Rec League Question

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Aug 10, 2016
686
63
Georgia
Last season was the first time DD's All-Star team went to the State tournament.
Normally our All-Stars play in a Tri-County tournament with the majority of the teams being from our county and then the other counties bring in 1-2 each. When we played in the State tournament, the teams we played were all "something County". It also turned out that the winners in most of the state tournaments/all levels were all from our county.

Just curious how other's rec leagues work or if our county is just different. We have at least 17 high schools in our county which each team is associated with. We don't play each association during our regular season as each team has between 1-3 teams per level so we usually only play a subset of those 17.

Unrelated to SB, but each year our rec cheerleaders have a Cheer Off competition and it's just our county - and I don't think there is anything comparable to it in our state (at least that I've found) - so I don't know if we're just lucky to live in such a big county that we can do this stuff.

So how do other counties/states do All-Stars?
 
Sep 29, 2014
2,421
113
Probably is just location and organization dependent. Some rural areas might need to draw from the whole county just to get a team other counties in urban areas could field dozens of teams.

In most organization boundaries are known before the season starts and local organizations are set up with the help of a district commissioner who oversee what is going on and in conjunction with the state director makes sure everything is within the rules and then they play out the season according to the rules set up before season starts.
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
In So Cal, all-star teams from ASA-affiliated leagues will typically play 3-4 local tournaments against similar teams. Each of these tournaments is an independent event, not a qualifier for another event. After those initial tournaments, the teams may elect to play in their District Championship tournament (10 Districts in So Cal). Top teams from Districts qualify to play States. Top finishers at States qualify to play Nationals.

Additionally, ASA has 2 levels in So Cal rec ball. ASA-B is typically larger leagues with a track record of good results in all-stars. ASA-C is typically smaller, weaker leagues. B-league and C-league teams each have their own District and State tournaments. B-teams can qualify for Nationals. C-teams can qualify for Regionals.

It is not uncommon for leagues to have 2-3 all-star teams per age division (typically ranked as gold, silver, or bronze). A B-league "silver" all-star team will often play tournaments with C-league "gold" teams.

Side notes...
ASA-A is travel ball, which is not league-affiliated, and has a different tournament structure. TB teams don't (usually) play against rec league teams.

ASA leagues do not have geographical boundaries. A player can play in any league they want.
 
Last edited:
Apr 12, 2016
316
28
Minnesota
In So Cal, all-star teams from ASA-affiliated leagues will typically play 3-4 local tournaments against similar teams. Each of these tournaments is an independent event, not a qualifier for another event. After those initial tournaments, the teams may elect to play in their District Championship tournament (10 Districts in So Cal). Top teams from Districts qualify to play States. Top finishers at States qualify to play Nationals.

Additionally, ASA has 2 levels in So Cal rec ball. ASA-B is typically larger leagues with a track record of good results in all-stars. ASA-C is typically smaller, weaker leagues. B-league and C-league teams each have their own District and State tournaments. B-teams can qualify for Nationals. C-teams can qualify for Regionals.

It is not uncommon for leagues to have 2-3 all-star teams per age division (typically ranked as gold, silver, or bronze). A B-league "silver" all-star team will often play tournaments with C-league "gold" teams.

Side notes...
ASA-A is travel ball, which is not league-affiliated, and has a different tournament structure. TB teams don't (usually) play against rec league teams.

ASA leagues do not have geographical boundaries. A player can play in any league they want.

I like that system. Do they have "B" tourneys on the weekend for teams that don't play in a league but can't compete with the "A" teams?
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
I like that system. Do they have "B" tourneys on the weekend for teams that don't play in a league but can't compete with the "A" teams?

B teams are not independent, continuous teams in the same manner that A (travel ball) teams are. All-star teams (B and C) are made up of players from a particular rec league, and are formed at the completion of the spring rec season. All-star teams do not compete against the regular spring season teams in the league. The all-star season runs from the end of the spring season (end of May) to Nationals (end of July), if they get that far. Non-championship all-star tournaments begin at the end of May, and are open to all-star teams from B and C leagues, but not A teams.

It's not uncommon to see upper-level B all-star teams play in TB friendlies in the fall, but they can't do that until after the ASA championship tournaments are complete, or they forfeit eligibility for ASA-B events.
 
