User Posts : Tehachapi News

Amateur Softball Association Celebrates 75th Anniversary

ASA Celebrates 75th Anniversary
The Amateur Softball Association, the national governing body for softball in the U.S., is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2008. Founded in 1933, the ASA has become one of the nation's largest sports organizations and now sanctions competition in every state through a network of 83 local associations. The ASA has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 230,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than four million.

For more information on the ASA, visit www.asasoftball.com.

About USA Softball

USA Softball is the brand created, operated and owned by the ASA that links the USA Men’s, Women’s, Junior Boys’ and Junior Girls’ National Team programs together. USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting these four National Teams to compete in international and domestic competitions. The USA Softball Women’s National Team is one of the only two women’s sports involved in the Olympic movement to capture three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996. The U.S. women have also won eight World Championship titles including the last six consecutive as well as claimed two World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about USA Softball, please visit www.usasoftball.com.

Central California Amateur Softball Association www.ccmsasa.org

The association was founded in 1962 and was originally called Fresno Metro covering Madera and Fresno counties. Since that time the association has grown to cover 9 counties, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare, Kern, Mono, Inyo, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo. In 1985 the association name was changed to Central California. ASA has recognized Central California as one of the top ten associations in team and umpire registrations for the past 10 years. We thank you for your support.

Central Cal ASA is bringing the United States Womens Olympic Team to the new Miracle League complex in Visalia to play an exhibition game against a local Central Cal All-star team before they head off to China. The game will be played on May 16th. Plan on attending and watch our US Olympic Team. We expect 4,000 spectators at this event.
Kern County Amateur Softball Association

The staff of the Kern County ASA is an all volunteer group, comprised of the following people: Bob McCormick, Kern County ASA Commissioner;--Joe Cox, Kern County ASA Junior Olympic Commissioner/HS All-star Game-- Isaac Salcido, Kern County UIC-- Candice Swan, District Coordinator/HS League-- Brian Teeters, Slo-Pitch Coordinator-- Linda Lamb, At Large CCASA Council Member-- Jack Shafer, At Large CCASA Council Member.

We will be putting on the Kern County Senior High School All-Star Game in June along with the High School Summer League this year. We are here to help local ASA leagues wherever and whenever possible and to advance the great sport of softball!

For more infomation: KernCountyASAJO@aol.com 661-565-1808

Local Labador wins world championship

Scottsdale, AZ---This past Sunday, Nov. 4, local Big Air Dog, Prince Andy Flores, owned and trained by Tasha and Octavio Flores, won the Splash Dogs Dock Diving Junior Division World Championship of the USAA (United States Agility Association) in cooperation with the Cynosports World Games. The Cynosports World Games characterizes canine sports in the Olympic spirit, featuring leading dog sports from around the world in a single venue. Olympic Gold Medalist Bruce Jenner was the host of this years event. The events, covering over 100 acres, brought competitors from fourteen countries, including Japan, China, Spain, Germany, Canada, Mexico, Russia and of course the United States, in dog sports together to name a World Champion in the following sports: Dog Agility, Flyball, Dock Diving, Flying Disc, Extreme Vertical, Herding and many more. These animals are real athlete's, doing real sports, and the World Game competitors have risen to the top of their game.

Local Labador, 9 month old Prince Andy Flores, qualified for these world games last July and came through Sunday's World Championships with flying colors, winning the Junior Division World Title with a jump of 18' 9". Andy also set a new Cynosports World Record for the Junior Division by jumping 19' 3" in the Simi-finals. Dock Jumping Dogs do not reach their potential until between the ages of 3 and 5 years of age, so Andy has just began his quest for the top. Andy will now take some time off before starting training for next years events.

