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00:00And then trusted me to leave the great state of Texas for the U-Triple-S-A program.
00:08And hopefully we'll have many successful years to come.
00:13But thank y'all.
00:14This year's Community Service Award is being presented to the Autism Awareness Stock Battle of the Bands.
00:35Yeah, that's a long event name.
00:38This tournament is a fundraiser for the Pathfinder Athletics Booster Club.
00:42Pathfinder, Inc. helps developing disabled adults engage in everyday life skills as independently as possible.
00:51For the past four years, Joe Stout, Jacksonville Park and Rec, Fence Brokers, and Arkansas U-Triple-S-A have hosted a stock bat tournament.
01:01There were 15 bat manufacturers that donated bats and balls and sent several of their pros, pro players, to participate.
01:08Thirty-one Pathfinder Athletes participated in the highlight of the weekend, playing in four games with the pro players.
01:16The local sports talk radio station provided play-by-play.
01:21Here's a couple facts of the tournament.
01:23Fifty-one pros from the softball community.
01:25Forty-four were from out of the state, came in to support the event.
01:29Five bat companies.
01:30Owners were in attendance for the entire event.
01:32Fifty-one teams from over 100 miles away attended this event.
01:37Ninety-one total teams attended.
01:39Twenty-plus vendors, photographers, and media personnel were in attendance.
01:43Fifty-two hours straight of softball play.
01:46Raised over $6,000 for the Pathfinder Athletic Club.
01:50Congratulations to Kevin House and Joe Stout.
01:54Excuse me.
02:24I just want to say thanks to you, SSSA, and Ken Hawk for trusting an outside-the-box experience
02:37for the players and all the back companies that are involved in this, all the people
02:43that have the resources and time tied into it, City of Jacksonville, just thank you for
02:49everybody that's involved, and this couldn't be made possible without everybody, staff,
02:56everybody.
03:04I will now hand this off to baseball with Frank Griffin and Steve Hassett.
03:19Every year we get to recognize a few people that truly define what UCCA is about, and what
03:40UCCA is about hard work, commitment, and the genuine love for the game.
03:44This year's spark plug of the year has been with UCCA for 20 years.
03:50He started helping his brother years back and officially took over Oxford in the Oxford
03:53area in 2009.
03:54Since then, he's built something special, running over 2,600 teams in the 2025 season, but what
04:03really makes this person stand out isn't the numbers, it's who he is.
04:07He's steady, dependable, and one of the best ambassadors for UCCA could ever ask for.
04:12He's a great director, but more importantly, he's a great person.
04:15At this time, I'd like to ask Clay Ritchie to come up and accept the 2025 Spark Plug of the
04:22Year Award for UCCA Baseball.
04:42I want to thank UCCA, Frank and Steve.
04:46I want to thank M Trade Park, Brad Friedman, and Clay Brownlee for always sticking with me.
04:54I appreciate it.
05:04Congratulations, Clay.
05:05Good job.
05:06For the 2025 USSASA National Service Award for Baseball, this gentleman is close to home
05:13for me.
05:14Very excited to present him for this.
05:16I've known this person since, shoot, maybe we were 12, 13 years old, playing on the same
05:22baseball team.
05:23So as I watched him grow into his career as an umpire, and again, he's watched my path
05:30grow through USSASA, he's there every time we need him, schedule changes, you know, drop
05:36of the dime, you know, whatever we need.
05:38He takes care of everything that happens at Space Coast, all the national programming, everything,
05:43puts in countless hours, and really keeps that place running.
05:46So the umpire of the year National Service Award is the John Bennett.
05:49Thank you very much.
06:19Yeah, I've known Steve probably since we were 12.
06:25Played against each other a lot.
06:27When he took over, he called me and asked me if I would do this.
06:31I was skeptical at first, but it's been fun.
06:35But I can't do anything without Steve or without our state office.
06:38They make it possible.
06:40They work with me on any schedule changes that I need to make, and we get it done.
06:44So thank you to Steve Hassett and the Florida State Office.
06:49Appreciate it.
07:00Next will be the 2025 USSASA Baseball Director of the Year.
07:06This gentleman definitely is not the biggest director we have, didn't produce the biggest numbers this year.
07:14But in Frank and I's opinion, he's definitely the most deserving of this award.
