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Jacksonville travel softball team stripped of National Championship title

A Jacksonville travel softball team, which is coached by the Clay County superintendent, was stripped of its recent National Championship title.

The Jacksonville Storm 16U Girls Fastpitch Softball Team is accused of playing in a tournament with players who were too old to be on the team.

A spokesperson for Triple Crown Sports, which put on the TC/USA Nationals 16 Open championship game in Cumming, GA, said they were notified by a team representative that they had played two age-ineligible players in the semis and then one in the championship game.

As a result, the Jacksonville Storm Organization will be banned from 2018-2019 Triple Crown events and will be reinstated only after a review of future organizational controls.

“Sports are sacred ground to build character and resilience in individuals,” said Triple Crown CEO Keri King. “We hope other organizations will join us to immediately ban all ages of the Jacksonville Storm program from competing in any and all fast-pitch events through August 2019. The ramifications for playing players over-age should be loud and clear.”

In a statement on its website, the Jacksonville Storm Softball Organization said “the ownership of this misunderstanding is directly on the coaching staff that has been sensitive and sincerely apologetic for their lack of understanding.”

Action News Jax spoke to the head coach of the Glory Adkins 16U Gold Team of Texas, which was crowned the co-champion of the tournament as a result.

Coach Jack Fultz said his team played the Storm in the semifinals and lost 1-0. He said he feels his players were cheated.

“It was a heartbreaker for us,” Fultz said. “They really took that, stole that away from my team that really worked hard to do that.”

The Storm Organization apologized for not having a “better understanding of the rules and regulations” and said it is remorseful.