The canine sports at the Cynosports World Games are open to all breeds of dogs--purebred and mixed breed alike. All owners and their dogs are encouraged to attend one of the Splash Dog events around the county. You may be surprised at what your dog can do? There are Splash Dog divisions for every dog to compete in.
                 Lap Dog Division--Dogs under 16" in height
                 Splash Dog Division---0' 0" to 9' 11"
                 Junior Division---- 10' 0" to 14' 11"
                 Senior Division---- 15' 0" to 19' 11"
                 Professional Division---- 20' 0" to 22' 11"
                 Extreme Division---- 23' 0" and above

A new World Record was also set at these games, by a 5 year old dog named Henry, out of Northern California, with a jump of 26' 11". All measurements were official "Dock Dog" measurements from the end of the dock to the base of the dogs tail as it enters the water.

Come out and give it a try. I know both you and your dog will have the time of your lives.

Prince Andy, the Flying Puppy Update.

Seven month old Prince Andy traveled to Diamond Lake, OR. this past weekend. He took part in the "Northwest Challenge" and came away with a 2nd place in his junior division before moving up to try on the senior division. In the senior division Andy finished 8th over all. Andy set another personal best record (PR), as a matter of fact he had 4 jumps longer than his old PR. His jumps were 17'2", 16'2", 16'1" & 15'9".

Most Dock Jumping people are impressed at his age and how far he is jumping. 6 month old puppies (he was born on January 12, 2007) usually start in the Splash division (under 10"), but Andy started out jumping in the 14' range in his first competition! Hopefully he will stay interested in jumping so we can see just how far he can go! Like I have said, he is crazy about jumping.

Away from the dock he is mild mannered and obedient, and well behaved like most Lab's. But let him see the Dock and then let him on it and he will do anything he can to get to jump. He loves the attention he gets, the applause when he is up there. He hears the crowd and wants to do good, He will even jump without throwing his Wubba. All they have to do is let him go! They did that on one jump and he still jumped over 13'.

One hears people say their pet's know when they are competing. Well, it is true, Andy knows what he is doing and that his humans want him to do good and he responds in kind. He is rewarded for his efforts with lot's of love and affection and lots of "goodies."

His workout consists of once a week jumping (playing) at the Lake. The rest of his work outs are throwing a ball in the back yard and letting him chase it. Kind of boring training routine for his humans? Most of the regular dock jumpers have a 2 hour per day work out of an athlete. With Andy's age they do not let him work very hard. When he gets to be 18 months old he will then start a regular work out routine. By then he may have a training partner?

He is being jumped in these meets to get him ready for the Splash Dogs World Championships at Cynosports in Scottsdale, AZ onNovember 1 - 4, 2007. Andy has his in the "Junior Title" and will compete in that dicision at the Worlds.

Next up for Andy is the "Bark in the Park" in Lancaster, CA.

http://www.princeandyflores.com/

Andy the Flying Puppy WOW's Reno

Reno- The Super Retriever Series, Splash Dogs Super Fly, competition took place at the Sports Warehouse in Reno, NV. this past weekend. There were two divisions of competition, the Amateur division for dogs jumping 18 feet and under and the Professional division for dogs jumping over 18 feet. Andy was entered in the amateur division. Ducks Unlimited was one of the major sponsors of the event. In addition to the Super Retriever & Super Fly events there were the duck calling events going on at the same time as the jumping competition. Making it very noisey for the dogs jumping.

The event finals were being filmed by the Outdoors TV Channel to be shown later as part of their upcoming TV Show about sporting dogs. Only those dogs that finished in the top 12 were allowed to jump in the finals.

Andy showed his stuff on Saturday, setting a personal best with a jump of 15'6" and followed that up with a jump of 15'3" to qualify 3rd in his division moving on to the finals on Sunday and getting the chance to be on National TV?

On the Sunday Finals it was Andy's 7 month birthday and with the newly formed "Prince Andy Fan Club" singing "Happy Birthday" to him as he sprinted down the dock and with the cameras running Andy was distracted by all the interest and his first jump was "only" 13'1", but he calmed down enough to make his final jump of 15'1" to finish 5th over-all in the Amateur Division. Andy was also clocked by the radar gun at 30mph running down the dock, second fastest of all the dogs in his division.

