USFA vs NSA vs USSSA

spleen1015 said:

What do the 10u & 12u teams play? B level teams?

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Here at 10U/12U B level teams play either USSSA B/Open or CAM Sports mostly. C level play GSA a lot. A play mostly USSSA A/Open. Though all of that A/B/C stuff is self-defined and varies wildly. Our spring "A" team beat maybe one or two other A teams all year and often lost to B teams too. They can say they're whatever they want to.

USSSA really taking over here in the Northeast. Not very many teams do PGF. ASA is losing steam.

Snotbubbles said:

USSSA really taking over here in the Northeast. Not very many teams do PGF. ASA is losing steam.

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Now in the Northwest area of this same state, Pa.. I have yet to see much from USSSA. Just goes to show how it depends on the area.

nanotech14 said:

Now in the Northwest area of this same state, Pa.. I have yet to see much from USSSA. Just goes to show how it depends on the area.

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The better teams still do PONY on the east side but those same teams will do 4 or 5 USSSA tournaments as well.

nanotech14 said:

Now in the Northwest area of this same state, Pa.. I have yet to see much from USSSA. Just goes to show how it depends on the area.

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We've played in some U-trip tourneys in State College, but there are very few more west than that. IUP is a popular one.

The competitive level will vary from area to area, with the quality of the tournament director having a big influence on the quality of the competition and the tournament. For what it's worth the USFA World Series in PCB is still my favorite tournament EVER!!!

In the Seattle area we have USSSA, ASA and NSA with USSSA putting on the most tournaments and NSA the least at B level.

A teams seem to play mostly ASA. I don't know why.

We venture down to Oregon once a year to play NAFA which is the best. NAFA stands for Not As Freaking Anal.

In the Chicago area PGF is where the top teams head to play. The guy who is the area director is great. He uses the better venues in the area. He answers emails promptly, sends information out in a timely manner. He is at the larger tournaments to make sure they run correctly and he's pro-active when it comes making meaningful changes. If you have a suggestion on how to possibly improve things he'll at least listen. None of the tournaments feel like a money grab.

ASA... Well.... They are the ASA. There are still some descent tournaments in the area. They have lost a LOT of ground to PGF. Count yourself lucky to get a response from the local ASA reps to an email. It's taken them several years to have a serviceable web site. But it's still way behind some of the other ABC's out there. They've gone from being stogy and unchanging to being slowly reactive while trying to play catch-up to the PGF. They have lost their fear factor. Teams no longer feel like they need to put up with being bullied because they have other equal or better options available to them.

USSSA is pretty much non-existent here. Mostly perceived as rec-ball level teams.

NSA has been building in the far outlying areas away from the suburbs. Mostly the B level teams are participating in their tournaments.

TCS is trying make inroads here. They are competing with some very strong and entrenched showcase tournaments in the area. The DeMarini run by Conroy and Quinn draws some of the best teams in the country. The Sparks showcase draws some of the better local teams.

Now, cross the line into Indiana and NSA and USSSA are stronger there.

In Nor Cal, it's all in a flux. Going into the year, I'd say PGF gets the best teams for their big tournaments, not so much for the smaller ones they're trotting out. TCS, AFA, Pony, don't exist, but I'm betting TCS moves north soon. USA (formerly ASA) is starting to climb back, but they lost a lot over the years. They are listening to customers though, and their no gate fee is going to be popular amongst parents. USSSA always holds good tournaments and they do well for the smaller tournaments, state championships, fall ball, and their Elite tourneys were doing very well but their organizer moved to PGF this year. NSA is still around and its hit or miss, sometimes they have a good field, sometimes its only 4 or 5 teams per division. I'm sensing that they and USA are going to do things different this year, hoping they get back as their directors are genuinely good people, they get squeezed out of venues by some of the other organizations unfortunately.

The funny thing about PGF (at least from my vantage point) is that they've become pretty much everything their customers hated about ASA, with the exception of holding tournaments in Huntington Beach every year. Arrogant, over-priced, unyielding, know-it-all, etc. As USA softball learned, Mark Cuban was right, pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. PGF is enjoying their day in the sun now, wouldn't be surprised to see them drop a notch if they keep this up.

I'm in northern Indiana. Lots of NSA, some USSSA, and it seems USFA is getting bigger. ASA is pretty dead. But I play mens fastpitch and we do ASA, ISC, and NAFA.