OKLAHOMA CITY The Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America celebrated 24 members from all four territories for their service to the organization at the Junior Olympic (JO) awards banquet Friday in Oklahoma City. The banquet is a part of a two day instructional workshop sponsored by Bollinger and Markel Insurance that aims at strengthening the organizations JO program.
Highlighting the service award recipients were Manuel Gomez, JO commissioner for the Nor Cal ASA, and M. Bruce Kaufmann, JO commissioner for Newark ASA, who were honored for their 30 years of service. Five leaders were recognized for 20 years of service, five for 15 years, two for 10 years and 10 for five years.
Service Award Recipients
Rob Combs, Oregon ASA 5 years
*Chris Chance, Mississippi ASA 5 years
*Michael Cox, New Mexico ASA 5 years
Tommy Hunt, Alabama ASA 5 years
Jack Hutcherson, Maryland-DC ASA 5 years
Cassi Rogers, Sacramento ASA 5 years
Carolyn Shafer, Oklahoma ASA 5 years
Wayne Straiton, Vermont ASA 5 years
*Tom Williams, Ohio ASA 5 years
Chris Wirth, Florida ASA 5 years
John Austin, Fort Worth ASA 10 years
Ron Zimmerman, Iowa ASA 10 years
Dave Forte, Central California ASA 15 years
Brenda Bunny Petty, Kentucky ASA 15 years
Mike Schuck, So Cal ASA 15 years
Patricia Spirito, New Jersey ASA 15 years
Renee Williams, Nebraska ASA 15 years
Dan Bennett, Portland ASA 20 years
Bart Magellan, Great San Joaquin ASA 20 years
John Spears, Ohio ASA 20 years
David Either, Rhode Island ASA 20 years
Merton Ishida, Hawaii ASA 20 years
Manuel Gomez, Nor Cal ASA 30 years
M. Bruce Kaufmann, Newark ASA 30 years
* Regional JO Commissioner
The JO workshop continues on Saturday as ASA President ET Colvin starts the day off with an address to the workshop attendees. Assistant Director of Membership Services Chris Sebren and Supervisor of Umpires Kevin Ryan will start Saturdays sessions with a presentation on the 2012 ASA code and rule changes that will affect the JO program, followed by Sebren discussing the importance of consistent forms and paperwork. Workshop attendees will also receive information on hosting recruitment tournaments, how to write legislation and rule proposals, and tournament play options.
On Saturday afternoon, the workshop concludes with an open discussion for all participants. Later that evening, attendees will be treated to a social dinner, which will be held at the ASA Hall of Fame Complex Fieldhouse.
About ASA
The Amateur Softball Association, founded in 1933, is the National Governing Body of softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. The ASA has become one of the nation’s largest sports organizations and now sanctions competition in every state through a network of 76 local associations. The ASA has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 210,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than three million. For more information on the ASA, visit http://www.asasoftball.com/.
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