Is it safe to be having national tournaments right now?

I'm not sure there is a right answer to this question right now. To me it is a personal decision. If you decide to travel, take precautions. If you are close to someone that is high risk, take extra precautions. At the time of this post there have been approximately 3.9 million confirmed cases in the U.S. (if you trust the numbers...). That is barely over 1% of the U.S. population. I know very few people that have contracted this illness (luckily), but those that have have stated that it is not a pleasant experience. They would rate it as much worse than the flu.

I just wish that people were more considerate... In St George UT this past weekend, a player had taken a test and still went out to the tournament to play, I assume because they were feeling fine. Long story short, after the start of the tournament test results come back positive and POOF, all games at that complex were cancelled immediately for the rest of the tournament. Lots of teams traveled long distances to play.

To me, if you have a reason to get tested you probably shouldn't be out there until results come back.

erniekru said:

I just wish that people were more considerate... In St George UT this past weekend, a player had taken a test and still went out to the tournament to play, I assume because they were feeling fine. Long story short, after the start of the tournament test results come back positive and POOF, all games at that complex were cancelled immediately for the rest of the tournament. Lots of teams traveled long distances to play.

To me, if you have a reason to get tested you probably shouldn't be out there until results come back.

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Therein lies a massive problem. Every person on the planet will test positive before too long. Asymptomatic people are getting tested which is unprecedented. We would never get anywhere in life if we routinely tested for viruses never showing symptoms

I don't think it is any more dangerous than going to Walmart, riding the subway (ok less dangerous than that), going to a restaurant, etc. Everyone should just take reasonable precautions if they do go like washing their hands, not sharing drinks or food, not touching their face, licking their hands, yadda yadda yadda.

Our season was over when we had a positive test and it was clear to me that there was no chance to have everyone tested before the next tournament.

It was pointed out by a medical professional that we had 14 days between exposure and our first bracket game. I was not comfortable making that decision for all the players families, all the teams we would play and officials on the field. We dropped almost immediately.

The rumor mill would kill you even if you had the science is on your side.

You never know when your last game will be. Bunch of those kids played their last tb game. It sucks. It was just another kick to my 2020’s that lost a hs season too.

Like Westwind my DD also had a teammate test positive. Thankfully she does have another tournament scheduled for the end of July that her team will get to play.

DD is feeling fine. She did have some direct contact with this player as she was a pitcher and DD is 1B. There were some high fives involved here and there and, again, thankfully DD is fine and her 14 days is almost up. She did test and we haven’t been called with a positive. The Health Dept ran the test and said they would only call if there was a positive and otherwise a letter would be sent if negative. So no news is good news for DD. This all leads me to believe that the outdoor nature of the sport and relative space between everyone does make it lower risk. I’m not aware of any other girls on the team coming back positive either.

As far was impacts on the communities I think it depends on what guidelines and safeguards are in place. Here our restaurants are still at 50% capacity limits and a mask order is in effect. If communities don’t have safeguards then how concerned are they in the first place?

riseball said:

Unless the streaming is free to the general public D1/2 coaches cannot watch. Think companies like FloSoftball will stream games for free?

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Is that really true? I know college coaches are asking our team to get on AthletesGoLive(AGL) so they can watch our game. AGL is free for college coaches and the teams but charge parents/fans to view live stream and athletes to cut out clips. It's not really public.

"Stay home if you're scared smart."

CharlieHaynes said:

"Stay home if you're scared smart."

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Are you an essential worker or a non essential worker. People by the millions have continued to work through these times. Have you considered that after a hard weeks work going to a ball field is a walk in the park. Have you considered the millions with no work being locked up in their homes what did you think they will just sit on their couches. This all started with shutting down the economy to slow the spread of a virus that will not go away. Did you not think for yourself that at some point you will need to open your front door and step out. The hospitals are handling both covid and non covid patients now. The treatment for covid is helping. Kids we know are in far less danger of contracting covid and not nearly as capable of spreading it. Now will mention the seperation of priority while allowing protesters by the thousands to march the streets while we couldnt go on the beach. Where were you then. Trying to save lives while marching in real time not giving a damn about others lives or shaming them.
Not staying tolerant to the fearful blind eye's that only follow the inconsistant ill reported covid numbers. Without regard to the millions of other people who have to step out our doors everyday and work. We make our decisions with the same information you gather. We are living with guidelines outside of our homes.

Well, my DD and our family have been lucky in a lot of ways because she is a recruited '20. We had the option to play summer ball to keep her game going but didn't NEED to for recruiting or other reasons. We chose to not participate in team activities or play in scrimmages and/or tournaments with her team. My DD has always worked a ton outside of team organized practices so, it has been mostly the same for her. She actually was more disappointed in losing her HS season after just a couple games, than losing her TB season. BTW with all the cancellations and/or rescheduling there was only one tournament left from the packed summer travel schedule anyways. ☠

Her TB team went to St. George and played this past weekend along with a couple other local teams. Travel for that tournament is almost 1500 miles round trip. At least one of the local teams were in the pool that got sent home early. Instead of just getting in the car and driving home, they chose to schedule scrimmages to help make up for the lost tournament games. I assume that some coaches got together and decided that they need to play anyways.

To me, the attempt to have a TB season is pretty irresponsible. With that being said, I do think people should have the choice on how to conduct themselves. I realize that if my daughters future was still up in the air I would be scrambling to try and get her in front of college coaches. TB seasons at the 16U and 18U level are mainly for recruitment and there hasn't been much of that really going on. At 10U, 12U, and 14U, TB should be about improving as a player and having some fun and not being worried about some virus. Truthfully, I think people should evaluate what they're putting themselves and others at risk for. I do feel bad for the unrecruited '20's and the '21's that really need showcase tournaments to get in front of college coaches. I guess my advice to those players would be to email and get those player videos sent out to the colleges they are interested in attending.

We're at the point that we're concerned with what college seasons are going to look like. All of us need to understand that change is bound to happen with all college athletics and athletic scholarships if the wrath of the pandemic continues to impact our world.