Triple Crown Slow Pitch Softball announces the "2008 Farewell Tour"
It
is with our utmost respect, dignity, and honor for the game of slow pitch softball, that after 26 years of serving America with the best we had to offer in tournament play, the corporate office of Triple Crown Sports announces its 2008 Triple Crown Slow Pitch Farewell Tour. The tour kicked off in Las Vegas, Nevada in March, with over 70 teams from all over the country attending the Triple Crown Spring Nationals. The tour will include stops in Aurora, Grand Junction, Fort Collins, and Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Fall of 2008 will bring the Triple Crown Fall Nationals in St. Augustine, Florida and the final stop will occur in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico in November of 2008 with the Crown Jewel of Softball. The full schedule, including tournament dates and details can be found at this link: www.triplecrownsports.com. The Triple Crown Florida Series, run under the franchise ownership of Fred Hitchcock and Keith Carr, will play out in its entirety in 2008. This schedule can also be accessed via www.triplecrownsports.com.The decision to remove ourselves from competitive adult slow pitch softball (beginning in 2009), did not come easy for key management at Triple Crown Sports. Our overall business is stronger than ever and includes a diverse mixture of premium, "must attend" events in the sports of women's college basketball, men's college basketball, youth girl's basketball, youth baseball, girl's fastpitch softball, and adult slow pitch softball. Our corporate mission statement calls for us to create and develop premium, "must attend" events in each of the above mentioned sports, while taking care to meet and exceed the customers' expectations as we create and develop these events.
For the past 26 years, we've dedicated key resources of our company towards meeting and exceeding the slow pitch customer's expectations in competitive slow pitch tournament softball. We've provided tournament series' in over 30 states, NIT's all over the country, National tournaments, World Series tournaments, tournaments in Mexico, Canada, and Europe. We've taken care of all classifications in the game, including all levels of men's, women's and coed tournament teams, including competitions at the "senior" level. We've adjusted, adapted, and implemented rules as the game evolved to compensate for technology that changed the face of the game. We've run All Star games, skills competitions, fashion shows, fireworks shows, concerts, banquets and countless other "spins" to our premium, "must attend" events. We've built relationships, partnerships and friendships with host cities, sponsors, teams, officials, and facilities all over the country. In retrospect, we would not change a thing. However, change is inevitable as market demographics come into play and product cycles run their course. Change is not a bad thing, but the changes taking place in the world of slow pitch softball are no longer in line with the Triple Crown corporate mission statement and strategic plan. Again, as a corporation, we provide premium, "must attend" events that are run professionally, predictably, and consistently. Our customer can always count on historic date, destination location, and then special quality in each of the slow pitch events that Triple Crown provides. This is our motto; this is what we stand for in today's marketplace. For this, we charge a premium price, and for this, the customer can expect professionalism, predictability, and consistency in the Triple Crown brand.
In recent years, the slow pitch market has changed. Again, change is inevitable. The changes that have occurred involve market forces that are out of our control, and out of your control. Demographics show a diminishing population of competitive slow pitch players. The once booming industry involved players that now have to make choices between playing slow pitch on a weekend, and watching their kids play ball. The obvious, and the right choice, is to watch their kids play ball. The economy shows that the average American has less discretionary income to spend on recreation. The job market is more demanding and competitive than ever and "time off for softball" is not as easy to come by as in past years. The bat technology is hotter than ever. There seems to be no end in site as to the creation of a "weapon" out there on the field versus the creation of a piece of equipment that allows the defensive beauty of the game to be played out when highly skilled players line up against one another. All of these changes add up to a well thought out decision by Triple Crown Sports to leave the game of competitive slow pitch softball while our mission statement is still aligned with the marketplace and while our customers have a final opportunity to play Triple Crown Slow Pitch Softball at the level they expect and deserve. The year 2008 will mark our final effort at bringing you the premium, "must attend" slow pitch events that you have come to expect and appreciate over the years and will be our "Farewell Tour".
We understand that our decision will significantly impact many of you, and we assure you that our decision is also significantly impacting many of our staff who have dedicated a lifetime of time, energy, and passion to the game. However, we prefer to leave the game with pride in what we've built and executed throughout the years, and we prefer to leave on our own terms, as a high end provider of premium product to a market that absolutely deserved the best. Please join us for whatever portion of the 2008 Triple Crown Slow Pitch Farewell Tour fits your life and your budget, as we celebrate 26 fantastic and memorable years of Triple Crown Slow Pitch Softball. This is our personal invitation to come out and enjoy Triple Crown's last year in the game that we all love.
With our heartfelt best regards to you and your team and our deepest appreciation for your years of support,
Patty Harsch, David King, and the entire staff at Triple Crown Sports
