MARYVILLE, TENNESSEE - Comparable to football’s Super Bowl, basketball’s Final Four, and baseball’s World Series, the Smoky Mountain Senior Classic is destined to become one of the premiere events of its sport…slow pitch senior softball. While this will be the 44th year for the Smoky Mountain Softball Classic it will be the first year for the senior divisions to be included in the competition.
It was 1969 and slow pitch softball was starting to get a foothold in the American summer sports scene. Whether or not slow pitch would become popular was dependent among many people doing everything they could to boost slow pitch. Frank Bradley more than did his part to help slow pitch become popular, at least in Blount County Tennessee. As the parks and recreation director, Bradley decided to hold a men’s tournament in Maryville, TN and call it the Smoky Mountain Classic.
Originally, it was regional in scope. The first Smoky was held in 1969 and Knoxville teams won the first couple of years. But in 1974, Howard’s Furniture of Denver, NC, one of the most successful men’s teams in slow pitch history, entered the Classic. “After they (Howard’s) entered, it (the Smoky) took off,” said Joe Huff, the Blount County –Maryville – Alcoa Parks and Recreation director and the tourney director of the Smoky for more than two decades.
Howard’s won the Classic four times (1974, 1976, 1977 and 1981) and each year more and more of the top teams penciled the Smoky in on their schedule. Besides getting the best men’s Super and Major slow pitch teams, the Smoky got the support of the local community and the financial backing of major sporting goods manufacturers, including Bike, Worth, Louisville Slugger, plus the local newspaper helps support the event and does an outstanding job in covering the Smoky.
Although there isn’t a lot of bleacher seating, the natural setting and the down-home atmosphere that has been created through the years makes this event the premier slow pitch invitational in the U.S.
“People enjoy coming to the Smoky,” said Huff. “They bring their blankets and lawn chairs. We’ve had as many as seven or eight thousand. (24,500 people in 1991).” This year the senior teams will also have the opportunity to compete at Maryville and start a new tradition building on a 44 year experience in a community that loves softball.
"The ISSA will organize the senior division scheduled for June 1-3, 2012," said RB Thomas, Jr., the ISSA Executive Director who will be on hand working with Joe Huff and his staff to insure that all the players get to enjoy the "Smoky" experience. "The competition this year will be open to teams in all ISSA Senior Divisions. The event is drawing the attention of many seniors who are well aware of the tradition that is found at Maryville for this event. Particularly the 50 Major players whose teams are coming from Canada and several states here in the USA to play. While space is available teams wishing to enter should use the online entry form found on the ISSA Website to enter the tournament."
The ISSA Smoky Mountain Senior Classic will combine the elements of the finest quality competition with the support of an enthusiastic community. It iwill be played in a friendly, hospitable, down-home country fair atmosphere at the doorstep of the beautiful Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The nation’s top senior teams will be showcased at their best.
Addresses for the venues and contact information for the tournament hotels are now posted on the ISSA Website.
