ASA/USA Softball honors members in OKC at Wilson Sporting Goods Luncheon

November 14, 2013

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ASA/USA Softball honors members in OKC at Wilson Sporting Goods Luncheon

 

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America, the National Governing Body of Softball in the United States, and USA Softball recognized members and tournament hosts during the Wilson Sporting Goods sponsored luncheon at the 82nd Annual Governing Council Meeting on Wednesday in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Awards were given in three categories: years of service to ASA/USA Softball, registration increases and excellence in conducting ASA/USA National Championships in 2013.

A complete list of award winners is included at the end of this release. Photos from the luncheon are available on the official Facebook page of ASA and USA Softball: Click here

The first awards given out Wednesday were the James Farrell Certificates and Awards of Excellence for excellence in conducting ASA/USA National Championships. To attain the James Farrell Award of Excellence, named in honor of former St. Louis ASA commissioner and national office staff member James Farrell, cities must do an outstanding job of hosting ASA/USA National Championship Tournaments. The host city must receive an overall rating 95 percent from the ASA Representative, Umpire-In-Chief and National Office. An additional eight cities were given a James Farrell Certificate of Excellence for obtaining a 90-94 percent rating. Lastly, ASA/USA also recognized five additional cities who hosted National Championship tournaments in 2013 with Certificates of Appreciation.

 

2013 Award Recipents

eight of the highest rated tournaments

Burlington, North Carolina

 

four of the highest rated tournaments

Ridgeland, Mississippi

 

three of the highest rated tournaments

Salem, Oregon

 

two of the highest rated tournaments

Bloomington, Indiana • Bowling Green, Kentucky • Canton, Ohio • Findlay, Ohio • Medford, Oregon • Prescott, Arizona • Rochester, Minnesota • Rolla, Missouri • Roseville, California • St. Joseph, Missouri • Sterling, Virginia • York, Pennsylvania

 

one of the highest rated tournaments

Andover, Minnesota • Bakersfield, California • Bismarck, North Dakota • Chattanooga, Tennessee • Clearwater, Florida • College Station, Texas • Columbus, Georgia • Cumming, Georgia • Johnson City, Tennessee • Kaysville, Utah • Kent, Washington • LaPlata, Maryland • Montgomery, Alabama • Nevada, Iowa • Normal, Illinois • Pekin, Illinois • Port Huron, Michigan • Salem, Virginia • San Diego, California • South Bend, Indiana • Springfield, Missouri • Sunnyvale, California • Tallahassee, Florida • Virginia Beach, Virginia

 

James Farrell certificate of excellence

Cedar Rapids, Iowa • Bloomington, Indiana • North Mankato, Minnesota • Overland Park, Kansas • Spokane, Washington • St. Joseph, Missouri • Stockton, California • Tupelo, Mississippi

 

James Farrell certificate of excellence

Columbus, Ohio • Lawton, Oklahoma • Liberty, Missouri • North Mankato, Minnesota • Peoria, Arizona

 

Twenty-one ASA/USA local associations were given benchmark awards for increases in the registering of adult and youth teams and umpires. The local associations receiving awards had to have an increase of at least 10 percent and/or an increase of more than 100 teams or umpires over five years of registrations to get an award. 

 

CENTRAL VIRGINIA ASA (Henry Pollard)

CHICAGO ASA (Tom O’Neill)

CINCINNATI ASA (Dave Maury)

Florida ASA (Carlton Benton)

FORT WORTH ASA (Brenda Grubbs)

GREATER SAN JOAQUIN ASA (Matt Pfeifer)

HAWAII ASA (Don Meinel)

HOUSTON ASA (Stoney Burke)

KENTUCKY ASA (Bill Bollinger)

MONTANA ASA (Bob Rowling)

NEWARK ASA (Angelo Frannicola)

OAKLAND ASA (John Gouveia)

PIEDMONT VIRGINIA ASA (Andy Dooley)

PORTLAND ASA (Ron Boley)

RHODE ISLAND ASA (Beverly Wiley)

SAN ANTONIO ASA (Herman Garza)

SOUTH CAROLINA ASA (Gerald McDonald)

SOUTHERN NEW YORK ASA (Glen Payne Sr.)

