What National Tournaments?

As we look forward to the spring we are beginning to prepare our schedule and are looking to get feed back as to what are the top national tournaments to try and qualify for.

We are an 06 12u A team that is wanting to compete with the best teams out there.

USA Elite or ASA are the tournaments we are considering.

Thanks for any help with ideas.

What area do you live in? That would help narrow down the choices.

We are in the South but are willing to travel the southeast in order to play a competitive schedule.

Where is ASA this year for your age group? They occasionally have some good locations, but for the most part host their nationals in less than desirable vacation destinations. I know it is not on your list, and the competition will not be as good, but my favorite National tournament EVER was USFA in Panama City. We rented a condo on the beach, the entire family, including extended family, came and we had a great time. Played softball in the morning and hung out on the beach all afternoon. Had oysters and beer for dinner at Shuckems across the street from our condo 5 of the 6 nights were were there. After that we started playing in ASA, PGF, USA Elite and JO Cup - the competition was better, but it was all about softball and not so much about having fun...

We are looking for it to be all about softball. We have a core of young ladies that are very talented.
We are trying to continue to build this team intica nationally competitive team.

USAES. This is a great tournament and there are a ton of top level teams there. It is well ran and there were 90+ colleges there last year. I am speaking about the WFC, I believe at 12u you would be in the Futures and that is held in Florida, not sure where ASA is this year. ASA ball is about dead around here, USAES is where the real competition is. Not a lot of crappy teams will pay the larger entry fees to enter these tournaments and they have to register as an A team to be in USAES anyway.

The only negative thing I have to say about USAES (for now at least) is that they are partnered with Traveling Teams.

Easton33 said:

The only negative thing I have to say about USAES (for now at least) is that they are partnered with Traveling Teams.

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When faced with multiple choices between tournaments I have avoided "Traveling Teams" when possible.

USA Softball 12u FP will be held in Spartanburg, SC July 22-29, 2018

JAD said:

Where is ASA this year for your age group? They occasionally have some good locations, but for the most part host their nationals in less than desirable vacation destinations. I know it is not on your list, and the competition will not be as good, but my favorite National tournament EVER was USFA in Panama City. We rented a condo on the beach, the entire family, including extended family, came and we had a great time. Played softball in the morning and hung out on the beach all afternoon. Had oysters and beer for dinner at Shuckems across the street from our condo 5 of the 6 nights were were there. After that we started playing in ASA, PGF, USA Elite and JO Cup - the competition was better, but it was all about softball and not so much about having fun...

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I would consider entering the Sparkler Jr in Colorado as another national type of tourney especially if you are wanting to build your name. Triple Crown requires a good track record to be able to start playing against better teams as you age up. How you do at PGF and ASA will give you a good idea where you fit in.

Coach904 said:

As we look forward to the spring we are beginning to prepare our schedule and are looking to get feed back as to what are the top national tournaments to try and qualify for.

We are an 06 12u A team that is wanting to compete with the best teams out there.
USA Elite or ASA are the tournaments we are considering.

Thanks for any help with ideas.

Click to expand...

ASA/USA Softball you HAVE to qualify for the most part and so there will be travel to qualifiers to get in, but as you are in the South this would be the 'target' event for the top teams in the area.
USA Elite - while you technically have to qualify, there is some more leeway if you perform decently in these qualifiers. It would be the fall back event.

PGF is your other real option - if you want the very best and don't mind going to California there will be some PGF qualifiers in the South/Southeast. But we are talking really expensive and for a non-West team I'd be saving that trip until 14-A or even 16-A. And there will be limited qualifiers in your area so you will REALLY have to be at the top of the list of teams in the age group.

And if you don't get into these then USFA (panama City) or USSSA (Viera/Orlando at the new complex) have been much more competitive and balanced the last few years especially in the 12U and 14U age groups so are also excellent fallbacks.

.. Lastly, don't spend $$$$$ on chasing qualification in 12U. It is really expensive, the travel is really expensive and the kids get burnt out (though they will tell you they are not because they are 11 years old). The amount of highly talented girls who leave the sport because of heavy 10U/12U travel schedules is extremely high. If you can qualify early for your target event or are just chasing competition, play up in the older age groups locally versus chasing same age competition. Long term it is a better path and will help keep the girls in the game.

The 12U ASA Champion from about 4 years ago were based about 10 miles from my house. Of those 14 girls, just 1 plays softball today. Just something to think about.