40TH ANNUAL RICHMOND ROUND-ROBIN

MAY 23-25, 2009

NEW IN 2009 -- TEAMS CAN CHOOSE BETWEEN UNLIMITED RUNS OR UNLIMITED HOME RUNS

**THE BEST TOURNAMENT IN THE EAST**

EIGHT GAME ROUND-ROBIN FORMAT

TEAMS FROM OVER 10 STATES IN 2008 EVENT

In 1970 over the Memorial Day weekend a new tournament format was introduced to Central Virginia with the first Richmond Round-Robin.   Teams were divided into eight team brackets and each played the other seven with the winners advancing to a double-elimination playoff.    Teams were scheduled to play at least seven games rather than the single-elimination and double-elimination tournaments that were prevalent at the time.

The first event drew 32 teams and at its peak the tournament had as many as 424 teams.   Teams have come from Florida, Canada, California, everywhere in between, and even a military team from Iceland.    Players have included super bowl quarterback Stan Humphries, NBA star Dell Curry, and a player from the National Hockey League.   One assistant director, Tracy Woodson, later earned a World Series ring with the Los Angeles Dodgers.    More than a few national championship softball teams have been a part of the tournament's history.

And now is the time for the 40th tournament, which is planned to offer more teams an opportunity to compete on all levels of play.    There will be divisions for men's teams, women's teams, co-rec teams, and senior teams.  Several classification with different rules will also be offered to allow teams to choose where they feel they can best compete.

In the men's division, there will be seven classifications, including those using the A.S.A. home run rules and those using the World's Largest Softball Tournament's run rules.    Teams playing in the A.S.A. Classifications will be allowed to hit the number of home runs allowed in A.S.A. play with no limit on the runs they can score.   Teams playing in the World's Largest Classifications will be allowed to hit unlimited home runs, but will determine their classification by the number of runs they can score.

In the women's, co-rec, and senior divisions, there will be two levels of play--one with unlimited runs and another which will limit the number of runs to fifteen.   The senior division will include competition for the 50 and over, 55 and over, and 60 and over age classifications. 

Tournament directors, Ann and Frank Taylor, are hoping that the 40th Richmond Round-Robin will be special to all those that participate.   Although the tournament is no longer a huge event in terms of the number of teams, there is no other tournament anywhere that offers teams more games, fairer competition, and more opportunities to play against teams from other states.   A new name for the event maybe should be "The World's Greatest Softball Tournament."  

DIVISIONS AND CLASSIFICATIONS OFFERED IN 2009:  

Men's A -- Unlimited runs and eight home runs.

Men's B -- Unlimited runs and four home runs.

Men's 25 -- 25 run limit and unlimited home runs.

Men's C -- Unlimited runs and two home runs.

Men's 20 -- 20 run limit and unlimited home runs.

Men's D and E -- Unlimited runs and no home runs.

Men's 15 -- 15 run limit and home runs are ground-rule singles.

Women's Unlimited - Unlimited runs and unlimited home runs.

Women's 15 -- 15 run limit and unlimited home runs.

Co-Rec Unlimited -- Unlimited runs and unlimited home runs.

Co-Rec 15 -- 15 run limit and unlimited home runs.

Seniors 50 & Over Unlimited -- Unlimited runs and three home runs.

Seniors 50 & Over 15 -- 15 run limit and unlimited home runs.

Seniors 55 & Over Unlimited -- Unlimited runs and three home runs.

Seniors 55 & Over 15 -- 15 run limit and unlimited home runs.

Seniors 60 & Over Unlimited -- Unlimited runs and three home runs.

Seniors 60 & Over 15 -- 15 run limit and unlimited home runs.

For additional information, please follow the up-dates on website:

www-softball.net or call Ann Taylor or Frank Taylor at (804) 266-8317.