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AAU - Comments from Teams and Fans
| Sebringville, ON
Tue, 27 Jan 2004 11:44:56
On behalf of the Sebringville Sting Fastball Club, I would like to
commend Alex Linares, Ken Hackmeister and the entire AAU Tournament
support staff for a job well done. This past weeks tournament at
Disney was run efficiently and professionally. The facility at Disney
is second to none that I have played at, and in my opinion, the event
went off with out a hitch. The Sting headed to Florida unsure of what
to expect, and were pleasantly surprised with the entire experience. I
would highly recommend this tournament for any decent level fastpitch
team that wants a way of breaking up the winter. I know you will
definitely see the Sting back in Orlando for some winter ball in the
near
future. Once again, congratulations on a job well done.
Dave Bailey
Sebringville Sting Fastball Club
Baileyconstltd@aol.com |
| Sun, 11 Jan 2004 07:22:46
Good evening and Happy New Year to all. It
seems as if the "off-season" has been on the quiet side for fastball
events. FedLock is looking forward to starting the year off with the
AAU Tournament in Orlando, Florida on January 22 through January 25,
2004.
FedLock, incognito as "Harter's Falcons," won the event in 2003 behind
a terrific team effort of a truly mixed bag of players. The
youngsters, the veterans, and the truly strange combined for a
first-time FedLock Orlando win under the guidance of Nick McCurry &
Mike Groves.
Orlando has developed into one of the most interesting & eclectic
tournaments of international fastball teams. Much of the credit for
this tournament's success goes to Alex Linares of the AAU in Orlando
and to Ken Hackmeister, Executive Director of the International
Softball Congress. Both men work long, long hours behind the scenes to
ensure a professional, quality event. Their efforts have paid off as
the number of teams in this event continues to grow. The umpiring is
also good, as some of the best blues in the game make their way to
Orlando to start working into their season form. The 2004 Orlando
field is a record 24 teams from South America, Central America, the
Caribbean, Canada, and the United States.
The 2004 tournament promises to be a challenging event. Several teams
are
always strong, such as Panama and the Venezuelan teams. Sebringville
promises to be a very tough team from the north country. Heflin,
always a
strong competitor, has added the superb pitcher Paul Algar & other
strong
players for this tournament. So, it will be some great fastball to
ring in
the year.
The truth is that it's impossible to complain about the weather at
Disney World's event. We are indeed fortunate to be able to play the
game we love in the dead of winter at a beautiful athletic complex in
Florida.
regards,
Mike Groves
FedLock
Washington, DC
falcon@fedlock.com |
Sat, 27 Mar 2004 07:48:14
Softball Magazine in its April issue is to be commended for its
excellent article on the 2004 AAU International tournament held at
Disney World in January.
Excellent pictures of the winning team Los Socios of Venezuela and
runner-up Mexicali, Mexico.
Pictures are by Maddy Flanagan and story by Jim Flanagan, and a great
wrap up by Ken Hackmeister, especially his comments about how the
Flanagans support Fastball the way they do, including this year
travelling to Orlando on their own nickel and not only taking such
great pictures, but doing the
live web casts from the tournament.
Softball Magazine does a great job of covering Fastball in their
special section each month, and would like to see it grow. Contact
them at
http://www.softballmag.com/
Al Doran, Al's Fastball
Als Fastball List
fastball@pmihrm.com
http://www.alsfastball.com/
http://www.ISCfastball.com/
http://www.escribe.com/sports/alsfastball/ |
The Seventh Annual AAU Invitational
Fastpitch Tournament was
played 20-23 January at Disney Wide World of Sports Complex in
Kissimmee, Florida. Four beautiful, sunny days, ideal for fastpitch
players; twenty-four teams from eight different countries and
eight states competed on six manicured diamonds. This is the
fifth year I have attended this tournament and it gets better
each year. This tournament was far better than any of the ASA
major tournaments for the past ten years. Many of the top players
from Canada and the USA participated. Each year I am amazed
of how well the teams from the Caribbean, Central and South America
play. Most could easily compete in the ISC Major Championship.
This tournament has evolved into one of the better tournaments
played in North America and I am certain that the participants
and fans appreciate the TIME and EFFORT that Ken Hackmeister
and Alex Linares gave to create so successful and endeavor.
I stayed at the Howard Johnson Parkside several miles from the
ballfields, in an excellent, very quiet room costing $36.00 a
night, total, which included a large continental breakfast. A
tournament pass cost only $17.50 and the parking was free. Many
reasonably priced restaurants near the hotel.
Dan Karwoski
just an old fastpitch fan |
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