ST. LOUIS ASA (Mel Pinkley)

UTAH ASA (Steve Rollins)

WEST VIRGINIA ASA (Andy Dooley)

 

double play - Increases in TWO OF THE THREE CATEGORIES: adult teams, youth teams and umpires Hawaii ASA (Don Meinel)

Houston ASA (Stoney Burke)

pIEDMONT vIRGINIA ASA (Andy Dooley)

wEST vIRGINIA ASA (Andy Dooley)

_____

Most total registrations

9,277

Pennsylvania ASA (Andy Loechner Jr.)

Most youth team registrations

6,423

Southern California ASA (Phil Gutierrez)

Most adult team registrations

4,044

Pennsylvania ASA (Andy Loechner Jr.)

Most umpire registrations

1,947

Pennsylvania ASA (Andy Loechner Jr.)

The final awards of the afternoon were the service awards. In the service award category, 40 members were given the awards for their five, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40 and 50 years of service to the organization.

five years

Clovis Unified School District, Allied Member

Jim Fanning, Massachusetts ASA

Wayne Funderburke, Florida ASA

Alfred Macias, Texas ASA

Joe Robinson, Arizona ASA

Bill Robison, Pennsylvania ASA

Salem (OR) Parks & Rec., Allied Member

Special Olympics Oregon, Allied Member

Special Olympics Int’l, Allied Member

Tualatin Hills Park & Rec., Allied Member

U.S. Navy, Allied Member

David Weeks, Oklahoma ASA

10 years

Kristi Allen, Southern California ASA

Darrin Duistermars, Michigan ASA

Mike Dunavant, Memphis ASA

Patrick Faretta , Greater San Joaquin ASA

Ron Merritt, Wyoming ASA

Mel Pinkley, St. Louis ASA

Henry Pollard, Central Virginia ASA

Bill Silves, Seattle ASA

Tony Walsh, Memphis ASA

Drew Wells, Texas ASA

Joe Pavone, Chicago ASA

Don Fishel, Arizona ASA

15 years

Carlton Benton, Florida ASA

Jim McDonald, Philadelphia ASA

JoAnn McGuire, Oklahoma ASA

Richard McLaughlin, Northern California ASA

Doug Parker, Texas ASA

20 years

Alabama Parks and Rec., Allied Member

Fuzzy Buckenberger Jr., Spokane ASA

Dick Gulmon, North Dakota ASA

Cindy Inman, Indiana ASA

Michigan Parks & Rec., Allied Member

NFCA, Allied Member

Carol Pipgras, South Dakota ASA

25 years

Norm Davis, Maine ASA

James Ellis, Tennessee ASA

Robert Farrell, New York ASA

30 years

Clyde Brewer, Dayton ASA

Andy Dooley, Piedmont Virginia ASA

Dave Epperson, Kansas ASA

Bob Rowling, Montana ASA

35 years

Louis De Saro, Dayton ASA

40 years

Thomas E. Beck, Central Virginia ASA

John Phillips, Dallas ASA

Bert Weeks, North Carolina ASA

 

45 years

Ferris Reid, Chicago ASA

Howard Honaker, Ohio ASA

About ASA The Amateur Softball Association, founded in 1933, is the National Governing Body of softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. The ASA has become one of the nation’s largest sports organizations and now sanctions competition in every state through a network of 76 local associations. The ASA has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 200,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than three million. For more information on the ASA, visit http://www.asasoftball.com/.   About USA Softball USA Softball is the brand created, operated and owned by the ASA that links the USA Men’s, Women’s, Junior Boys’ and Junior Girls’ National Team programs together. USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting these four National Teams to compete in international and domestic competitions. The USA Softball Women’s National Team is one of only two women’s sports involved in the Olympic movement to capture three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996. The U.S. women have also won nine World Championship titles as well as claimed six World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about USA Softball, please visit http://www.usasoftball.com/.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------  Steven Embree | ASA/USA Softball

Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications 2801 NE 50th | Oklahoma City, OK 73111 Work: 405-425-3422 | Cell: 405-207-1004 E-mail: sembree@softball.org | Web: www.usasoftball.com