13th ANNUAL TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS: Polk County Is ‘The County of Choice’

Nov. 1, 2018

POLK COUNTY, Fla. - The Crown Jewel of Senior Softball enters its 13th year here in 2019, pitting the best of the best on the softball diamonds.

Congratulations to all teams that qualified for the 2019 TOC during the 2018 season. CLICK HERE for the full list of qualified teams. Official invitations will be going out in the mail shortly to managers. Entry deadline in Jan. 2, 2019.

There simply is no other tournament in the sport that comes close to the SSUSA Original Tournament of Champions: Free rings for winners, special edition bats for MVPs, gift bags for every manager, a gala sit-down banquet for 1,500 players and their families – and that does not even include the hitting clinics, skills contests and the All-Star Game!

This year’s tournament will be held Feb. 6-10 and only winners of qualifying tournament are invited. In short, it’s the tournament for champions, only. Second-place teams stay home. This is the original Tournament of Champions and it’s only for those teams that have been previously crowned king of the hill at a Senior Softball USA sanctioned tournament during the 2018 season.

“The TOC here offers the most elite event in the sport to celebrate winners of the top tournaments in the country,” said Terry Hennessy, chief executive officer of SSUSA. “No one offers a tournament that even comes close.”

“It’s a battle of tournament champions taking on tournament champions to determine which team is truly the top team of the year,” he said. “There’s really nothing like it and that’s why teams go all out to come back each year.”

The Tournament of Champions handsomely rewards its winners who received free championship rings and each player earns a TOC certificate. In addition, the most valuable players in each division win a bat.

Tournament festivities begin on Feb. 6 with the hitting clinic in the morning, and the TOC All-Star Game in the evening.

The hitting clinic is open to all players participating in the TOC. Players, please be sure to email Ross@seniorsoftball.com to reserve your spot.

For the All-Star Game, each TOC-competing team will select one player to compete in the game. Two TOC managers will be selected for the All-Star teams. The winning team will play an exhibition game against the Louisville Slugger Warriors on Saturday evening.

Thursday is jam-packed with the Skills Contests in the morning, an optional team practice in the afternoon, and the annual TOC Banquet in the evening.

The Skills Contests will be broken down into four divisions (40/50, 60, 70/80, Women), and include: Precision Hitting (winners receive bats), Home Run (winners receive bats), Speed (winners receive shoes), and Pitching (winners receive gloves). Players, please be sure to email Ross@seniorsoftball.com to reserve your spot.

For the optional team practice, team managers choose a complex in order of preference. Auburndale and Diamondplex are the two complexes available for practice. Field availability will be on a first-come, first-serve basis. SSUSA will schedule the practices and notify managers of their practice time and location by Jan. 14.

The TOC Banquet, held at RP Funding Center, is a free banquet for participating TOC players, their friends and family during which each team will be recognized.

The official tournament games begin on Friday, Feb. 8.