Tournaments Endangered Species?

At first glance I could just as easily say "Local softball sucks", but that would be a prejudicial treatment of something that holds special meaning to many local sports enthusiasts.  Everything deserves a fair hearing, so a closer look as to the causes of the decline of softball tourneys in this area would be called for.  I threw my first softball tourney in 1983 at Greenacres Park(aka Calloway Park) and drew sixteen teams.  If I put in the same amount of time and effort to throw a similar tourney nowadays, I would be lucky to get five.

Why have local tournaments taken such a nose-dive in the 20 years since?  Are players burnt out?  Are there other things keeping players from taking a weekend day to commit to playing softball?  Does the rising price of living have a bearing on things here?  Is the quality of tournaments such that local players avoid them?  These are just a few of the many questions one has to ask when considering the decline of softball tournaments from their glorious heyday from the 1970's to late 1980's.  There are many factors undoubtedly that come into play in the life of a softball-playing enthusiast and his(her) ability to play weekend tourneys.

In 1981, Golden Empire Sports Complex opened its doors next to Mesa Marin Raceway eight miles east of downtown Bakersfield, and a new era of softball emerged locally.  Teams used to playing in the 250-foot crackerbox local fields were now able to play on 300-foot fields, and four fields were all in one location.  This made it easier for players to socialize and share information with others in the area.  Also, the complex was certified USSSA so these types of qualifying tourneys became the vogue of the day, drawing anywhere from 20 to 30 teams on the average from the surrounding area.  The lure of playing in a state championship slo-pitch tournament was an inducement to these teams to get into the complex USSSA qualifiers.

Also, having so many teams playing in one location all week long made it easier for tourney promoters to talk with them and pass out flyers, not having to drive all over Bakersfield to various parks all week long.  All one had to do is hang up a flyer  the bulletin board at the complex and circulate to the four fields as teams assembled to play.  Each game time offered eight potential tournament teams to the promoter(12 when the two fast-pitch fields were implemented in 1982).  If a team was just short of players for the weekend, all they had to do was draw from other teams at GESC, which were, of course, right there for the taking.

In September 1983, I staged the first of three Kern County Slo-Pitch Championships at GESC and had 52 teams in four division(Upper, Middle and Lower 3-10 arc and Unlimited arc).  I actually had 62 teams, but I cancelled a women's division, not knowing 6 women's teams was a good number for that division. This success at drawing teams was greatly aided by the softball weekly magazine that I printed for GESC at the time, The Softball Scoop.  All I had to do was play up the tournament in it and sure enough, most of the teams entered were actually the very same GESC league teams. Throughout the 80's tournaments continued to flourish at the complex as it went through four different renters/managers.  The centrality of the complex made it easy to keep in touch with teams on a person-to-person basis.

But even an ideal setting for tourneys like the complex wasn't enough to prevent the dwindling of tournament numbers over the years.  When Sportspark closed up shop, after renting the complex from 1994-1998, tournaments were down to minuscule numbers, wherever they were held.  In the years since I threw my first tournaments, various factors emerged to take away the lure and even possibility of throwing tournaments.  I have listed some of these below.

1) Softball WAS and still is a big sport for local rec enthusiasts, but other activities have cut into the draw of playing tournaments for players.  Youth programs like soccer and baseball have expanded in Bakersfield over the past 20 years and this has taken not only possible sponsors from softball, but players with kids involved in these weekend activities.  

2) The availability of sponsors has dried up.  In 1983, more than half of the teams at GESC had oil-related sponsorships.  When the oil industry took a nose-dive in 1984, it was reflected in the far fewer number of teams entered at GESC.  Some of these pre-1984 sponsorships went for league AND tourney play, so there was more of a need for "self-sponsored" teams.  This, of course, threw a sort of monkey wrench into the plans of coaches looking for players who  were not only available, but could also fork out anywhere from 10-20 dollars to play in a tourney.  Furthermore, many coaches who rounded up teams to play, without sponsors, simply got tired of having to pay up for several players who showed up to play without their share of the team fee.  Many of these tourney team coaches simply quit forming teams out of frustration.

