Players who have survived to the second weekend of the Over The Line (OTL) World Championships sand softball tournament will be swinging and diving for gold trophies, rings and glory July 22 to 23.
More than 600 three-person teams will be eliminated in the quest to find the nine champions by sundown on Sunday. Tournament play begins at 7:30 a.m. on both days.
The 53rd OTL gathering hosted by the Old Mission Beach Athletic Club (OMBAC) features one more Saturday day of serious partying before the final day of serious competition on Sunday.
The opening weekend saw record crowds, according to veteran OMBAC spokesman Duke Marston.
“The word is out,” Marston said. “A lot of people know this a great place to have a good time, so the crowds keep growing.”
The four-day event attracts approximately 60,000 guests to Fiesta Island, where more than 10,000 hot dogs, 5,000 pizza slices and 9,000 R-rated programs are on hand to serve some of the appetites of the fans at the barely censored beach party that surrounds the unique sand softball tournament.
The traditional tournament did come with a few changes this year to the parking and shuttle bus locations. “The new reserved parking and shuttle from the trolley station seem to be going fine,” Marston added.
Visitors are encouraged to arrive aboard the free shuttles from Mission Bonita Cove, east of the roller coaster and from the Linda Vista trolley station. Parking is limited on the island and is usually full and closed to cars by 10 a.m. on Saturday.
Sunday will be less crowded and the serious players with the more sober team names fill the fields and show their skill and athleticism.
OTL tournament visitors should remember OMBAC’s do’s and don’ts including the four “B’s”: do not bring any babies, bowsers, bottles or bikes into the playing area.
Around noon on Saturday, a new 2006 beauty-queen spokesperson dubbed “Ms. Emerson” will be selected from 12 to 20 lovely entrants.
Ms. Emerson 2005 Jennifer Hoffman will complete her reign when she crowns a replacement.
“It has been a fun year,” Hoffman said. “My favorites have been the charity fund-raisers and the parades ” I love parades, like at Christmas and Mardi Gras.”
The purpose of the OTL and other OMBAC events, in addition to a good time, is to raise great sums for charity and youth sports.
“We raised a lot of money for Hurricane Katrina relief at the Thunderboat races and Coming Out Party,” Hoffman continued, adding that school scholarships, Children’s Hospital and breast cancer research also benefited from OMBAC events, such as the OMSURF, OMSHOE and Wheel Chair OTL
“I also enjoyed hosting the Junior OTL ” they are so cute,” she said.
Hoffman’s last contribution as Ms. Emerson will be to help select a successor, someone who can be a spokesmodel for various causes, is comfortable on stage, can talk to people, have fun and “can handle having 400 big brothers.”
Founding OMBAC members invented the game of Over the Line at Mission Beach in the early 1950s.
The sport is simple and resembles softball. Teammates toss or “pitch” a rubber-coated softball to each other. The three defenders try to cover a 55-foot-wide field with an unbounded outfield. A hit must travel “over the line,” or 55 feet from home plate, and land within the field parameters. A third hit scores a run and hit over the last defender is a homerun.
Games are just four innings and all players must use wooden bats. Women play with gloves while men play defense bare-handed.
More information about the OTL Tournament, the game and other OMBAC events is available at www.OMBAC.org.