07:19His numbers were 1,100 teams registered with USSASA, up 100.
07:28And teams in tournaments was roughly about 5,000 teams in tournaments, up 600.
07:33So again, good year, but we've had guys that had a little bit better numbers.
07:37But after learning what this person went through this past year, I had breakfast with him.
07:43Frank and I actually had breakfast with him this summer at the National All-State.
07:46And we kind of pride ourselves on treating baseball like a brotherhood and checking in on guys.
07:51And, you know, it's more of a human element, to me at least, on this.
07:55And then, you know, the numbers on a spreadsheet, right?
07:58It's the man or the person, the lady behind those numbers.
08:01And, you know, we all deal with life, right?
08:03So we have issues.
08:04You know, you have family, you've got, you know, stuff at home.
08:07You might have parents that be going through it.
08:08You might be going through it.
08:09So we sat down with this guy for breakfast, just, you know, shooting the shit, what have you.
08:15And, you know, it's a little humbling and embarrassing sometimes when you sit down and, you know,
08:21you feel like you're caught up with everybody.
08:23And, you know, I think Craig said it a little bit ago, like, hey, you know, we see each other every 12 months.
08:28Well, to me, that's too long.
08:29And it had been too long since we checked in on this man.
08:32And what he told us he was going through, I was pretty floored.
08:35So when you look at the numbers that he produced going through that adversity and personal challenges,
08:40it speaks volume.
08:42Because, I mean, he could have easily just packed it in and shut it down.
08:45And, you know, but he persevered through all that to go through that.
08:50So with all that said, I'm proud to announce that Ken Upshaw is the baseball director of the year for baseball.
08:55Thank you very much.
09:19He's kind of surprised me with this, but I'm very appreciative of all that UCCSA has done for me.
09:25And Steve and Frank have been great.
09:28Every time I have a question, they respond quickly.
09:30And it's very appreciated.
09:32Our next award is, you know, kind of going to go hand in hand with something we just talked about a second ago.
09:52Sometimes in business, you get lucky enough to find a truly great partner.
09:56But in the great state of Mississippi, we were fortunate enough to find two.
10:00The next award we're going to present is our Facility of the Year Award.
10:04M-Trade Park began a major upgrade project back in 2018, transforming every part of the complex,
10:10including turfing the 14 infields at the facility.
10:13Today, there's a world-class facility hosting 25 baseball and fast pitch events,
10:17more than 25 baseball events and numerous fast pitch events, catering to over 2,500 UCCSA teams in Oxford, Mississippi.
10:26What really sets them apart is the people behind it.
10:29Anytime we need help, they're there.
10:32Their partnership, professionalism, and support have been unwavering.
10:35A huge part of success comes from the leadership team,
10:38and I want to say thank you to those individuals that are with us today.
10:41Brad Friedman, director of M-Trade Park, Clay Brownlee, assistant director,
10:45and Caleb Joyner, operations manager.
10:47It's an honor to present the U-Triple-S-A facility award to M-Trade Park, Oxford, Mississippi.
10:53Brad Friedman, would you please come up and accept this award?
11:09I just want to thank U-Triple-S-A for this award.
11:15I want to thank the mayor and board for taking a chance on me in 2008,
11:19hiring me to kind of oversee the facility construction of M-Trade Park.
11:26I want to thank Clay Brownlee for always sticking with me, assistant director,
11:31and Caleb Joyner for all their support.
11:34Appreciate it.
11:35You all have a good day.
11:36At this time, I'd like to bring up Ryan Highfield for Fast Pitch.
11:43To present our Spark Plug of the Year award this year is going to be our committee chairperson,
12:03Ms. Kelly Thorne.
12:07Hello.
12:07Sorry, I'm a little shorter than everyone else.
12:13This year, I have the pleasure to present the Spark Plug of the Year award for Fast Pitch.
12:17In 2023, this individual stepped into the state director role,
12:21bringing with him years of experience and passion for the game.
12:24Having coached both travel ball and high school and running a successful tournament business,
12:32he understands every aspect of the game from the dugout to the director's desk.
12:39Since taking the leadership role, his impact has been nothing more than miraculous.
12:47Under the direction of his leadership, he's grown teams and tournaments by 16% or team registrations
12:57by 16%, teams and tournaments by 47%, and increased his national tournament by 54%.