Last edited:
Jan 22, 2011
1,600
113
Region 14 of ASA (California and Nevada) requires 'B' teams to participate in some sort of rec league, so for ASA there are no independent 'B' teams. Two years ago Region 14 loosened up the rules to allow B teams to be formed earlier and play in some tournaments, as long as they participate in some sort of rec league. Individual metros can add further restrictions, which I believe Southern California does. Northern California Metro merged with the Oakland ASA Metro last fall and eliminated their specific rules and went with the straight Region 14 handbook.

Around me in Northern California ASA, at 12u some leagues are forming spring teams of likely 'B' Summer teams to participate in a couple 3GG Super friendlies on Sundays in the spring and having their players play a regular rec schedule thats splits the players amongst their regular rec teams. Other leagues are forming 'B' teams in February and having their 12u 'B' teams Inter-league with each other.

The smaller leagues and teams that form both a 'B' and a 'C' team are forming the 'C' teams on May 1st.

http://norcalasa.org/jo/pdf/JO_HANDBOOK.pdf

Only one or two leagues so far have formed their 10u 'B' teams in the February time frame. The rest at most are forming the 10u 'B' teams in mid-April.
 
Last edited:
Apr 12, 2016
316
28
Minnesota
B teams are not independent, continuous teams in the same manner that A (travel ball) teams are. All-star teams (B and C) are made up of players from a particular rec league, and are formed at the completion of the spring rec season. All-star teams do not compete against the regular spring season teams in the league. The all-star season runs from the end of the spring season (end of May) to Nationals (end of July), if they get that far. Non-championship all-star tournaments begin at the end of May, and are open to all-star teams from B and C leagues, but not A teams.

It's not uncommon to see upper-level B all-star teams play in TB friendlies in the fall, but they can't do that until after the ASA championship tournaments are complete, or they forfeit eligibility for ASA-B events.

How do you deal with the disparity between the best and the worst "A" teams? Some teams sign up for "A" and then get their butts handed to them week after week. Other teams don't even want to play those teams. Do you break down the tournaments into different brackets at each age group each week based on pool results? Just curious.
 
Feb 7, 2013
3,188
48
How do you deal with the disparity between the best and the worst "A" teams? Some teams sign up for "A" and then get their butts handed to them week after week. Other teams don't even want to play those teams. Do you break down the tournaments into different brackets at each age group each week based on pool results? Just curious.

"A" travel ball teams in SoCal can play in most any ABC sponsored tournaments they want. The big guns will play PGF qualifiers/PGF nationals and Triple Crown Sports (TCS) tournaments. Other lesser teams will play ASA, USSSA, or NSA type tournaments. In the fall, lots of showcases/friendlies. Most coaches know which tournaments are a good fit for their team. Other coaches will play-up a division to play against better competition. For example, last year a very good local 14U TB team played in 16u ASA nationals and placed high in the tournament to prepare them for 14U PGF nationals.
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
How do you deal with the disparity between the best and the worst "A" teams? Some teams sign up for "A" and then get their butts handed to them week after week. Other teams don't even want to play those teams. Do you break down the tournaments into different brackets at each age group each week based on pool results? Just curious.

"A" is travel ball. In CA, these are teams that are independent - or part of a multi-team organization - and not connected with a rec league. They play in whatever weekend friendlies or A-level tournaments they decide are right for them (PGF, TCS, ASA, USSSA). Generally speaking, travel ball is where the players who have out-grown rec ball migrate to. There are good A teams, bad A teams, and A teams everywhere in between. A bad team may be not better than an average rec all-star team (hell, they may have been an average all-star team recently). A good team is filled with amazing players, and will crush even championship-winning all-star teams. What we see with the lower-level A teams is that they tend to attract girls in their local area making their first step into the TB world. As those players develop, they tend to move on to higher-level teams over time, which may involve travelling further to find the right team.

Typical travel ball tournaments are open to all teams, and pool assignments are (theoretically) random. In smaller tournaments, it's typically pool play (3 games) and single elimination. In larger tournaments, pool placing will earn a spot in gold, silver, or bronze brackets, and each bracket will play to its own championship via double-elimination. Some top tournaments (PGF Nationals, for example) there will be qualifying tournaments to earn a spot.
 

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