The qualifying tournaments and locations were released and the Eastern Ontario on will be held in Napanee.

Canada East ISC Qualifier – Napanee, ON

June 18-20, 2010
Berths: 2 ISC berths to highest finishing Canada East teams (additional berth may be available)
Format: Double-knockout
Entry Fee & Deadline: $365 CDN, payable to ISC Canada East – May 15, 2010 deadline
Local Contact: Karen Mills - millsk@limestone.on.ca
ISC Contact & Rep: Blair Setford – blairjs@rogers.com
UIC: Steve Bedard – sjbgolf@hotmail.com

Other Qualifiers

June 18-20, 2010
Canada East ISC Qualifier – Innerkip, ON
Berths: 2 ISC berths to highest finishing Canada East teams (additional berth may be available)
Format: Double-knockout
Entry Fee & Deadline: $365 CDN, payable to ISC Canada East – May 15, 2010 deadline
Local Contact: Tim Wright – twri7823@rogers.com
ISC Contact & Rep: Blair Setford – blairjs@rogers.com
UIC: Peter Kluszczynski – kluzzy@sympatico.ca

July 25-27, 2010
Port Huron, MI
Berths: 1 ISC berth to highest finishing Canada East team
Format: 3-game guarantee – Pool winners advance to elimination round
Entry fee: $375 - $400US depending on number of teams
Contact: Kurt Schieman – kurt.schieman@semcoenergy.com
UIC: Ted Germaine – teddyump57@yahoo.com
ISC Rep: Bill Hillhouse – houseofpitching@yahoo.com
Note: Berth for the above tournament is conditional on it being a joint qualifier between US East and Canada East with each region awarding 1 ISC berth to highest finishing team from the respective regions.

2010 Qualifiers for 2011 Berths

July 23-24, 2010
Travel League of Eastern Canada Playoff Tournament
Location: tba
Format: tba
Entry fee: included in league entry fee
Berths: 1 for 2011 ISC World Tournament – league winner (additional berth may be available)
League contact: David Bakker - bakkers@teksavvy.com
ISC Rep: Blair Setford - blairjs@rogers.com
UIC: Peter Kluszczynski - kluzzy@sympatico.ca

July 30 - Aug 1, 2010
OASA Intermediate Eliminations
Location: tba
Format: Modified double knockout
Entry fee and deadline: $465 Cdn, payable to OASA by June 10, 2010
Berth: 1 for 2011 ISC World Tournament
Local Contacts: Brad Thomson - bradthomson41@hotmail.com, 519-954-1269
ISC Contact: Joe Todd – ftode739@rogers.com
UIC: tba

July 17-19, 2010
Northern Ontario ISC Qualifier
Location: Sudbury, Ontario
Format: tba
Entry fee and deadline: $365 Cdn, payable to ISC Canada East by June 26, 2010
Berth: 1 for 2011 ISC World Tournament – minimum 8 teams for berth to be awarded
Local Contacts: Roger Legendre - er_legendre@sympatico.ca
ISC Contact: Blair Setford, ISC Canada East VP - blairjs@rogers.com
UIC: Larry Pederson - bluelight24@hotmail.com 705-897-1444

September 10-12, 2010
Eastern Canadians
Location: tba
Berths: 1 2011 ISC WT (tentative)

September 17-19, 2010
2010 Ontario Challenge Cup ISC Qualifier
Location: Mitchell, Ontario
Berths: 1 for 2011 ISC World Tournament – affiliated league teams only
Format: Double-knockout
Entry fee and deadline: $265 CDN – August 31, 2009
Local contact: Kory Dietz - jkdietz@quadro.net
ISC Rep: Joe Todd – ftode739@rogers.com
UIC: Paul Baier - wingman45@wightman.ca

Softball Canada, the national sport governing body for Fast Pitch, Slo-Pitch and Orthodox softball is seeking a dynamic individual to manage our Coaching program, to develop/implement initiatives in the school system and assist in the creation and operation of new programming.

