The 2021 edition of the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational has been cancelled, sources confirmed to JWOS on Monday.
Teams were informed of the cancellation on Monday, and programs that were committed to the 2021 event will be invited back in 2022, sources said. The Clearwater tournament, which has been viewed as one of softball’s premier multi-team events from its beginnings, would have played its third year in 2021.
Difficulty in logistical planning due to the necessary safety precautions was given as the reasoning for the tournament’s cancellation for the coming season.
Billed as ESPN Events’ first owned and operated softball tournament, the event is held at the Eddie C. Moore Complex in Clearwater, Florida. In the 2020 tournament, participating teams included Alabama, Florida State, Georgia, James Madison, Minnesota, Missouri, Northwestern, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, UCLA, Virginia Tech, and Washington, among others. Since its inception, each edition of the tournament has included representatives from each of the Power Five conferences.