Andy's next event will be at the "End of Summer Bone-a-Fit: in Auburn, Ca on September 14-16th, then it's on to Oregon where Andy has been asked to show his stuff for the people in the great northwest.

When watching a SplashDog's Super Fly or DockDog’s Big Air event, people always ask how they measure the distance of the dog’s jump? This is by far the most asked question by everyone watching for the first time and I will try to answer the question:

The measurement standards among various dog-jumping events were set when DockDogs, and ESPN hosted the first Big Air Dogs event during the Great Outdoor Games a few years ago. Most other jumping events, Purina for one, still measure a dog’s jump distance from the edge of the dock to where the dog’s front feet enter the water. All SplashDogs and DockDogs sanctioned events including Super Fly and Big Air events like all the Super Retriever Series measure the official jump distance as being where the hind-end of the dog breaks the plane of the water’s surface, minus the tail. Because of a dog’s physical length this can mean a difference of 4 or 5 feet between a front measured jump (Purina's) and a rear measured jump (SplashDogs/DockDogs). A front measured jump of 20 feet, one can do the math and find the jump is actually a 15-16 foot jump using the SplashDog/DockDog standard.

The objective of the sport and of SplashDog's/DockDog's is to make this a performance competition like track and field’s Long Jump. By measuring from the edge of the dock they create a single standard from which to measure, and by measuring to the rear of the dog, minus the tail, can they measure the true distance the dog jumped without non-jump factors like how big the dog is. To make the point, think of a Irish wolfhound jumping against a 45 lb lab! Say that from the rear of the dogs both jumped the same distance, but if we used a front measured standard the wolfhound would always win simply because of its size! SplashDogs and DockDogs objective is to make this a performance sport that demands that they measure from the edge of the dock to the rear most part of the dog (not including the tail) to take away all unfair advantages not associated to the jump distance itself.

Prince Andy 'The Flying Puppy' flies again

The Sonoma County Fair "Splash Dog Challenge" was a success for local flying puppy, "Prince Andy." On Friday, Andy qualified for the "Open" Division by finishing 2nd in the Junior class with a jump of 14-feet, 7-inches. On Saturday, 6-month-old Andy jumped 15-feet, 3-inches to qualify for the "Open" Division Finals on Sunday against the best adult dogs in Northern California. Only the top 20 dogs qualify for the "Open Finals".

The event director and splash dog founder, Tony Reed, commented to the people watching that he "had never seen such a young puppy that loved jumping and had no fear of the water like Andy".

Although Andy is not jumping as far as the adult dogs in the "Open" class yet, he loves the challenge. When he sees the dock, the other dogs and the people cheering, he wants to show off, he wants to jump! He knows when it's show time.

On Sunday Andy seemed to know he was on center stage and he was sky high for the event, we couldn't get him to calm down, but he still finished in 10th Place overall with a jump of 14-feet, 4-inches against some of the biggest jumpers in Northern California and Nevada.

Next up is the "Super Retriever Series" in Reno, NV August 8 - 12, 2007.

                   Prince Andy on his "open" jump of 14-feet, 7-inches to finish 10th over all.
                                         Picture #1 catch the "wubba"


                                        Picture #2 Closing in on the "Wubba"

                                     Picture #3 catching up to the "Wabba"

                                        Picture #4 The "wubba" is mine!

Kern County Senior All-Star Softball Team

larger view

OK (Drum roll please........)

Here are the final rosters for The 2007 Kern County Senior All-Star Game on June 15th at Dave Fry Field @ 6:00pm!

Congratulations to all these outstanding young ladies and the coaches.

Dave fry field is located by the Sam Lynn Complex on Chester Ave.

