American Double Dutch League hosts its 52nd World Invitational Championship in its headquarters of Sumter

American Double Dutch League welcomed teams from across the country to its 52nd-Annual World Invitational Championship from Friday, June 13, to Saturday, June 14, at Sumter County Civic Center.

For more than 50 years, teams from up North, nestled in the Midwest and scattered throughout the South have traveled to compete for a trophy and bragging rights while also enjoying the family friendly atmosphere and fellowship the league has crafted over the years. And if you've experienced it, the hometown hospitality isn't a hoax.

Directors of the American Double Dutch League were looking to move the sports headquarters from New York following the attack on the Twin Towers in September 2001, and Rose Ford, working with Sumter County Parks and Recreation at the time, seized the opportunity to bring it home.

The league's headquarters now reside in Sumter, and at its helm is Rose's daughters, Loria Jean Ford as league president and Rosalind Boone as judge, her granddaughters, Tameisha Lloyd as state representative and Taneisha Goodman as scorekeeper and manager of documents, and her great-grandsons Se'Veon Boone, My'lik Lloyd, Keondre and Caleb Benjamin as counters and timekeepers.