Budget restrictions affect tournament
Posted on Friday, July 4, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Sports/230470/
Twenty-nine years after he first tried his hand at organizing a major softball tournament, Clint Albright still doesn’t have things down to an exact science. If it’s not the ever-shifting field of teams and players, it’s the frequent rule changes that have helped the sport evolve over the past three decades. So just like last year and the year before that, Albright won’t relax until the 29 th annual Pepsi Softball Classic is officially in the books. “There’s always new challenges, because the sport changes,” Albright said.
With 103 teams from 14 states entered in this weekend’s tournament, which kicks off at 6 p. m. tonight with the induction of the Men’s and Women’s Arkansas Softball Hall of Fame class of 2008 at the Sherwood Sports Complex, there will be no shortage of things for Albright to keep tabs on.
As it turns out, there won’t be a shortage of story lines for fans to follow either.
Like years past, the classic is one of a limited number of tournaments that serve as qualifiers for the USSSA Softball World Series in Orlando, Fla. Points are awarded to each team depending on its finish, and the top six finishes are tallied to determine whether that team moves to the season-ending tournament.
It’s a system that allows for one or two bad weekends if a team plays a full slate of tournaments. But that’s become an awful big “if.”
“Most people are on a shoestring budget,” said Chris Walker, coach and sponsor of the Little Rock-based men’s team Fence Brokers.
Walker’s team usually plays six to eight tournaments per season, with the spike in gas prices making it all but impossible to travel across the country for more game experience.
Walker said the total cost for a team playing in a tournament could run anywhere between $ 7, 000 and $ 10, 000.
With costs cutting travel and scheduling, most teams need to perform well every time out.
“It just makes it that much more important that you do well,” Walker said. “It makes every at-bat important.”
As one of four teams in its eight-team division with a first-round bye, Fence Brokers stands a good chance of making the most of this weekend’s opportunity.
On the women’s side, the Bryant Express hopes to defend its championship from a year ago. Pepsi Softball Classic WHAT Pepsi Softball Classic WHEN Starts at 6 p. m. tonight, runs through Sunday WHERE Sherwood Sports Complex and Burns Park softball fields ADMISSION Players and children under 12, free. $ 4 day admission, $ 10 weekend pass good for both sites.