Joann Fukuma, Female Player Category

Joann has played USSSA softball for over half of her adult life in Washington State. She started out playing senior ball at Fort Dent with the Coasters. She played for the South End Merchants for a couple years and then joined the Mosquito Squad. In her first year with the Squad she played shortstop, where she was named MVP at State and Regionals. Joann has played every position that was asked of her with both fun and dedication. She is the consummate team player. She moved from the infield to outfield because that is what her coach needed her to do and when the team needed a pitcher she moved there and played the position at a new level. In the April issue of Slo-Pitch News, Joann was named the player of the year for 1999. A career .600 hitter, Joann led the team in RBI’s and showcased her talent at the National tournaments in 2000 and 2001 by driving in winning runs each year helping her team advance to the championship game. Joann has been named to numerous tournament All-Star teams. She has been selected MVP at state 3 times as well as 3 more MVP’s at the National, Regional Tournaments. She has also been named to the All-World team twice. Joann has a true love of the game which is evident in her smile and her ability to joke not only with her teammates but with the opposition alike.

Jim Hellums, Male Player Category

Jim was involved with USSSA Softball for 18 years. Jim began his USSSA career in 1979 with Ruth Realty. Jim was the USSSA Western Class A Division MVP in 1979. Jim was a member of the 1983 Mercury Price Molote, which took place at the USSSA ‘A’ World tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas. The very next year, in 1984 Jim was a member of the USSSA ‘A’ World Champions Price Enterprises. Jim was All-World that year. In the years to follow Jim played for major teams in Washington and California and won numerous All Star and MVP awards. Jim played outfield for most of his career and boasts some of the best home run and batting average years in the state of Washington history.

Dan Luhtala, Male Player Category

Dan has played USSSA softball since 1980. Dan started playing with some of the upper level teams from Tacoma and through the years has been with most of the state’s top-level teams. Dan’s career highlights are winning the ‘B’ NW Nationals in 1998 and winning the 1998 Nike Masters World Games. Dan is a single father of son Danny Jr. Dan has played outfield for most of his career and recently has played first base and pitcher. Dan’s lifetime batting average is .650 with over 100 home runs. Dan has primarily been a lead off hitter and “hits it where they ain’t”. Dan currently plays with J & J Construction and with team Swollen. Dan has a number of All-State awards and 2 Regional, National awards.

Bruce Christopherson, Sponsor

Bruce has been sponsoring Men’s, Women’s, Mixed and Youth teams in USSSA since 1990. Each year he sponsors approximately five USSSA teams. In 1997 an Ace Paving men’s team won the USSSA ‘B’ State Champioships. Bruce’s fondest memories include winning that 1997 ‘B’ State Championship and playing in a USSSA Las Vegas tournament where he was catching and made two outs at home plate and an assist at third to turn a triple play. Bruce has also sponsored in part an N.I.T. and other tournaments in the Bremerton community. Ace Paving has sponsored as many as 15 teams each year since 1952 in other programs as well as USSSA. One of the softball diamonds at Pendergast Park is named after the Ace family. They also donated free labor and materials (approx. $20,000), for the construction of the Lion’s Fields known today as Lion’s Park in Bremerton. Ace Paving even does grading for free for the Parks and Recreation Department to benefit the Pee Wee programs in the Bremerton community. Bruce Christopherson’s main reason for sponsoring USSSA teams is giving back to the community where he has grown a private family business from 1947. Bruce says “Without private support many children and adults would not have the opportunity to enjoy life on the ball fields.” Also Mr. Christopherson feels very strongly that sports programs help develop responsible citizens through teamwork and commitment. “It helps to make people loyal and playing ball is just fun”, Bruce says.

Al E. Calvo, Special Category

Al was one of the initial eight umpires who worked tournaments for USSSA in the first year of existence for Washington State. In addition to his work on the field, he has worked as the State Umpire-in-Chief as well as the Seattle area UIC. During the formative years of our state association in the early to mid 1980’s, Al also served as a tournament director and was a member of the Executive Board. In addition, Al coached many teams and served as assistant to the Women’s Program Director. He took pride in helping his umpires work to become some of the nations’ best in softball.