The Town of Fountain Hills Recreation Department accepted the challenge to host 27 teams for a senior softball tournament over Memorial Day weekend and the initial indications are the event went very well through implementation of CDC guidelines for health safety.

Town Manager Grady Miller told the Town Council on June 2 that Community Services staff and the town attorney have received a lot of inquiries regarding the staging of the event and waiver documentation associated with the tournament.

“We have received very positive feedback regarding our tournament from players, coaches and other communities that are looking to adopt our format and guidelines,” Community Services Director Rachael Goodwin said.

The tournament was planned in anticipation of the lifting of the Stay at Home orders and was discussed at length by staff, the town manager and members of council, according to Goodwin.

“There was consensus that if we could implement reasonable guidelines that safeguarded the players, spectators and staff, then we would move forward with the tournament under these provisions,” she said.

Staff was insistent that players, coaches and umpires were aware of stipulations and understood the need to maintain social distancing, proper sanitation, seating requirements and other restrictions.

Goodwin said they also took measures related to sanitation of the overall facilities. This included increasing restroom cleaning with application of an EPA-registered, FDA-approved antimicrobial coating to high touch surfaces within the ball field areas including bleachers, dugouts, handrails and drinking fountains.

Town Recreation Coordinator Kade Nelson was lead staff on staging the event. He said participants were comfortable playing the event in spite of COVID-19.

“Every team that I spoke to was very excited about being able to return to play,” Nelson said. “Very few seemed concerned about the precautions we were taking due to the pandemic but those that did express concern were very satisfied with our efforts as a town.

“A couple of the California teams that traveled out here for the tournament were concerned about travel bans and whether or not they would be permitted to enter the tournament but, once Governor Ducey opened up the state, those concerns went away.”

Nelson said it was a unique challenge to manage a large event under such restrictions.

“This is the first time we have ever had to be concerned about social distancing at a sporting event and because of that, we had to implement guidelines to accommodate play and also keep participants and spectators safe,” Nelson said. “The biggest challenge with the tournament and any public event moving forward is going to be getting people to adhere to guidelines that they don’t see as necessary. We were very fortunate and had great participants and spectators who were willing to adjust, but it is difficult to change the way you have played or participated in a sport your whole life because of COVID-19.”

The influx of 27 softball teams for the weekend was a boost for the local economy. Hotel rooms were near capacity and restaurants were busy. Four teams traveled from California and one from Nevada.

“We had a reasonable expectation that local teams would be interested in participating, but hosting 27 teams was an exciting turnout,” Goodwin said. “I think this speaks to the desire of the senior softball community and their love and commitment to the game. They were more than happy to adapt to the guidelines we developed.”