13:03His dedication, vision, and leadership continues to elevate the game and inspire everyone around him.
13:11Please join me in presenting the Spark Plug of the Year award to Abe Peninski from Michigan.
13:47We have the original awards.
13:47They reference my high school stuff and all that.
13:50It's all a reflection of the people that are around you.
13:53I'm lucky today to have our assistant state director in our state UIC, Mike Twilliger here today.
14:00Mike's sitting over there to the right.
14:02He does a great job with our program.
14:04I have an incredible staff that helps me every weekend, friends and family.
14:08and this year I actually talked my wife into attending the actual conference
14:12usually comes for dinner every year but she's here as well so I have to thank
14:16both of them for the support and Ryan and Tim Kelly the Great Lakes region is
14:21quite a region and a lot of heavy hitters a lot of people to look up to so I
14:26appreciate this
14:38the director of the year award for fast pitch is always a very difficult award
14:43for us to decide upon because we truly have a lot of great representations out
14:47there in the field for us each and every year but this director has a long tenure
14:51with you triple essay you'd be hard-pressed to find somebody that's
14:55more passionate about the brand he's represented our fast pitch program at
15:00national events as a director every year at the Space Coast complex and for years
15:04before that when we were at Disney he's traveled around to help but other
15:07directors you triple essay nationals always willing to lend a hand and as
15:11someone you know you can trust and feel your event is in good hands when he's
15:14there in addition to those things he's grown his state program by over 25% in
15:19teams and tournaments and by 15% in teams registered since 2022 call this man a
15:26friend when you talk about bleeding you triple essay and getting up every day and
15:30truly living it out and loving it this guy does it more than anybody I've met I'm
15:36proud to present this year's director of the year award to Eddie small from the
15:40state of Virginia
16:10I mean this is a big surprise he's right I bleed I bleed up this cold right here it's my 31st year and I'll stay up with Collins in here somewhere in the state USA he makes things possible everybody in the state of Virginia without
16:22them and me being able to travel thanks to Ryan for letting me go wherever we need to go and to help him guys out a lot too so appreciate everybody thanks let's have a good week go you trip that's it
16:34one last note on Eddie I mean I knew the guy was passionate about you triple essay but when I saw is
17:04parked the Space Coast lot and I saw the USSSA license plate on the front I knew
17:08that he bled USSSA so congrats Eddie yeah I want to call up Sean Melvin
17:17Steve Hassett Frank Griffin for our National Headquarters Director of the
17:22Year award
17:25the National Headquarter Director of the Year award was started last year the the idea behind this award is to honor individuals within the organization
17:38that represent all the three diamond sports with excellence this group of people and this state definitely do that a quote from National Slow Pitch Director Sean Melvin this director works with fellow program directors to assist as field needs arise and also in an effort to keep competition out of the state
17:55from Frank Griffin and baseball this director has been a role model within the baseball program in terms of how to work with your fellow sports to build and dominate a state and I can speak specifically to fast pitch this state is one of the absolute best programs we have first-class top-notch from teams and tournament numbers to just the way that they coordinate things and collaborate with one another so it's my privilege to present the National Headquarters
18:25National Headquarters Director of the National Headquarters of the Year award to Indiana USSSA Baseball State Director Corey Scaringe Fast Pitch State Director Tim Foster and Slow Pitch State Director Richard Fultz please come up
18:55so I'm just going to say real quick that uh Corey finally got on stage he rode my shirt tail long enough that he finally got yeah yeah no in all honesty man this is this is a great honor I've been with uh USSA for 25 of my 30 years of uh
19:25running uh running U-triple-less uh fast pitch softball and uh this has definitely been the toughest year as you guys will see I had a stroke this year and uh this goes to show uh the dedication that my staff have by picking up everything that I needed to do because I was down for eight weeks uh my wife uh Jennifer uh we've got a new staff member here the first time she's been here uh Erica Razor this week
19:55uh all the directors that we have Mark and Brian and the grass family that was down south and Jason Cleaver uh but to say that when you talk about team
20:04uh we try to set an example in Indiana what a team is about uh we work together we have everything locked down
20:12uh we're very loyal to each other and you know BJ Sigler's here I don't know what BJ's at I'm blinding one eye and the lights blinding me in the other so
