Explain the difference in all the CO. Tournaments. IDT, Sparkler, Firecracker.

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

May 16, 2016
1,024
113
Illinois
Can someone tell me the difference in the Colorado tournaments that are going on.

Which one would be considered to have the best talent.
Are the different names for different age divisions?
What sanction are these tournaments? PGF, ASA, USSSA, etc?

Feel free to add any other info that would be important.
 
Last edited:
Nov 29, 2009
2,975
83
The Independence Day Tournament is the top dog. Some of the best teams in the country are in it. It fills up a year in advance. If your team performs poorly you may not be let back in it.

Firecracker is the feeder for the IDT. If your team plays well in it they may let the team into the tournament the following year.

Sparkler is the weakest of the tournaments. Good place to start.
 

sluggers

Super Moderator
Staff member
May 26, 2008
7,132
113
Dallas, Texas
Sparky is correct.

The IDT is the original Colorado tournament. Back in the day, there was only one national championship... The ASA 18U. The tournament was double elimination with *no* pool play. It was played almost exclusively in California. Therefore, a lot of teams wouldn't go.

The IDT was the only tournament where all the good teams from across the US would show up. You could even set up pre-tourney games. Teams would go out before the tournament and play games.
 
May 16, 2016
1,024
113
Illinois
Thank you.

Here is a link to the IDT updated brackets.

In the 16u division 3 out of the 4 teams left are Beverly Bandit teams, and the other team is a Tx. Glory team.
 
Last edited:
Feb 17, 2014
7,152
113
Orlando, FL
The national tournaments in Colorado and California are opportunities for what are considered "top teams" many with players that are already committed, or even signed to travel great distance at considerable cost to play in front of coaches other than the actual colleges back home where they are committed, or even signed. In many ways it is all about building the national brand and reputation of the top team and the coaches they played for in order get signed to a college within a half day drive of their home. :)
 
Mar 26, 2013
1,934
0
Fireworks was a strong #2 to IDT prior to TCS acquiring them prior to 2011. The addition of TCS's Super brackets replaced Fireworks as the #2 and Fireworks is now #3 with Sparkler #4.

Firecrackers originally played in Fireworks because they were sponsored by Worth and IDT is associated with Louisville Slugger. Firecrackers later became aligned with TCS after they acquired both Fireworks and a showcase org that FC's Tony Rico was a founder, SoCal's Finest.

Seems like most of the TX org's play TCS in CO and I believe it is related to TCS owning the Ronald McDonald showcase in TX.
 
Jul 17, 2012
48
0
Although we do not agree on some things Riseball I believe your post is right on. The other posts not so much. IDT is clearly the hardest to get in to but not at this stage a clear cut "best" of the best. The Fireworks power pool was absolutely loaded with great and top rated 16U teams. There was 20+ D1 coaches watching several of our games in the power pool. If you cant get into IDT or one of the power pools it is hard to get the quantity of coaches to find you scattered all over Denver. So not a complete disagreement. I would guess if you put the top 4 from IDT against top 4 from Champions bracket i suspect you would see some great games.
 
Feb 17, 2014
7,152
113
Orlando, FL
Although we do not agree on some things Riseball I believe your post is right on. The other posts not so much. IDT is clearly the hardest to get in to but not at this stage a clear cut "best" of the best. The Fireworks power pool was absolutely loaded with great and top rated 16U teams. There was 20+ D1 coaches watching several of our games in the power pool. If you cant get into IDT or one of the power pools it is hard to get the quantity of coaches to find you scattered all over Denver. So not a complete disagreement. I would guess if you put the top 4 from IDT against top 4 from Champions bracket i suspect you would see some great games.

Agree that there is some great talent and I am sure plenty of D1 coaches are attending, but does it really matter? How many of the players on these top teams are already committed? From a recruiting standpoint does it really matter how many D1 coaches are there? Conversely if a top 16U team is not comprised of mostly committed players, what makes them a top team? If the teams and players are all that and a bag of chips why are they not committed? I keep hearing that these top tournaments with the top teams are recruiting exercises but it just does not add up.

Jake and I are currently working with a very talented 2020 pitcher and I was approached by a very good team about her playing for them at PGF in California. Although she is not committed I explained that she is pretty much set on going to school in in the South East, no more than a 1 day drive from home. I was told that she should really make the trip and play PGF for the exposure. I asked why after going to several camps at schools she was targeting she and her family should drop a couple grand to go to PGF in California I never got a clear answer. Just that it was the best of the best and there would be lots of coaches there. She has decided to pass and attend some more camps and go on some visits.
 
Last edited:
Jul 17, 2012
48
0
So once again I agree with most of what you are saying. The only problem with the camps is you cant see how a kid competes and handles failing and succeeding for that matter in a combine situation. Other than that i agree. Colorado for us is 8 hours away. We have been 3 times. We enjoy it there and can make a sort of vacation out of it. We would not have gone as a team however if we were not in IDT or the Power Pool. As much fun as we have had outside of softball it just wasnt worth it. We are fortunate that there are 2 really big national type events that are put on here. But aside from that if you want to play the best you have to go to them.
 
Dec 2, 2013
3,410
113
Texas
Seems like most of the TX org's play TCS in CO and I believe it is related to TCS owning the Ronald McDonald showcase in TX.

Very true! There were only 4 TX teams in the 18 Gold Bracket this year. As I looked over the Sparkler/Fireworks brackets I see the rest of the TX teams playing each other. I don't like the idea of travelling all the way to CO to play the same teams that you have played the previous 3 weekends. I really enjoyed seeing and playing against some of the best Non Texas teams from around the country. Don't kid yourself. Softball exists outside of CA, TX, FL and GA, and they are pretty darn good! My neck is hurting from watching so many HR's!

Another note: You will see some of these teams getting the best kids not only in their immediate areas, but they also recruit the best players from surrounding states. Whereas in TX, you are "typically" limited to the players in the area that you are based. (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio/Austin) unless they want to travel. Like SoCal, your practice facility may only be 15 miles away, but it takes an hour to get there.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
42,830
Messages
679,474
Members
21,443
Latest member
sstop28
Top