Wounded Warriors, ISSA bring softball tourney to Plant City

The International Senior Softball Association/World Baseball Softball Confederation Tournament of Champions was in full swing over the weekend.

Plant City hosted many of the tournament’s games, which were played around Hillsborough County, and Plant City Stadium played host to a series of home run derbies and an exhibition game between the ISSA All-Stars and the Wounded Warriors Amputee Softball Team on Jan. 26.

“We got all our games in, got a lot of compliments from the players on many teams about our program and the facilities there,” organizer R.B. Thomas said.

The tournament brought in more than 130 teams from around the country in 20 men’s and women’s divisions. It also served as a fundraiser for the Wounded Warriors team’s annual summer camp, where the athletes spend a week with amputee children to teach athletics, life skills and more.

“They bring in 25 amputee children and they teach them some softball skills,” Thomas said. “More importantly, they show them they can do just about anything they want. I’m sure it helps with the self-esteem of the children, to see (the players) as role models.”

Thomas said he and the ISSA hope to see more people come out to next year’s tournament, especially the ISSA-WWAST all-star game. Other than that, he said, the tournament experience was just what the organizers and players were hoping for.

“I think the tournament went very well,” Thomas said.