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