Key areas of responsibility include:

• Be responsible for the revision/editing of existing Coaching resources and creation of new resources to support volunteer coaches
• Evaluate and review Softball’s National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) and complete the transition to the new NCCP
• Work with the Manager – Long Term Player Development on the creation of new coaching related programming and then be responsible for delivery of that programming (Pitching and Curriculum/Practice Guides)
• Investigate new avenues for the delivery of coaching education and identify new revenue streams
• Initiate development of an integrated softball in schools program
• Work closely with Provincial/Territorial partners to support the delivery of the National Coach Certification program (NCCP)
• Liaise with the Coaching Association of Canada and Sport Canada on related issues
• Develop a mentoring program for Master and Regional Pitching Instructors, Regional coaches and identify/assist potential future National Team coaches
• Organize additional professional development opportunities for coaches

The successful candidate will ideally possess:

• A post secondary degree in sport administration or coaching or equivalent area of study
• Knowledge of the Canadian sport system
• Coaching Experience and knowledge of technical aspects of softball
• Fully certified Level 3 in the old NCCP or Competition – Development in the new NCCP (or progressing towards that designation) or equivalent training/experience
• Proven administrative skills managing a variety of projects
• Familiarity with Long-Term Player Development principles and the ability to develop related programming
• Excellent computer skills (Microsoft Office 2007)
• Outstanding communication skills (written and verbal) and excellent technical (softball) writing skills
• Bilingualism (English/French) is an asset for this position
• Experience working with volunteers and boards

This position is based in the Softball Canada office in Ottawa. Interested candidates are asked to submit their applications by mail or email, with cover letter and salary expectations by February 1, 2010 to:

Hugh Mitchener
Chief Executive Officer
Softball Canada
Suite 212 - 223 Colonnade Road
Ottawa, Ontario K2E 7K3
hmitchener@softball.ca

Happy New Year fastball friends!

On Saturday January 9th, the February, March and April home games will go on sale to the general public. As a friend of fastball, you have access to these games before the general public at reduced rates for the vast majority of games. If you are looking for a couple tickets, please check out the link www.capitaltickets.ca/sensgroups and enter the promo code SENGRPGOFL.

If you are looking to organize an outing of 10 or more, you can call me directly at 613-591-5404 or by email at allanj@ottawasenators.com

COMBAT SPORTS has finalized it’s TEAM BUY IN’S for 2010 to any fastpitch/slopitch softball teams interested. See below, it’s a minimum of 10 people to get the package. If a couple teams want to combine to hit the minimum, that is allowed too. In the case of an Ottawa area sale, the freight would be waived if the order was picked up from our office on Canotek Rd. Contact Joe McCleary for any questions, jmccleary@combatsportsgroup.com

All sales will be through a retail outlet. Play it Again Sports has 4 locations in Ottawa to serve you, or we can run it through any Combat retailer of your choice.

SOFTBALL TEAM BUY-IN

PACKAGE #1

CHOICE OF 1 BAT:
VIRUS PLAGUE, VIRUS MORPHED, GEAR AFFLICTED or GEAR SUPREMACY
COACHES CHOICE ROLLER BAG
TC BATTING GLOVES

$275 PER PLAYER

PACKAGE #2

CHOICE OF 1 ASA BAT:
GEAR AFFLICTED, VIRUS MORPHED
CHOICE OF 1 USSSA/NSA BAT:
GEAR SUPREMACY, VIRUS PLAGUE
COACHES CHOICE ROLLER BAG
TC BATTING GLOVES

$450 PER PLAYER

TEAM RECEIVES FREE WITH EITHER PACKAGE ABOVE:
TEAM COMBAT T-SHIRT FOR EACH PLAYER
COMBAT HAT FOR EACH PLAYER

check out the www.combatsportsgroup.com website for all the details on the bats.