20:19but uh getting all all I mean Corey and I uh we work well together we uh we talk pretty much daily about stuff so
20:28I couldn't ask for a better guy or a better team to be on than what we have in Indiana so congratulations to you brother
20:34appreciate it I won't bore you guys but uh Tim Tim hit on a lot of it uh in this industry uh the best
20:40thing is is is working together you're better as a group than as an eye and um the the directors and
20:47the facilities and the loyalty that we have in Indiana it's unquestioned and that's my advice to all you guys
20:54out there is is um work together and and stay loyal to each other and I know this uh business there's not
21:01much loyalty but if you can form that loyalty it's the best thing you can have in it and um once again
21:06I um thank my family my wife all the directors that we have working with Tim um you know we have our
21:13goods our bads but but in the end we work together and that's all that matters we figure it out so thank
21:19you
21:31I'll now bring up Dave Murray to uh handle our umpire awards
21:36wow that lights like right in your face and uh Eric Rice my national slope
22:01pitch UIC is here to help um I'll keep this short because we have several awards to hand out
22:08and we'll start out with the U triple s a umpire of the year award this year this goes to one of my
22:16umpires who's worked multiple men's uh and women's world series also he's a conference umpire he doesn't
22:25only work the upper levels he's committed his whole career to working across the country he travels
22:31almost every weekend and he's working somewhere uh if he's not at home he travels on his own dime to
22:38work all our major events across the country uh when I first met this individual I couldn't hardly
22:46understand him because he's got that deep southern Texas drawl and uh trying to talk to him on the phone
22:53the first couple years was almost impossible and I'd have to tell him send me a text because I can't
22:58understand what you're saying and uh we've gotten over that I've pretty much learned how to interpret
23:04what he says but uh he's a great asset a very good umpire and this year's national umpire of the
23:10year for you triple s a is mr greg jones greg's not here today to accept his award is one of our texas uic's
23:22craig anthony uh it is 100 my pleasure to accept this award on behalf of my good friend greg jones
23:46exactly like dave said greg's a great umpire there's everybody says on the weekends there's two teams
23:53on the field the home team and the visitors but the team that is there every weekend putting in the
24:00work are the umpires greg comes up to my events and works my e-tournaments we've i've worked with
24:06him on conference events he is very deserving of this award and it's my pleasure to accept it on his behalf
24:12thank y'all the next award is our national gsl umpire of the year this gentleman i've known also
24:26for the last five or six years does an outstanding job at home he's worked several of our major men's
24:34and women's conference events when they're in his area he too drives all over the place on the region
24:40on the east coast to work gsl events i know slim's called him multiple times and said hey can you
24:48get two or three guys and get jump in the car and drive over to ohio to help us out he's always been
24:53willing does an excellent job never says a bad thing about anybody this year's gsl national umpire of the
25:02year is mr mike ziegler from maryland here to accept his award is the state director bob holland
25:21the national york there to disagree for us which won't let them get i pulled this award
25:36at home in the past whatever years weANT state Polrey is county button and fire against police
25:38who are actually recovered but he is me thinking about it asありがとうございます it doesn't matter i want us to
25:44do think through regardless of what we can think about that it'soles and here it's about the
25:48Mike I accept this award and well deserving he's a very close friend I
25:53can't run my program without him he's my UIC thank you
26:03final slow pitch award goes to a gentleman that I've had many conversations
26:10with on the phone and sitting around as we sit around and just talk about not
26:16only USSSA sports but high school sports and the things that we like to do this
26:24gentleman is also from Texas he's done a great job he's worked women's World
26:29Series in my tenure he works multiple conference events and travels and he
26:35also stays home and runs his umpire crew does a lot of training events this year
26:42slow pitch national UIC of the year from Dallas Texas mr. Craig Anthony
27:12oh man oh darn oh I didn't know I was gonna have to accept one for myself Wow
27:23Wow I've committed a lot of my years to this program into umpiring and I've always
27:35strived to be a good umpire and to pass on my knowledge and bring up the other
27:41umpires in our in our state it's it's always a pleasure to get recognized but
27:49I have to say thank you to everybody the people that brought me into this program
27:53government some of them aren't here Wow thank you
28:01now to hand out the fast-pitch umpire awards by national and fast-pitch UIC mr.
