The renovation added, among other things, two additional field to Jackie Browning Park in Glasgow. Michael Crimmins/Glasgow News 1
By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1
Jackie Browning Park in Barren County is getting some national attention on the softball front due to a tournament scheduled to be played there in 2026, according to Barren County Park and Recreation Director Chris Jennings, who announced the national tournament to the fiscal court magistrates at their recent meeting.
“Ever since we took over in 2023, my personal goal has been to try and get on the national landscape when talking about travel sports or travel tournaments and…we signed a tournament with a national level,” Jennings said during the Sept. 16 Barren County Fiscal Court meeting. “This is huge, not just for the park, but for the city as well.”
The tournament entitled “Battle in the Bluegrass” will be played at the county park on March 28 and will be affiliated with the United States Fastpitch Association, which is an organization that governs youth and adult fastpitch softball, sanctions teams, and organizes tournaments and leagues.
“The good thing about USFA is their footprint,” Jennings said. “It’s a well branded company and they are known throughout [the U.S.] unlike some of these local tournaments where you have private individuals hosting tournaments. Me, personally, I wanted to get affiliated with a national-branded organization…because it holds a little bit of clout.”
“They host tournaments every weekend all throughout the U.S.,” Jennings added.
Registration is open on the association’s website, and is open to anyone ages 8-18 , Jennings said, and can be made online. Currently the girls’ softball tournament is slotted for one day, but can be made into a multi-day event depending on the number of teams registered, according to Jennings.
“Anyone can enter and register…of course you have to be registered through USFA,” Jennings said. “Even if you don’t want to follow USFA, you can still play in this tournament.”
One of the things the association looks for is the number of fields a park has, according to Jennings. Two new fields were added during the recent renovations. The other is the capacity of the nearby towns and cities to accommodate those who might be traveling to attend the tournament, which is something Jennings emphasized when mentioning the event.
“These families travel every weekend to towns all across the United States, staying in hotels, eating in restaurants,” Jennings said. “Some of these families drop thousands of dollars each weekend just to play sports.”
“We like to be able to host these bigger style tournaments where it not just brings in money to the park [but] brings in money to the community,” he added.
Though he expects some “growing pains” with this inaugural tournament, Jennings said he is “excited” and would like to see such a tournament return again.
“I’m hoping this is a partnership we can continue,” Jennings said. “I’m hoping that in 2027 it’s the second annual Battle in the Bluegrass.”
Comments