MINIMUM OF 10 PLAYERS REQUIRED TO QUALIFY FOR PACKAGE ADD $15.00 PER PLAYER FOR FREIGHT CHARGES

From http://www.iscfastpitch.com

Monday, December 7, 2009
ISC Release on 2010 Format Change

December 7, 2009

For immediate Release

The International Softball Congress is pleased to announce that the 2010 ISC World Tournament will be a 48-team event utilizing a modified EGC format which includes an ISC II Championship bracket.

All 48 teams will compete in the opening rounds of the tournament. The ISC II Championship single elimination bracket will be comprised of the first 24 teams that are eliminated from the ISC World Tournament bracket.

This restructuring has been approved by the ISC Executive Committee, the ISC Board of Directors and the Midland Host Committee.

Classification between ISC and ISC II will be eliminated. All teams will be able to sign pitchers who were previously on the ISC II Ineligible List including PRAWNs and out-of-region players (OOR) subject to existing limitations for PRAWNs and fees for OOR players. Please note that the maximum of two OOR pitchers is still in effect. The ISC will publish a unified set of rankings rather than separate rankings for ISC and ISC II teams.

The primary purpose of these changes is to continue providing our host cities with a sufficient number of teams and economic impact to warrant their hosting efforts and to provide teams with additional opportunities and games. It is also felt the addition of a Legends division will be appreciated by many fans.

A sample unified tournament bracket is now displayed on the ISC Web Site at http://www.iscfastpitch.com/index.php?page=tournaments to show how the tournament will flow and how teams will enter the ISC II bracket. This is a sample only and any game days or times shown on this bracket should be disregarded as the final schedule has yet to be determined. All teams will be guaranteed at least three games (only 4-teams will have 3-games while all others are guaranteed 4-games). Those in the ISC II bracket will be guaranteed a minimum of four games.

Here is some additional information about the 2010 ISC World Tournament:

· An informal poll of ISC II caliber teams drew 20-respones and shows that all respondents would consider entering a unified tournament that includes an ISC II championship bracket.
· To compensate for the reduction of total teams compared with 2009, the ISC will pursue the possibility of a 16-team Legends tournament to be run during the World Tournament. There will also be a 4-team U19 (Midget) tournament. Dates of both the Legends and U19 segments and Legends age-category will be announced later. It is also felt that a Legends division will be appreciated by many fans.
· A full complement of awards will be presented in all four segments; ISC, ISC II, Masters and U19.
· The 2010 ISC World Tournament is scheduled to start Friday August 13 with two games and the championship game on Saturday, August 21. The ISC II Championship game will likely be played on Thursday, August 19.
· The full statistical package that the ISC provides will be kept for all four tournament segments.
· Streaming of both the World Tournament and ISC II segments will continue as in past years. The ISC II Championship game will likely be video streamed.
· We will soon send 2010 berth allocations to our five Regional Vice Presidents and International Director for distribution among invitational tournaments in 2010. There will be 48 total berths allocated less berths that were filled in 2009 for 2010. Berths will be designated ISC Berths and we will no longer distinguish between World Tournament and ISC II ToC berths. We currently have 16 teams qualified for 2010 berths from 2009 Qualifiers plus two Midland Host Teams.
· The pre-tournament manager meeting and team registration will be held on Friday, August 13. Opening ceremonies will be held on Saturday evening, August 14.

The ISC apologizes to the Midland Host Committee for implying that it had approved the format in our release last Monday. The Midland Host Committee did not officially approve the format until today.

For further information, please contact

Ken Hackmeister
ISC Executive Director
iscken@comcast.net

The Quyon Combat Flyers 3^rd season in the GOFL was nothing short of a success. Even though the team was not able to win the league championship, we felt that we accomplished many goals that will help us succeed in 2010 and beyond.

