Senior Softball International Tours

New Mid-Winter Tournament/Vacation in the Caribbean!

Senior Softball USA is pleased to announce a new international tournament to be held January 2020 on the beautiful island of Hispaniola.  This inaugural Caribbean Classic will feature one or two SSUSA teams assembled from the USA and Canada playing against local senior softball teams from the Dominican Republic.

SSUSA players and their guests will be staying at the Bavaro Barcelo Palace all-inclusive beachfront resort in Punta Cana.  This resort has experienced zero health incidents involving its guests, yet bookings are down due to the recent media frenzy.  As a promotion and gesture of goodwill, the resort has agreed to waive its usual day use fee and allow up to three Dominican teams to come onto its access-controlled grounds and play against our SSUSA players on its beautiful ballfield, located just 50 yards from the beach (see photos below, included with the itinerary).

“This is a beautiful resort which includes not only all meals at the main buffet or 11 specialty restaurants,” says Jim Goff, Tournament Co-Director, “but also 4 pools, several bars including a sports bar, 24-hour casino, disco, fitness center and spa, business center, 18-hole mini golf (free until 6 pm), tennis courts, multi-sports courts, paddle tennis courts, ping pong, beach volleyball, beach exercise/yoga sessions, free non-motorized water sports such as windsurfing and snorkeling, and free nightly entertainment shows”.  Goff reports that this resort also offers several nominal-fee activities such as billiard tables, a 4-lane bowling alley, arcade games, a wave pool, and a Pete Dye-designed 18-hole championship golf course.

“The ballfield is maintained using the same equipment as the golf course”, Jim adds, “and the grass is like a smooth carpet.  It’s a gorgeous field, and unique in being right on the resort property and just steps from the beach.”

“Our purpose in launching this new tournament/vacation is two-fold,” says Terry Hennessy, CEO of SSUSA, “First, to introduce our version of senior slow pitch to players from the Caribbean and Latin America.  They play by somewhat different rules down there, but they have agreed to play by our rules in this new SSUSA-sanctioned tournament”.

“Secondly”, says Hennessy, “we thought a tournament in January combined with an all-inclusive beach vacation would appeal to SSUSA players, and particularly players living in the upper Midwest and Eastern USA and Canada who for various reasons can’t do the snowbird thing each winter”.  He continues “Flights from these areas to Punta Cana are numerous, direct, and reasonably priced.  And from the Eastern and Central time zones, they aren’t long redeye flights.”

Do not miss this opportunity to be one of the “founding players” for this new tournament.  Come as a team, a partial team, or an individual player.  For this first year, sign-ups will be limited to the first 30 SSUSA-registered players.  The deadline for sign-ups is October 31.

Questions? Call Anthony Ramos at (916) 326-5303.

Final Note on Health and Safety: SafeAround, a website that lets travelers assess risk levels in over 100 countries and cities worldwide, reports that the Dominican Republic is a generally safe country for tourists, and especially those tourists who stay in hotels and resorts on the East side of the island in areas such as Punta Cana, where “the only major risk is getting a bad sunburn”.  The U.S. State Department Travel Advisory service currently rates the Dominican Republic at Level 2, the same health and safety rating as the United Kingdom and France.

Day-by-Day Itinerary
Inaugural “Caribbean Classic” Recreational Tournament/Vacation

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2020

All players and guests should plan to arrive on this day (option to arrive on an earlier day, at additional cost to cover the extra hotel night(s)).

Transfer, Punta Cana International Airport to Barcelo Bavaro Palace (approx. 25-minute enroute).  

After hotel check-in, the rest of the day is at your leisure to take advantage of this all-inclusive resort, including main buffet, 11 specialty restaurants, 4 pools, bars including a sports bar, 24-hour casino, disco, fitness center and spa, business center, 18-hole mini golf (free until 6 pm), Pete Dye-designed 18-hole championship golf course (extra charge), tennis courts, multi-sports courts, paddle tennis courts, ping pong, beach volleyball, beach exercise/yoga sessions, free non-motorized water sports such as windsurfing and snorkeling, free nightly entertainment shows, plus nominal-fee activities such as billiard tables, a 4-lane bowling alley, arcade games, and a wave pool.

SSUSA is asking that all its players bring in their luggage used equipment, still in good condition, for both adult and youth baseball and softball.  There is a charity in the Dominican Republic that specializes in distributing such equipment to the places where it will do the most good.  We will inform you of a central drop-off location for gathering your donations; after getting settled in your room, you may want to relieve yourself of this extra equipment by bringing it to the donation location on this first day of your vacation.

View of beach at the Barcelo Bavaro Palace resort.



THURSDAY - FRIDAY, JANUARY 9-10, 2020

Softball practice for all SSUSA players, 10 am - 12 noon, on the softball field located on site, with batting practice available on the adjacent soccer field.  Note: Although the ball field is located less than a 3-minute walk from the half-mile long beach, depending on where your room is located, you may want to take advantage of the free tram/shuttle that runs a defined route around the resort.

Afternoon is at your leisure to enjoy the resort and its world class beach.  Optional off-site excursions are also available at additional cost and can be booked at the excursions desk located in the main lobby of the resort.

Fenced soccer field (for batting practice), adjacent to ball field.



SATURDAY, JANUARY 11, 2020

First day of the 2-day tournament. Six games, round robin format, all of them played on the field at the resort.  SSUSA players and their guests have lunch in the resort buffet or at any of the bars or specialty restaurants that are open for lunch. Lunchtime snacks will be available at the field from 12 noon until 2 pm for the local Dominican players and their guests.

Game time limit: 1 hour.
Game start times and matchups: 

Game 1 - 10 am, Team USA vs. Team CanAm 
Game 2 - 11:15 am, Dominican Team #1 vs. Dominican Team #2.
Game 3 - 12:30 pm, Team USA vs. Dominican Team #1.
Game 4 - 1:45 pm, Team CanAm vs. Dominican Team #2.
Game 5 - 3:00 pm, Team USA vs. Dominican Team #1.
Game 6 - 4:15 pm, Team CanAm vs. Dominican Team #2.

Evening is at your leisure to enjoy the amenities of the resort, including the free nightly entertainment show.

View of dugout on first base side.

Spectator seating and locker room building, first base side.



SUNDAY, JANUARY 12, 2020

Bracket play.  4-team bracket, seeding determined by Saturday’s round robin results.  All games played on the field at the resort.  SSUSA players and their guests have lunch in the resort buffet or at any of the bars or specialty restaurants that are open for lunch. Lunchtime snacks will be available at the field from 12 noon until 2 pm for the local Dominican players and their guests.

7 inning games, no time limit.
Game 1 - 11:00 am, #2 vs. #3 seed.
Game 2 - 1:00 pm, #1 vs. #4 seed.
Game 3 - 3:00 pm, 3rd Place Game, Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2.
Game 4 - 5:00 pm, Championship Game, Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2.

View of the resort’s on-site field.

Path from ball field to beach, between accommodations buildings.

Free tram/shuttle, helpful in getting around the expansive resort property.



MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 2020

Transfer, Barcelo Bavaro Palace to Punta Cana International Airport (option to leave on a later day, at additional cost to cover the extra hotel night(s)).

One of the beachfront accommodations buildings.

Another view of the half-mile long beach.

A brief video of the resort, showing the various sports available on site:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3gYzi3ekBw

CLICK HERE for the booking form.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Italian and French Riviera Tour

Visit the breathtaking cities and towns of the fabels Riviera by land and sea and play ball in Genoa, Italy and Nice, France!

May 2nd - May 14th, 2019

CLICK HERE TO VIEW TOUR ITINERARY

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________