Managers, I have several things for you this month Qune). I am late because we have been awaiting the arrival of our new website. It is up, running, and boy does it look good. Thank you so much to Tres Fenton and Florida Creative.com. Tres is a FHC member on one of our S0's teams. We even have the same old website name, which is FHCSoftball.org. Please check it out.

In no particular order of importance:

We have been dealing with several "Grandfather Clause" issues lately. You can remain on the team that you played for ( on roster) even if you move to a different Area, or Region. It is that simple. However, if you leave that team for any reason then you must play on a team that is in the new Area in which you now live. An example would be if you used to live in Orlando and played for a team there and then moved to Tampa, you could stay with that team from Orlando until you left that team for whatever reason. Also, we have been checking our records and we are finding that there may be some players that are playing out of Area. If we find that a team is allowing a player to participate, knowing that they are illegal, the player and the team will face a stiff suspension. If you even think someone is not legal then contact me before I contact you.

Our Tournament dates are set for the rest of the year for our 60 and over teams. We are still solidifying our November and December dates for our S0's teams. I explained to you a couple of months ago that we have been surprised by some of our Sites regarding dates and cost. We will let you know as soon as we can so you can make plans.

Just a reminder that it is important that you fill out the Hotel Forms completely. Please take the time to do so because we are tied to the Beds and Heads for Grant purposes.

There seems to be some misunderstanding regarding when your team has to be ready to play. It is quite simple. By rule (Playing Rules 3 A 2.), you must be ready to play one game time before your game time. The rule about the 30 minute recommendation is obsolete. Now, the Site Commissioner has the authority to use his discretion for emergencies and so on.

Being nominated for the FHC Hall of Fame is a great honor and the nominees should reflect its name. If you want to nominate someone that you know, play with, greatly respect, and so on, please take under consideration the importance of the nomination. Most probably you will want to nominate a player. The criteria for nomination is the following: 1. Be a member in good standing of the FHCASA for at least 10 years. 2. The player's team record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and overall contributions to the FHCASA will be considered. Please make sure your nomination fits this role when you compare him to other players of the same era. He should be your best of the best.

As I promised you we will have Area Regional Managers Meetings in the fall. I will get back to you regarding the dates.

The FHC Board willingly allows teams to be a Tournament Host to help them financially during the FHC Tournament year. We do not give teams that responsibility lightly. However, not all teams come in to the tournament prepared. The teams must have the numbers available to run the tournament. We have come to the conclusion that there are only a few teams with the ability to Host a tournament by themselves. More on this at a later date.

We have had some heat related issues and some bad enough to stop play. Please do what you need to do to stay hydrated and please cut down on the alcohol intake in these summer months. You cannot get hydrated the morning of the games. You must start on Thursday before the tournament begins.

Our State Tournament Committee has been sifting through ideas to come up with a good end of the year plan. Right now it looks like we will have a League Champion through November and still have a State Tournament in December. I will have more on that at a later date.

Most of you do not know by background in officiating. Most of you do know that I am a 41 year veteran teacher and coach. But I also officiated two sports in both high school and college. I worked 25 years in college baseball and, even though baseball is somewhat different than softball, we have placed a tremendous emphasis on improving our overall umpiring. We have been extremely pleased with the overall performance of our FHC Umpires. Led by our UIC Brett Porche and our Senior Commissioner Wayne Berryhill, our umpire group has improved in leaps and bounds since January. We have mini-clinics every tournament weekend and extensive communication throughout the year. When your umpires do a great job please let them know that you appreciate their effort. Personally I am very proud of their efforts to better themselves every time they go on the field.