At the start of the year, the team was asked what they thought a reasonable goal was for the COMBAT Flyers. The team agreed that anything short of making the league finals would be a let down. That goal was fulfilled. Losing in the finals to defending league champs, Stittsville, by 1 run in the 5^th and deciding game was a difficult feat. Stittsville lost 1 game all season, and we managed to beat them twice in the final series, and were one or two big hits away from the championship ourselves. We will build on the experience gained this season and use it to try and do one better in 2010 GOFL play.

The other goal that our team set this season, was to qualify for the ISC II Tournament of Champions and once that happened, we set another goal to make the playoff round. Well, those 2 goals were passed with flying colors. At the first ToC qualifier, The 2nd Annual Gil Read Memorial Tournament, despite losing our second game to Roebuck Jr team, the team rallied and climbed back up the losing side doing it the hard way. With wins against Stittsville, Quebec, and Roebuck again, the stage was set for the finals against rival bat company, Ottawa Team Easton Thunder. Despite jumping out to an early lead, we were unable to hold on for the victory and lost a very good game by 2 runs. Despite being told by some ISC officials that we would have a birth, we were not granted one and were forced to go to Oswego, NY for the second qualifier. The tournament only had 5 teams entered, 1 was an ISC team (NY Gremlins) and 2 others already had births to the ToC, (Easton, CPI) so all we literally had to do was show up! The tourney was held on the 4th of July weekend and as a result, the organizers wanted it over early, so each team had a very tough schedule. We were given 3 games back to back to back on Saturday and with only 10 players, did not have a good day. We did however beat hometown CPI on Friday night, in a great extra innings game.

Once we left Oswego, we knew we had our birth to the ToC, which gave us a month and a half to raise the proper funds to help ease the way there. We also added a couple of young guys to the ToC roster, Chad Hargrove and Joel Langford from Orleans. The Quad Cities are a long piece away and as a result, the majority of us decided to fly. We knew that the competition would be tough down there, but we also knew that we could compete with any team there. Many people agreed that the tournament this year was more balanced than ever, and that any team had a shot. Going into the tournament ranked # 27 did not hurt our chances as some teams may have looked past us. In our first game, we ended up coming out of the gates on fire vs the KW ON, Cubs. Our bats were very hot 1 through 9 and came away with a 10-5 victory over the 5th ranked team in the ISC2. Later that night we had a hard fought battle vs the Lloydminster AB, Dodgers, in which they came from behind in the top of the 7th to take the lead. In the bottom of the 7th, our hot sticks continued and we rallied with 1 out to earn the walk off win to go to 2-0 and virtually secure our birth in the playoff round. On day 2, we faced the Sun Valley, CA A1 Rude Pac. We ended up losing this game 7-0 in what was one of those games. Any ball we hit hard was right at one of their players and any ball that they hit found a hole or a gap. The next game we played was vs the local Dubuque, IA Sports Complex, and it was a 9-2 victory. Despite some early adversity, we pulled together as a team and rallied to score lots of runs. After that, we had to sit and wait for help in order to get 1st place in our pool and the bye to the round of 16. We got our help and had a day off.

Probably the highlight of our year came next, when we got a matchup with rivals Ottawa Team Easton Thunder. A long way to go to play a local team, but what a game it was. Both pitchers game out throwing peas and there weren’t too many base runners. After a Matt Greer solo shot in the 5th inning, we got Joran Graham the lead that he needed. It what was an eventual no hitter, a gem, highlighted by a diving over the fence catch in the top of the 7th by Steve McCord to keep the no-no in tact.

The next game was in the round of 8, and we got the highly touted team from Ashland, OH. After jumping out to a 3-0 lead early on, the wind was let out of our sails in the bottom of the 7th when they plated the 4th run to win the game and move on to the semi finals vs the KW Cubs.

All in all, a successful showing at the biggest and best tournament of the year for a group of young lads from Shawville and Quyon. Nick Armitage was also rewarded for his outstanding play that week, with a place on the All Tournament Team.