West Team

1 Bianca Castillo, North HS ;

2 Roxie Leiva, West HS

3 Ashley Cordova, West HS

4 Celins Cruz, West HS

5 Lauren Smoot, Bakersfield HS

6 Bianca Moreno, Bakersfield HS

7 Katie Stephenson, Wasco HS

8 Christina Stephenson, Taft HS

9 Shilo Mayfield, Taft HS

10 Veronica Sanchez, Shafter HS

11 Courtney Evans, Boron HS

12 Alana Smith, Boron HS

13 Kristin Garcia, Boron HS ;

14 Gee Doshanh, Garces HS

15 Ashley Haskell, Golden Valley HS

16 Aly Rosales, Golden Valley HS

Coach Shannon Nieblas, Stockdale HS

Jayna Chapman, Centennial HS

East Team

1 Mandy Morley, South HS

2 Megan Arvizu, Foothill HS

3 Samantha Gaily, Foothill HS

4 Kelly Wong, Liberty HS

5 Melissa Halcon, East HS

6 Kasie Muro, Tehachapi HS

7 Kayla Kapitzke, Tehachapi HS

8 Hollie Henry, Kern Valley HS

9 Jamy Smith, Kern Valley HS

10 Cora Lank, Mojave HS

11 Catelyn Hansen, Mojave HS

12 Shannon Barnhill, Desert HS

13 Tera Ferguson, Desert HS

14 Kyra Harrison, Desert HS

15 Tonya Ferguson, Desert HS

16 Britney Reyna, Highland HS

Coach Henry Arias, Liberty HS

Coach Simon Aguliar, Desert HS

High School Senior All-Star Softball Game

All-Star softball date set

The Kern County High School Senior All-Star Softball Games will take place at 6:30 and 8 p.m. on Friday, June 15 at Dave Fry Field.

Teams will be formatted into East and West and player selection will be done by coach nominations.

Coaches will be selected based on how teams finish in league play.

All-Star Event is coming along nicely. Have an outstanding choice confirm she will attend to throw out first ball. Had first RSVP of one of our City Leaders that will attend. Coaches are starting to send in names of the senior players. Letters to all 30 County High Schools have gone out as have letters to College Coach's and all our local politicians. Still looking for sponsor's. Well that's my upcoming week, hope it's a good one for you...

For more information, contact Kern County Junior Olympic Commissioner Joe Cox at 565-1808.

Kern County High School Senior All-star Softball Game

The Kern County High School Senior All-Star Softball Game date is Friday, June 15th at Dave Fry Field in Bakersfield. Game times will be at 6:00 and 8:00pm. Teams will be formed in a East vs West format. Players will be selected by their coaches. Coaches are asked to send in player names as soon as possible and no later than May 15th so we can have names put on shirts and take out insurance for each player and coach. We want Kern County represented by as many Kern County High Schools as possible. If you have a Senior that you feel is good enough to play in this game, sign her up for this once in a life time event for them! Coaches will be selected based on their teams finish in league play, with 2 coaches from Metro Bakersfield (West & East Yosemite) High Schools and 2 from the County High Schools.

The purpose of the game is to raise funds to hopefully give out scholarships to deserving young ladies in Kern County playing in this game. In past years the girls game has been put on in a most inconsistent manner, most years not at all. If YOU can help make this game a success we plan on holding this event every year from now on. Help turn this event into one of Kern County's premier sports events. We have invited one of Kern Counties outstanding women to throw out the first pitch. College coaches and the local media will also be invited to attend.

We need everyone involved in girls softball to get behind this effort so it can become an annual event! All profits will be used to award scholarships and insure next years game. Please give us your help by getting involved and taking part. This is a once in a lifetime event for YOUR senior players. Never again will this years seniors be able to play in a High School Senior All-Star Softball Game!

We are in need of player sponsors. (It is not required to play!) Player sponsor $40 - Sign posted at game and name in program, Ask someone to help sponsor your local player now!

Give me a call if you can help out, Joe Cox 565-1808 or send e-mail to: KernCountyASAJO@aol.com