The weekend began Friday night with our annual PBR Player Party at Ballpark Village across from Busch Stadium, the free beer and mixed drinks started flowing in our VIP section, before a small group of 230 players and family members left the party to walk across the street to the Cardinals/Rockies game.

All inductees will be recognized on the field at the World Series during our opening ceremonies and issued a coveted Hall of Fame Challenge Coin.

The Tournament kicked off Friday, July 7th, with a classic NYPD Ceremony. At 0930 we had a Department Chaplin say a prayer followed by the National Anthem and a flyover to commence the 1st Annual Empire State Classic.

Thin Blue Line wins the Majors Division, Great Lakes prevails in Gold.

In 2008 Policesoftball.com in partnership with Brett Helmer & Easton Sports hosted the first annual Bring Your Real Skills PROVIDED BAT tournament in West Covina, Ca. It was the first major police tournament that used provided bats and since making that leap into provided bats, we have not looked back. Provided bats have been very popular because there are no raised eyebrows or whispers of players using altered equipment. The event was later re-named the West Conference Championship/WCC and the venue has bounced around SoCal a bit before finally landing in San Diego where games are played at the Sportsplex with sister locations in Poway and Santee.

The Tournament kicked off Friday morning with pool play starting at 0800 hours. Friday we were blessed with a beautiful 80-degree day and a nice breeze coming off the bay. Saturday not looking too good on the weather side of things had all teams moving to get as much ball in as possible on Friday.

The opening ceremonies on Friday were well represented by county and city officials who are so accommodating and gracious with helping us with this event. The Major and Gold teams were pre-determined so it allowed teams to play everyone and even hit 12 without the risk of dropping down.

We kicked off the East Coast with the long running Brian Aselton Memorial Tournament in sunny Tampa Florida. This year we had a strong field of 18 teams ready to play in the heat of Florida. Thursday and Friday we played a highly competitive but friendly over 40's masters and over 50 Division which was run by Jimmy Wolters. It went really well with a lot of positive feedback on it and hope to continue bringing back the master's division in the future. It was great to see the older guys get out on the field and compete. Lets try and keep that going.

The DEA Kickoff starts off the Police Softball Circuit on the West Coast. This year, it is a part of the “ELITE 8”, meaning the winner of the Major Division would receive an automatic bid into the Elite 8 come the World Series. The 2022 World Series Champion, The Connection, has already secured a spot. Meaning if they win the DEA Kickoff, there would be an at large bid, for a team, prior to the World Series.

If the 2023 Police Softball World Series were to be played today, the “Elite 8” would be predetermined Majors division competitors and the remaining top ranked 32 teams would have to win their way in via the round robin. Carrying the Elite 8 title is certainly a status to be proud of, but it also puts those teams in the gunsights of opponents. It also puts them under the microscope of our crackerjack PS.COM advanced scouting team. This article was will give an overview of how the Elite 8 beat you, but more importantly, how you can beat them. The following is a brief overview of those traits (and insider tips) of the “Elite 8” along with a bonus team, DEA Combo which is actually ranked higher than Colorado’s Angel Armor, but AA already secured their Elite 8 status by winning the Mid Majors Division last season.

World Series XVII was once again held at the Big League Dreams facility in Las Vegas, Nevada. 66 teams representing over 30 states participated in the 4-day event, and overall it was a huge success.