The tournament schedule ended for Quyon at the EOCC, with a win and one of the 1st births into the 2010 ToC in Midland, MI. The team went undefeated en route to the tournament title. This gives us a lot more time to plan and fundraise for next year’s ToC and we hope to better last year’s finish.

The COMBAT Flyers are already working on the tournament schedule for 2010 and plan on travelling to attend the premier ISC2 tourneys in Ontario. We will also return to Au Sable Forks, for what is one of the best tourneys to go to if you have never been there. The competition is very good and it is a great time. I would recommend that one to anybody who wants to have a good time.

The COMBAT Flyers would like to thank all of the teams who supported our beer garden at league games, and also to anybody who helped us out by submitting a playoff hockey pool or purchased tickets to our liquor basket. Both fundraisers will be returning in early 2010 and we thank you for your support in advance.

As of 10AM this morning, our Senator Season Ticket holders have access to purchase discounted tickets to game for the rest of the season. As a player (or friend of) in the Greater Ottawa Fastball League, you now have access to purchase discounted tickets to select December and January games! The general public will have access as of 10AM on Saturday the 14th. If you wanted to secure the best seats available as the Sens take on Chicago, Philadelphia, Minnesota, etc. I suggest you log on today. As of December 8th, we will only have 25 regular season home games left … many against higher quality teams that will be fighting for playoff position.

The link is http://www.capitaltickets.ca/sensgroups
Promocode: SENGRPGOFL

As you might see, some of the new features and functionality are now working. The following are some of them:

• Improved speed and performance of the sites - lots of code has been optimized and all known bugs have been fixed
• Text Messages via twitter - the site is now setup to use twitter to notify players and viewers of changes to games, schedules, events or other important information. If you have not signed up, it would be a good idea to do so at twitter.com/gofl_ca.
• All the league subsites are working well with lots of viewers checking them all out.
• There is now the ability to register events on the sites which will include tournaments, meetings, practices and other information for viewers and players alike
• Player and Team Profiles now contain an awards and achievements section and I will be updating each of them as I do more research to find out who has won what or been recognized over the past few years. There is already information in for the all-stars over the past few years. If you have any information that could be added, please forward it to me.

Enjoy the site!

Congratulations to the players voted to the 2009 All-Star teams for the Greater Ottawa Fastball League, as elected by the team representatives.

First Team:

Pitcher: Dan Bradley (Stittsville 56ers)
Catcher: Joe McCleary (Quyon Combat Flyers)
1st Base: Anil Hayne (Greely DNTW Eagles)
2nd Base: Joel Langford (Orleans Gators) (unanimous)
3rd Base: Nick Armitage (Quyon Combat Flyers)
Shortstop: Scott Herriot (Stittsville 56ers)
Designated Player: Will Mood (Ottawa Blitz)
Outfielder: Dan Jessiman (Stittsville 56ers) (unanimous)
Outfielder: Don Cox (Manotick Lomor Printers)
Outfielder: Darren Featherstone (Stittsville 56ers)

Second Team:

Pitcher: Drew Hathway (Quyon Combat Flyers)
Catcher: Dave Tubman (Ottawa Team Easton)
1st Base: Derick Bulley (Ottawa Blitz); Scott Jessiman, (Stittsville 56ers) (tie)
2nd Base: Andrew Bruce (Ottawa Blitz)
3rd Base: Kyle Gourgon (Ottawa Team Easton); John Craig (Stittsville 56ers) (tie)
Shortstop: Kevin McGuire (Carp I4C Victory)
Designated Player: Kyle Jamieson (Stittsville 56ers)
Outfielder: Calvin Medynski (Manotick Lomor Printers)
Outfielder: Cory Morrison (Ottawa Team Easton)
Outfielder: Ryan Bond (Stittsville 56ers)

The site is now hooked up with twitter at http://twitter.com/gofl_ca. As news, schedules or events happen they will be passed along using this new and exciting technology. Stay tuned for all the excited tweets!!!