PRESS RELEASE - SPORTS

25TH ANNIVERSARY NSA DECKER EARLY BIRD SOFTBALL CLASSIC MAY 20-21 IN KANKAKEE

The 25th ANNUAL NSA Men’s DECKER EARLY BIRD SOFTBALL CLASSIC will be held on MAY 20-21 at the National City River Road Park Softball Complex in Kankakee, Illinois.

This year’s Early Bird tournament features four men’s divisions! Classes B, C and D are World Series Qualifiers The E Division is a Super World Series Qualifier.

Plenty of prizes and awards will highlight the silver anniversary of the one of the best slow-pitch men’s softball tournaments in the Midwest!

Tournament awards include over $6,000 in awards and travel money, Super World, World, regional and state berths! Class champions will receive official NSA champion pullovers!

Each game will have two stars of the game, one from each team who will receive a special prize for their selection.

Huge trophies for top three teams in each class! MVP plaques and all-tournament awards will be given out to each classification.

The Early Bird Classic started in 1981 in St Anne, Illinois with four teams, moving in 1982 to River Road Park and has been there ever since.

Elite teams from all over the Midwest have participated in the Early Bird Classic as it grew larger, adding more divisions and more teams – one division grew to 18 teams, 2 divisions netted 36 teams, 3 divisions improved to 46 teams and 4 divisions attracted 58 teams

Some of the loyal sponsors in the past have included: Stroh’s Coors, Old Style, Special Export Light, Performance Sports, Tanel, DeBeer, Superior Silkscreen, Midwest Sports & Awards, Trace, Coca Cola and Weber Printing!

This year’s sponsors include: Decker Sports, Pepsi America, Weber Printing, Illinois NSA and Maximum Performance Inc.

Team registrations are being accepted now. Entry fees are Class B - $275, Class C $250, class D - $225 and Class E Super NIT is $275. Entry Fees include two umpires per game and all Decker 44 cor optic leather yellow softballs!

Entry Deadline is Wednesday, May 10thth. Tournament will be filled on a first payment, first serve basis. Credit card processing is available on website.

More information is available at www.illinoisnsa.com, Interested teams can e-mail illinoisnsa@aol.com, or call 815-932-4536.