28:16david borges
28:35first of all I'd like to thank the directors to open their doors for our
28:39umpire innovation in 2025 we're going to continue visiting you and thanks for
28:45everything you've done to allow our umpire system to create new things all
28:50right
28:54Don and I really really struggle when it came to umpire of the year the
28:59nominations were amazing and unlike the directors we have to choose out of 8,000
29:05and to come up with one person it was very very hard when at the very end we have two
29:11people they were literally neck and neck I felt like I was watching Eladar and Affirm
29:18coming down the stretch so I said to Don instead of struggling I think it's a blessing
29:25so why can't we pick two so we ended up and they happened to be from the Northeast region
29:32we ended up picking up from Pennsylvania David Lowery and from Marilyn Richard Morris
29:41John Dye if you could come up
30:02well I worked a long time to get this I've had a lot of people help me on trail and I really
30:17appreciate everybody that has has helped me thank you for everything you triple SA thank
30:23you
30:30uh unfortunately Rick couldn't be here today but uh he's certainly well deserving of this award
30:41I'm honored to accept it on his behalf thank you
30:56the last couple years many of you know that Don and I have been visiting every state that
31:00we could possibly can bring in the program to the people
31:04uh during all our business throughout the nation in the last few years uh I've seen a continuous
31:11age increase in the umpire system when we visited uh the state of Washington we saw something that
31:21was incredible state struggled to have one two three young umpires they have over 30 under the
31:31under the leadership of John Briggs Janet Crater and Sandy Wing Jesse Mendiola has created a system that is amazing
31:42if you ever get a chance to go to Washington and see over 30 young umpires working it's mind-blowing
31:49so I like to recognize Jesse Mendiola as UIC of the year
32:19uh
32:26well thank you um surprise award I didn't expect it but uh I like to I like to thank everybody
32:33Sandy Janet John who allowed me those opportunities to bring on the future generation of officiating
32:41um we often hear that in the sport of fast bitch or any sport we lack officials
32:47and for me what drove me was I'm sick and tired of hearing that where in the sport of youth female
32:53fast bitch a lot of them play so why are we short so we reverse that and a lot of them are familiar
33:00with the game so we teach them forwardly how to officiate so we no longer have to combat that
33:06so again thank you everyone
33:10we had a mix-up on uh some communication issues so uh Mr. Mendez will receive his plaque at a later date
33:24this last award
33:29excuse me if I don't get through this is the Louis Lee Jr. National Umpire Service Award
33:35and it goes to a gentleman who proudly served our country 22 years in the U.S. Air Force Security Forces with honor
33:48he was a dedicated U SSS umpire for over 20 years and part of my national staff for the last three
33:56he brought passion fairness and dedication to everything he did not only in softball but in life
34:09this gentleman passed away this this year after battling cancer
34:15he was not just a comrade or part of my staff he was one of my best friends
34:25he will forever be remembered for the smile and the dedication to his friends and family
34:32I don't think I ever heard J.J. say a bad word about anyone
34:37he was always there by my side
34:40he did the jobs that nobody else wanted to do
34:43he always made sure that the umpires at the tournaments were taken care of
34:47either by providing them water, Gatorade, snacks
34:54we always kidded J.J. because he'd always fight me for the six-seater red golf cart down at Florida
35:02because he couldn't get in the blue one because the steering wheel was up too tight
35:07so we always had to see who could get there first to get that golf cart
35:11and I always lost because J.J. was always there two or three hours before the games ever started
35:17doing his job stocking the refrigerators
35:20making sure everybody had snacks
35:23making sure everybody was in the proper uniform
35:25I will forever miss my friend
35:29this year's recipient of the Louis Lee Jr. National Umpire Service Award goes to my friend J.J. Howard
35:42here to accept his award
35:48is his wife Teresa Riggs Howard
35:52also here is his brother-in-law's
36:17I can't even read because of my tears
36:19I'm sorry
36:20Vance and Corbett
36:22and his sister Brenda
36:24and my best friend Lori Stark
36:28first off I want to say thank you
36:32for being a wonderful family
36:35to be a part of
36:37J.J. loved the sport
36:41the organization
36:44the teams
36:46he loved Dave Morick too
36:49Marshall Grissom
36:52Juan Martinez
36:54Tim Yamashita
36:57Chica
36:58I don't know if you're out here yet
