Senior Softball: Regional tournament brings experienced ballplayers to Albuquerque

Dale Coffing of Duke City Dynamite slashed a softball deep into the recesses of the outfield at Los Altos Park and hustled around the bases to third for a triple, sending the winning run home Tuesday on the opening day of the 2025 Land of Enchantment Championships.

“It’s so fun, just especially at our age,” the 69-year-old Coffing said. “I just love the idea of keeping active and exercising right through all the stuff we used to have so much fun at as a youth, just continuing it right on.”

Coffing is one of the younger men playing in the men’s 70-plus division.

The Senior Softball-USA tournament, which is one of the regional qualifying events for the Tournament of Champions taking place in January in Florida, has age divisions from 40 years through 75-plus for men and 40 through 60 for women, tournament director Linda Weber said.

“A lot of our teams were requesting that we come here (to Albuquerque),” she said. “It was a good neutral spot for a lot of teams to come in to. We get a lot of teams from Texas, Colorado and Arizona.”

It’s the second consecutive year Albuquerque has played host to the tournament and it could find a long-term home here, Weber said.

The tournament generated nearly $1 million in direct revenue last season and is expected to create about $1.3 million this year, said Angela Gandy, senior sports development manager with the Albuquerque Sports Commission, a division of Visit Albuquerque.

Besides the obvious economic benefit, as only 18 of the 76 teams are local, there are extra bonuses, she said.

“Obviously, the other huge benefit is that active lifestyle and providing an opportunity for our local senior teams to compete in a tournament in Albuquerque, in their backyard,” Gandy said. “They’re good. Our local teams practice and prepare for the toughest competition in the nation. And it really lends itself to the health benefits of seniors being active and benefiting the senior population.”

That’s why Coffing keeps coming back.

“For me, personally, it’s more just for the exercise and the fellowship in the community,” he said. “But for some, it’s pretty, pretty competitive, because it’s a qualifying tournament.”

Count Duke City Dynamite founder and coach Rich Doney among those in the latter category.

“Some of us have been together since, oh, my god, I’m playing as a 76-year-old, so it’s been 16 years. Some of us been together that long,” he said. “I still love the game. I study the game. I had a hip replacement done a few years ago and it has slowed me down, which is really irritating because I used to play the outfield really well, but now it’s like I’ve got to play on the right side of the outfield.”

The games are competitive, Doney said.

“If you leave your home and drive to Denver and stay in a hotel and eat in restaurants and it cost you $600, $700 to go for each tournament, you get serious about it,” he said. “You want to do your best. And I’ve always had the philosophy that I don’t have to win these, but I do have to play the best I can.”

Scott Amo, 74, who plays for the Zia 75s softball team, and also plays tennis and hockey, enjoys the competition.

“It’s important to have fun, but it’s important to have fun and win,” he said with a smile. “So winning and having fun is a lot better than losing and trying to have fun.”