WHAT US USSSA? United States Specialty Sports Association!
USSSA is a national sanctioning organization for various sports both youth and adult. We are the 2nd largest sports organization in the United States behind Little League Baseball. One of the goals of USSSA is to provide youth teams a sanctioning organization that can provide unity, insurance and post season play for all classes and divisions of teams. USSSA is celebrating 53 years this season.
USSSA also provides a point system used in seeding teams for State Tournaments and post season National Tournaments. Teams earn points every time they participate in a tournament. Some tournaments are worth more than others and those usually fill up faster as most teams are trying to earn as many points as they can before the end of the season. NIT’s and double point weekends always fill up fast so if you are interested in one of those, you need to sign up early. For the state tournament, directors will use a teams points to seed them into the bracket. The higher a teams points the better seed they receive. For teams traveling to National Tournaments, they are done the same way by using a teams points. This year they have added a Points Race and prizes will be awarded to teams with the most points at the end of the season.
USSSA provides four classifications for youth teams. These classifications are to keep teams playing within their own caliber and class. No one benefits from getting beat up game after game nor do they benefit from doing the beating. Thus, the reason for the classification of teams.
Major Division: These are the elite traveling teams and are usually the strongest teams from an area.
AAA Division: These teams are competitive teams that can’t quite compete in the major division but are more advanced than the AA teams. They are usually very good and most of them travel quite a bit.
AA Division: This is where the majority of the teams fall. They are teams that pick their own players, some will play several tournaments each season, but are not looking to play as much baseball as the AAA teams. Many of these are teams with groups of friends or classmates. Most of the Jenks teams will fall into this division.
A Division: These teams are usually instructional / recreational teams. Many times they are formed from a draft or are school leagues. Some of the Jenks teams will fall into this division.
State Tournaments
The state tournaments for the east side of the state will be played June 14-16. Each individual age and class have their own state tournament. So if you have been playing in A/AA combined tournaments all year, this is your chance to play teams from within your own class. You can find a list of state tournament locations as well as how to enter on the state site at www.oklahomausssa.com.
USSSA Registration
Beginning in 2021, leagues cannot register their teams. Due to the safe play act, Managers must answer the questions themselves when registering their team. Teams must be registered with USSSA in order to participate in USSSA Events. Go to www.usssa.com and create a team or login to your home page if you are a returning team. I am the USSSA Assistant State Director so if you have any questions about anything, just give me a call or send me a quick email.
I am always ready to help or answer questions!
Lynn Gibson 918-630-8789