37:00but
37:01there were so many people
37:04that he was family to
37:08and I appreciate
37:10every bit of your support
37:12all
37:13everybody that has checked on us
37:15that continues to check on us
37:18Daryl Rowe
37:20Eddie Ortiz
37:22Rob Mantlo
37:23great friends of his
37:26all of you are
37:28I just wanted to say
37:31he really did love all of it
37:35and I appreciate
37:37all the love
37:38that you've showed him
37:40thank you
37:42our sister Maylynn couldn't make it
37:53so she made these
37:55and she wanted me to give
37:57Mr. Shawn
37:58and this one she wants to donate
38:09to the organization
38:11to be raffled off
38:13and donated to any charity
38:15of y'all's choice
38:16in J.J.'s memory
38:18and he really did love softball
38:20I think daddy started us
38:22I know I was eight
38:25so J.J. was 14
38:28and we would go out to the fields
38:30with my dad
38:32and we truly appreciate
38:36everything y'all done
38:37for this family
38:38thank you
38:40one last word
38:46the money this year
38:47that we raised
38:48from the umpire raffle booth
38:50will be donated
38:51to the American Lung Society
38:53in J.J.'s name
38:54so please make sure
38:55you stop and see us
38:56tomorrow night
38:57thank you so much
38:58last year
39:14Dave uh
39:16had a goal to raise money
39:18for a charity
39:19and we were a couple
39:20hundred dollars short
39:21and uh
39:23I happen to be on the stage
39:24giving out an award
39:25I'm gonna be the first one
39:26I'm gonna donate to a hundred dollars
39:27I don't know how short we are
39:29there's a hundred dollars
39:30all I'm asking you guys to do
39:32reach into your pocket
39:34grab a five
39:35a one
39:36a ten
39:37a twenty
39:38Dave's gonna tell you
39:39what we're doing this year
39:40because I know it's an honor of J.J.
39:41God bless him
39:42God bless this uh charity
39:44God bless you Dave
39:46thank you
39:47thank you
39:48thank you you triple SA
39:49good morning everybody
39:59it's my pleasure to invite
40:01Miss Stacy Hobbs up to
40:03give the award for national headquarters award of excellence as well as service years pins
40:12right
40:13did I get it right
40:14I think so good
40:15good morning everybody
40:20I hope you guys are having a great time and learning a lot
40:24I know I've learned a couple things about Toyota Highlanders
40:27number one third row seating is made for short people and kids
40:34number two is you can fit six people their luggage and a casket in a Toyota Highlander
40:42that's kind of true but anyway if you want the back story on that come see me after the meeting I'll fill you in
40:50this year's recipient is someone who's been a part of this organization for quite some time
40:56since 1981 to be exact
40:59over the years he's worn just about every hat that you can imagine
41:03area director, state director, board member, recording secretary
41:08and there's probably a few others we've forgotten along the way
41:11we always joke that we've grown up in this organization together
41:15since the early 90s we've been like siblings
41:18I'll admit I've had a lot of fun teasing him when presenting this award
41:25a few of his directors have won it but he never has
41:31and I think it's about time we change that
41:34we honestly couldn't think of anyone more deserving
41:37someone who's given so much of himself
41:41to this organization and the people in it
41:44please help me congratulate this year's national office award of excellence winner
41:50Mr. Kevin Negley
41:51about 40 years late
42:06there's kind of a back story on this when the office started giving this award away
42:14I was helping the staff unload the plaques at the convention
42:22and it was the one of the very first awards that they gave out for state director award of excellence
42:29and the name that was on that plaque pissed me off
42:33because he worked for me when I was state director and I couldn't get a dime out of him until the end of the year
42:41couldn't get any reports couldn't get any paperwork anything from him
42:46and then his first year state director he gets this award and it pissed me off
42:52and that was Mr. Burt Frederick
42:56but I take a lot of pride in this thank you very much
43:01I've enjoyed my however many years I've been around now 40 something
43:06but thank you very much
43:08it means a lot coming from you
43:10thank you
43:12congrats Kevin
43:18alright I have service pin awards we don't have all that many this year
43:23please know that if I missed you or you think your year your start date may be incorrect
43:30please come see me we'll get it worked out okay
43:33if I miss anyone please know it's not intentional
43:35alright we're gonna start with 10 years Lance Bullion
43:39we're gonna start with one
43:41and then the next one we have is 25 years and that's Vic Falvey
43:46and then the next one we have is 25 years and that's Vic Falvey
43:5825 years and that's Vic Falvey.
