valley invite

valley invite

The Valley Invite dates back to 1992, with the event born out of a cancelled ASA tournament in Beaverton, OR and the four teams involved then improvising their own group of games at Valley Catholic High School. Fields were added over the years through the Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District and then through Hillsboro Park & Recreation.

Thanks to excellent relationships with the high school coaches, where they were able to use the tournament as fundraisers for their programs, more prime field access was created. A 14A division was then hosted through the North Clackamas Park & Recreation District.

Eventually, the event grew to 240 teams, 52 fields and 685 games played in two days. The NFCA Recruiting Camp was added; for 12 years the camp ran on Friday, followed by a BBQ for all of the campers and All-Star Games. The event included a five-game guarantee with four divisions of play.

Proceeds from the tournament were used to help several high schools purchase portable outfield fences for their Varsity and JV fields. Many Park & Recreation districts were able to buy portable outfield fences so they could host youth tournaments along with their adult tournaments. Used softballs were donated back to the high schools to use as practice balls. Each of the high schools received $1,000 for their fields and the concession profits were all theirs. Some of the high school facilities even cooked breakfast for parents and players.

The Valley Invite averaged 7-8 teams from Canada, but drew the greater number of teams from Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada, Idaho, Utah and Montana. In the later years, teams came from Arizona, Colorado and Hawaii.