The Board of Directors has made the decision to affiliate with USSSA after much debate and careful consideration.   USSSA baseball is a program designed to allow out league to offer programs that fit the level of play of each team in your organization.  USSSA offers single age division play and four classes of play within most ages.  Every division and class is offered post-season play that extends to a State level Championship at a minimum.  Most age/class divisions are offered post-season opportunities that extend to the National level.  All of these programs are as advertised, "opportunities" or "options" that can be taken advantage of or not, but no longer will any team not have a place to play.

The USSSA process involves registering teams and then presenting those teams with opportunities created by the league itself, and/or opportunities provided by a host of other USSSA affiliated leagues and tournament hosts.  Once a team is registered, they can play in as many sanctioned events as they choose to.  The team registration is good through the entire baseball year (August 1st - July 31st).

The Board did not make this move to USSSA without careful debate and consideration of other affiliation offerings. We looked at Dixie Youth, Dizzie Dean, Little League, Cal Ripken and USSSA in our research for what we thought was the best for Southwest Baseball League. The Board met many times this past year to discuss the potential change of affiliation. After a lot of discussion the motion to move to USSSA was the best option at this time.

USSSA League Benefits (Summary)

• More Kids Playing More Baseball
• Kids Playing on Their Level
• Opportunity for Ages 5-18 in Single Age Groups
• Gradual Increase in Field Dimensions
• Flexibility to Control Your Local League
• Teams Qualify for State Championships through League Play
• Teams Qualify for World Series through League Play
• Drafted Team and All Star State Championships
• Drafted Team and All Star World Series
• League Determines which Teams and How Many Teams Qualify
• Discount on Team Insurance
• Generate League Revenue
• Umpire Training and Travel Program
• Community Economic Impact
• Playing Real Baseball
• Be Part of the Fastest Growing League and Tournament Baseball Association (2^nd in the World out of 27 Identifiable Associations)
• Be Part of the Largest Tournament Network in the World
• Be Part of the Largest Multi-Sport Association