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Tuesday, January 22 47th Annual Air National Guard National Softball Championships This years tournament will be held in St. Joseph, Missouri. Dates: 15-19 Aug 2012 Park: Heritage Park Softball Complex Host Hotel: Holiday Inn Riverfront The Official website for this years tournament is Http://angtournament2012.clubspaces.com/ There will be a HR Derby on Wednesday Night (15 AUG) at 8:00pm. Poc: Carl Johnson Now available on facebook Http://www.facebook.com/angtournament2012/
Thursday, February 21 History of the Tournament The ANG National Softball Tournament, a brief history. The tournament started in 1966 in Fresno, California and only had one division - Men's Fast Pitch. Although it was short on teams, they still got together and played the first two years in Fresno before moving to Cheyenne, Wyoming. The Grand Daddy of the tournament, the Men's Open division (slow pitch) started in 1969 and the tournament started its growth cycle. Since slow pitch was cheaper to play and was growing, it finally surpassed the Fast Pitch bracket in the early 70s. Fast Pitch's last teams played in 1999 in Dayton. Women's teams started in the ANG Nationals in 1978 at Madison, Wisconsin. Men's 35 and over started in 1986 at Syracuse, New York as the original tournament founders wanted to play in a more level field for their age group. Co-Ed made its debut in 1988 in San Antonio and is the fastest growing bracket. Finally, the Men's 45 and over bracket started in 1997 (11 years after 35+ started) in Great Falls, Montana. The last tournament that all six divisions played and the last time the total teams in the Nationals topped the 100 team mark was in Dayton in 1999. The dominant teams came from all over. In Fast Pitch the teams from Tucson, Montgomery and Fresno seemed to dominate. In Women's the teams from Ohio, North Carolina and Arkansas have the most trophies. In 35 and over, the teams early were from Harrisburg, Charlotte, and Ohio, but recent years has seen San Antonio and Georgia as the teams to beat in 35+. 45+ has seen dominance by the composite team from Delaware/Vermont/Texas, with the Ohio/Wisconsin right behind. Co-Ed saw great teams from Meridian, Ohio, Idaho and Arkansas have lead the field. In the Granddaddy, the Open, it has went through swings of dominance. The Men of New Castle, Delaware have eight national titles, while the 116ACW from Georgia has won five Nationals and has been the dominate team of late. Ohio has taken home six nationals and won four of the first five Men's slow pitch crowns. Great teams from San Antonio, California, New Jersey, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Vermont have always been the teams near or at the top over the last 20 years. Three cities are tied for most times hosting the Nationals - Cheyenne, Wyoming; Battle Creek, Michigan and Dayton, Ohio. The Men's Open topped out in teams at close to 90 in the bracket, but as of the last few years the overall tournament total numbers has settled around 60-70 teams, that combined for all five divisions. Knoxville saw a slight increase in 2006 and the hot stove league was hoping that the ANG Nationals would climb back to its hay-days of the late 80s. Operations Tempo, the shrinking force, Desert Storm/Shield, Global War on Terror, and stateside emergencies have seen the teams and players decrease, but the ANG National Softball tournament plays on. It is still the largest voluntary gathering of Air National Guard Airmen in one location each year. No one is on orders, everyone pays their own way; and even though we fight between the white lines during the games, we're all comrades in arms/citizen-soldiers/family after the last out. Long live the ANG National Softball Tournament. Wednesday, May 7 Past Tournament Site
Thursday, May 22 Past Tournament Champions
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