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A few weeks ago, a long-timer in softball approached Jim Barsalona, head of Team NJ Softball, and proclaimed: “Jim… you’re back!”
As in, you’re back into softball and the events side of the game.
Barsalona laughed and replied: “I’ve been here, I haven’t left. I’m just now expanding my horizons!”
What that means is that one of the most acclaimed events directors in the club softball space is fielding two significant tournaments this fall, the Arizona Fall Invitational Showcase to take place in the Scottsdale, Arizona area during the Halloween weekend (Oct 30-Nov. 1) and the Clearwater Fall Classic to be held in Clearwater, Florida from Nov. 13-15.
The Arizona Fall Invitational is West dominated—although there are teams from as far away as Pennsylvania and Rhode Island—with many of the top teams in Arizona and California eager for a chance to play top competition this fall.
The Halloween event is full and will feature national championship-caliber teams in the 18U, 16U and 14U age divisions such as the AZ Storm, Suncats, Hotshots and Lil Saints within the state as well as Cali power like OC Batbusters, Firecrackers, Corona Angels, Athletics – Mercado, So Cal A’s, Lady Magic, Explosion West Bay Warriors and many more who will play five showcase games with two-hour game slots.
“Think it’s going to be quite the fall event,” Barsalona explains. “We’re done and finished with the teams and we hope it will be the big fall event from now on, that’s my goal.”
The Florida event will take place at the Eddie C. Moore Complex where ESPN-sponsored spring college tournament is held in Clearwater.
A nice complement to the Arizona showcase, and not just in the expected nice weather, the Clearwater Classic is East Coast-based and features many of the top teams from all over the East and Midwest.
This includes the home-state Jacksonville Storm and Gainesville Gold in addition to out-of-state standout squads such as PA Chaos and PA Strikers, Virginia Glory, Team Long Island and Conklin Raiders (New York) and the Rhode Island Thunder in the 18U and 16U divisions.
Explains Dave Lotti, the head of the RI Thunder: “My 16U National team is going to Arizona and our 14U National one to Clearwater. We did Clearwater last year which was the inaugural and loved it! Jimmy and his staff did a great job from field maintenance and food from Chef Joe. We are really looking forward to Arizona for the 16U National team to really get tested by all the West Coast talent; he has a bunch coming.”
The Florida event still has a few spots open, though it is smaller—around four dozen teams—while the Arizona showcase is topped out with about 115-120 teams. Barsalona says that’s on purpose.
“Regional events are the king right now and what teams want,” he believes. “That way they don’t have to travel as far and can stay local with all that’s going around COVID-19.”
Still, that doesn’t mean teams eager to play top competition haven’t been knocking on his door (or rather pinging his cell). When we spoke to the long-time event director a few days ago, he admitted: “I just had two teams call right who want to get in the Arizona showcase because they love the teams who are already coming.”
And there are a dozen or more who are going to both events
Barsalona is working with The Alliance Fastpitch and believes “it will be one of their bigger events for the fall.” Many of the California and Arizona teams are part of the California Fastpitch League and “about three weeks in, when we really got rolling, guys like Mike (Stith) of the OC Batbusters, Marty (Tyson) of the Corona Angels and Tony (Rico) of the Firecrackers confirmed and it really started to take off.”
From New Jersey, Barsalona has been in the softball world for 27 years, including event productions across the country—from New Jersey, Virginia and Pennsylvania in the East to Florida and California nationally. He has run the highly-successful Team NJ Classic showcases for over two decades and teamed with Kevin O’Donnell to begin the D9 events including the College Classic.
Recently, he sold his “day job,” a cleaning business, to his son and has admitted he’s excited to do bigger and better events, including the Arizona one where he and his wife Carol visit for up to two months in February and March (a welcome respite from the brutal Jersey winters, no doubt).
But there’s another reason the Desert State is like home to Barsalona—he went to Arizona State.
“I went there, my oldest daughter went there and we go out a couple weeks a year and have always loved it. I’ve always thought it’s an undervalued and underappreciated place to go.”
Both sunny-state fall showcases have another big advantage: close to airports and hotels with standout playing complexes.
Barsalona turns 70 next April but says he’s having the time of his life and these new events have him energized.
“How is a guy from New Jersey doing tournaments like these in Arizona and Florida?” he laughs. “I guess I’ve been around!”