44:2830 years, Gary Godden.
44:5830 years, Eddie Small.
45:2835 years, Paul Shukar.
45:58And 40 years, Dave Nusser.
46:24Thank you, everyone.
46:34All right, good morning again, everybody.
46:35So I have the distinct pleasure of announcing next year's convention location.
46:41But prior to that, I want to just take a quick moment to tell all of you.
46:45You know, sitting up here and going through and getting to sit through my first, essentially,
46:51board ceremony, I want to tell you how humbled I am for the passion and the love that each
46:55of you have for USSSA, your organizations, the people that you work with, and the families
47:00that you work with.
47:01I will tell you this, and I'll make a promise to all of you here today.
47:04Knowing that, I promise you, it's my job, and I'm humbled and privileged and honored to be
47:10your CEO, and it is my job.
47:13I promise I will help you grow your organizations and do us at the best interest of this organization
47:19to move us forward 2026 and well beyond that.
47:22So thank you again.
47:23I can't thank you enough.
47:25With that said, what's the name of your hometown, Craig, in England?
47:29Okay, we're not going there.
47:34It is a distinct pleasure we're going somewhere a little bit warmer.
47:38Actually, let me go back a step two.
47:40Kansas City has been absolutely amazing.
47:42I think everybody would agree.
47:44Yes.
47:48And I know Craig yesterday thanked the team with regards to the team at HQ that put everything together.
47:54again, I think we need to give them a round of applause for how everything's gone.
48:03All right.
48:04Without further ado, we are going to be next year in Clearwater, Florida.
48:24All right.
48:25I hope to see most of you there next year.
48:42All right, I hope to see most of you there next year in Florida.
48:55Right now, I'd like to introduce Mr. Ricky Gould with Sheridan Sand Key.
48:59I'd like to welcome you to the stage and say a few words.
49:12Hello, I'm Ricky with the Sheridan Sand Key.
49:18I just want to welcome you to Florida next year.
49:22Stephanie, when we signed the contract, said that no one's ever come from the next place to this year's conference.
49:29So being overachievers, we just said, yes, we will be there to welcome you.
49:34So hopped on the next flight.
49:36The barbecue had nothing to do with it.
49:38That is not why I'm here.
49:39Being very competitive, we, when I walked in yesterday, thought, how can we outdo what you did last night?
49:49And it's going to be hard to beat, but how can we beat it is we have a 13-acre private beach.
49:56So who doesn't want a cornhole tournament on a beach at night?
50:00Can't think of a better way to do that, right?
50:03We're excited to host your convention next year.
50:06I know we're going to, I'm sorry, I'm not a public speaker.
50:14We were fully renovated in 2024.
50:18Our chef is excited.
50:20Stephanie can attest to our food.
50:22He was second runner-up in Chopped in 2012.
50:26And he was also a chef at the White House for Bush and Obama.
50:31So he has a lot of experience, and he's excited to have you guys there.
50:36He is already thinking of ideas to what to cook for you.
50:40He doesn't like traditional menus, so Stephanie is going to give him kind of free reign, give him a budget, and let him go to town.
50:47So we can't wait to see you guys there.
50:49Thank you, Ricky.
50:58So congratulations to all the award winners.
51:01It was great to see you guys come up here, and well done.
51:05So I'd like to, in closing, I'd like to thank my fellow board members for all their hard work over the last year.
51:11I'd like to thank all the sports leaders and their committees, and I'd like to thank all the staff for their dedication and hard work over the last 12 months.
51:22And lastly, I'd like to thank all of you for making U-Triple-S-A what it is.
51:29And I believe I'm going to hit something.
51:31Mr. Fortuna must have stole something last year, because I thought I was going to hit something to adjourn this, but it's not up here.
51:37But, like I say, thank you, everyone.
51:41Really appreciate it.
51:42Have a great week, and play U-Triple-S-A.
51:44Meeting adjourned.
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