We kicked off our Tournament season on the East Coast with a long running Memorial Tournament in Kissimmee Florida at the Osceola Softball Complex. Great time with Great friends makes this event priceless to me.

The West Conference kicked off the official start to the 2014 season with the annual DEA Kickoff in Chino Hills, Ca. Twenty-one teams came out of hibernation to debut their new uniforms, and in many cases also new players. Since California decided not to recognize winter this year, the conditions were perfect for softball, sunny and 80 degrees with very little wind. Although attendance at many tournaments has dropped the past few years, the Kickoff has held steady at 20+ teams for the past several years. The tournament was once again sponsored by Easton in a provided bat format.

To commemorate the tenth year of PoliceSoftball.com we have started naming our “All-Decade” team which will be comprised of the best players, managers, and sponsors etc. that have made this last decade so special. We are announcing several names each month leading up to World Series X, where we will invite the All-Decade team to take the field and be recognized. For this month, here is who we have selected to be part of this team.

As you know, today marks the start of our tenth year of PoliceSoftball.com. To mark this day, we will begin naming our “All-Decade” team which will be comprised of the best players, managers, and sponsors etc. that have made this last decade so special. We will announce several names each month leading up to World Series X, where we will invite the All-Decade team to take the field and be recognized. For this month, here is who we have selected to be part of this team.

This upcoming year marks the tenth year of Policesoftball.com. As a way to commemorate our tenth year, we will be naming the Policesoftball.com All-Decade team which will consist of players and managers. Each month beginning in January, we will name 2-3 people who we feel had a dominate decade. As with all things, timing is very important to be considered for this list. If someone was a great veteran player at the beginning of the last decade but did not sustain a level of greatness throughout it, then most likely they will be left off this list. If someone was a hot shot newcomer but started his police softball career near the middle or end of the last decade, then they may not be on this list either due to not playing the entire decade. As with all lists, there will be disagreements as to who should and should not be on this list. That is what makes lists so much fun.

This year 71 teams came to the World Series and played in various divisions. The teams that did well had numerous players contribute to their success but on each of those teams, certain players stood out and helped drive their teams to success. The players that stood out were named ALL-WORLD, GOLD GLOVE and MVP by their coaching staffs. The ALL-WORLD and GOLD GLOVE players received PoliceSoftball.com medallions and the MVPs received stone obelisk trophies. The players who received these honors are:

Big League Dreams Las Vegas played host to the Police Softball World Series which drew 71 law enforcement teams, with 1000+ players from over 30 states. The word “World” in World Series was appropriate in that, there were three Canadian teams participating; Toronto Police Softball, Prince Albert Police and the Regina Cyclones. Early arrivals were treated to a catered player’s reception at the Golden Nugget Hotel hosted by Hall of Famer Terry Dugan and his new Virginia based Lockdown Sports Gear company. Easton Sports with Brett Helmer and Miken with Denny Crine supplied all the bats for the tournament. The provided bat format has become very popular as there was no specter of juiced bats looming over the teams. It was a level playing field for all the competitors as games would be won and lost based only on talent and execution.