The Quad Cities hosted the North American Fastpitch Association’s (NAFA) Masters Midwest Tournament Sept. 9-11 in Moline.
The event welcomed more than 700 players from 36 teams spanning the United States and Canada. Athletes competed across five age groups with players spanning nearly five decades.
The Masters Midwest marked the third year in a row that NAFA has held a tournament at the Green Valley Sports Complex, which boasts six fields with fences and infields specially measured for fastpitch.
Coming into the weekend, tournament organizers touted the Quad Cities and the Green Valley Sports Complex as being a great city and venue for such a large event.
“The Quad Cities holds a long and distinguished reputation for hosting quality men’s national fastpitch softball teams,” NAFA Executive Director Benjie Hedgecock said in a news release prior to the tournament. “The geographic location of the Quad Cities puts it in the heart of men’s fastpitch country. The facilities are excellent as are the entertainment options for players and families.”
Although the complex has hosted multiple events before for both NAFA and the Intercontinental Softball Conference (ISC), this was the first time the Masters Midwest has come to the Quad Cities.
“The weather was great all weekend,” Director of Sales for the Quad Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau Joan Kranovich said. “Teams came out with a positive attitude; the park staff did excellent as always.”
Putting on such an event takes a lot of coordination and help from a team of dedicated volunteers.
Heading into the weekend, organizers were estimating that the tournament would generate approximately $200,000 for the Quad Cities’ economy. Kranovich said that they saw just about what they expected.
“I would say it is very close,” she said. “We had a few less hotel stays than expected because of the local teams and some teams deciding to camp, but there was still a great deal of money pumped into the local economy through gas, food, gambling and sales tax on the shopping done.”
Despite the fact that there were players in their 30s at the tournament, Kranovich said that perhaps the most exciting age group was the oldest.
“The 55 and over age group was actually the most competitive and the group we heard most people coming to watch,” she said. “They had some great teams from all over, and I did hear that many of the top teams recruited top players from across the world to pitch or play for their team in a specific capacity.”
The winners from each division were: Texas Stars over Wisconsin Insurance Center (60 East); Ohio Battery over Illinois Nohren Farms (55 East); Missouri Market Fresh Produce over Team Maccabi USA (50 East); Wisconsin Bar of Appleton over Minnesota Jordan Realty (45 East); Ontario, Canada Grimsby Diamond Kings over Nebraska Deutsche Fastpitch (FP) (40 East).
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