Masters Championships

Sept. 1, 2017

Las Vegas – The 2017 Las Vegas Senior Softball Association (LVSSA)/Senior Softball-USA (SSUSA) World Masters Championships (WMC) is expecting to draw more than 600 teams, shattering last year’s record of 564 teams.

Among the 600-plus teams are over 10,000 players representing 48 states, as well as Washington DC, five Canadian provinces and Guam.

Men’s divisions ranging from ages 40 to 85, and Women’s divisions ranging from ages 40 to 50 will compete.

The tournament will begin with the Men’s 55’s and 60’s age divisions, playing Friday – Sunday, September 22 – 24. The opening weekend will feature 194 teams, making it the largest session in tournament history. 

The highlight of the first session will be the inductions of Gary Deaton (Dayton, OH) and Jon “Bully” Kramer (Culver City, CA) into the National Senior Softball Hall of Fame (NSSHOF) in the Player Category on Friday, September 22, during the opening ceremonies at Lorenzi Park Softball Complex. 

The WMC continues with 144 teams in the Men’s 65’s, 70's, 75's, 80's and 85’s age divisions, Monday – Thursday, September 25 – 28. The elder statesmen of the sport highlight the second session, as twenty-four 75-year old, thirteen 80-year old and four 85-year old teams are scheduled to take the field.

Additionally, there will be 10 inductions into the NSSHOF during the opening ceremonies of the second session on Monday, September 25 at Big League Dreams, as Ed Carey (Danville, CA), Billy Mack Lough (Garden Grove, CA), Dale McLaughlin (Surprise, AZ) and Bob Ross (Sun City West, AZ) enter the Hall of Fame in the Player Category; Robert Davis (Woodland, CA), Norman Haltrich (North Palm Beach, FL), Kenneth Lockman (Chula Vista, CA) and James Phillips (Berkeley, CA) enter in the Pioneer Player Category; Patrick Carey (Owings Mills, MD) enters in the Manager Category; and Terry Hennessy (Loomis, CA), SSUSA CEO, enters in the Director Category.

Up next will be the 152-team Men’s 50’s age division, taking the field Friday – Sunday, September 29 – October 1. Highlighting the third session will be the incredible 85-team Men’s 50 AAA division, the largest division in tournament history. Included in the Men’s 50 AAA division is Whacko’s, a team made up entirely of deaf players. The team will be making their third straight appearance in the WMC.

The WMC concludes Friday – Sunday, October 6 – 8 with the Men’s 40’s (83 teams) and all the Women’s (39 teams) divisions. 

The highlight of the fourth session will be the teams from Guam receiving the 2017 Steve Simmons Memorial Team Sportsmanship Award, the top award given by SSUSA annually. 

“This award transcends the game itself,” said Terry Hennessy, SSUSA CEO. “It stands for all that is good in the sport: passionate competition played with good humor and good fellowship - that is the formula for good sportsmanship. The beauty of good sportsmanship is that it incites a love of the game for all who witness it.” “The teams from Guam have demonstrated the highest level of sportsmanship and provide an example to teams throughout the sport.”

About Senior Softball-USA
Senior Softball-USA is dedicated to informing and uniting the Senior Softball Players of America and the World. Senior Softball-USA sanctions tournaments and championships, registers players, writes the rulebook, publishes Senior Softball-USA News, hosts international softball tours and promotes Senior Softball throughout the world. More than 1.5 million men and women over 40 play Senior Softball in the United States today.