3) Too many cooks in the kitchen-  The emergence of accredited softball associations in Bakersfield meant the increased competition for tourneys teams.  USSSA reigned supreme at the complex and state levels in the early 80's, but then other associations with state and national clout tried to make inroads locally.  SCSA, ASA, SCMAF, NSA- when you have this many softball organizations vying for teams in a relatively small softball market like Bakersfield, the pool of teams dries up in a hurry.  Add to this the many different rules and codes that these organizations operate by and you have teams further confused and divided as to where they want to play.

4) Personally, I feel that the generation of softball players in the 1970-1980's appreciated the game a lot more than the same age group nowadays.  This is not intended as a criticism of the younger players today, just a sort of sociological observance.  As mentioned before(Point #1), in the 1970's softball WAS bigger in Bakersfield because of the relative lack of competition for sponsors and players' time that emerged in the 1980's with the booming trend in youth sports programs.  Also, I honestly feel that the very game of baseball(major league baseball, that is) was far more magical in those days before big money began corrupting the very foundations of the sport.  Obviously, as the magic and mystique of a sport wear thin in a society, players will be less attracted to emulate it through recreation.  They will gravitate to other rec pursuits, be it skateboarding, surfing, soccer, etc.

5) The Toast Factor-  Undoubtedly many players have become "burnt out" on the sport, maybe even feeling they have outgrown it.  There is just not a real good base of young players(Point #4) to replace these softball veterans.  Consequently, the number of players in the tournament pool has dried up to the point where fielding a consistent and worthy tourney team is almost an impossibility.  Add to this the expense factor- players having to "chip in" to play- and the picture gets even worse.

6) Rising prices of living-  tournament pricing has seen a steady climb over the years.  In 1983 a tournament could be entered for anywhere from 100 - 150 dollars.  Rent for fields and costs of staging tourneys was still within the ball park, so to speak.  Fields were available generally for around 50 dollars per day.  Contrast this with the cost of getting a field at Jewetta for one day now: 250 dollars!  BSSA Director Joe Hobbs related to me the other day the a recent tourney in Paso Robles had a 375 dollar team entry fee!  Unbelievable!  Obviously, as prices sky-rocket the chances of sponsorship sink, as well as the prospects of finding players willing to shoulder the fee collectively.

7) Weapons of Mass Distraction-  Obviously, we live in a world where distractions are plentiful.  We now have the internet, and we also have many more outlets of recreation that were not available to us 20-30 years ago.  Maybe softball has just seen its heyday in this respect, being replaced to some degree by these other outlets.  Additionally, many people still love softball, and the numbers that participate in the sport ARE still very high.  But these numbers are mainly for league/week night softball, and not weekend tourneys.  There is a lot more for each member of the family now and softball isn't the only game in town anymore.

8) Inducements to play-  Material inducements to play tournaments, such as monetary rewards to winning teams, are just not there.  Obviously, most players, if not all, play the sport for the exercise, excitement and comraderie it offers them.  I feel that if players had a chance to win monetary rewards, instead of plaques, trophies or what-have-you, they would be more inclined to play in tournaments.  It is sort of like going to the racetrack, but the monetary investment in this case is more in the hands of the players, through there playing, than through gambling and luck.  Tournament promoters CAN put themselves in a position to offer these monetary rewards if they can line up some big sponsors for their tourneys and if they can legally do such in the context of whatever association(if any) they are using to sanction their tournament.

8) Lack of promotion-  the final point I can draw from all this is sort of a backdrop to all of the above.  Anyone who can effectively promote the sport of softball can overcome any of the above factors to some degree.  This is easier said than done, but an effective promotional campaign always rests on AGGRESSIVE sales tactics.  Tournament promoters nowadays have something that we never had in the 70's and 80's- the internet.  This makes it easy for promoters to not only stay in touch with team coaches, but their players as well.  A tournament that is well-promoted and organized can begin to chip away at the rock wall of factors that has accumulated these past 20-30 years against tournament participation!

I am sure that one can find reasons all day and night as to why tournament numbers have dwindled like they have.  If you have any further factors that have not been addressed here, please let me know.  Only when one is aware of the problems faced can they began to conjure up solutions to them.

-Tom Sandrini-