16U Goldd

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Jun 22, 2008
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In ASA there is no such thing as 16 Gold. The only teams that play Gold are 18. Sounds like just another team that is putting Gold behind thier name to try and sound better. We used to have a 12 year old team around here that called themselves a Gold team.

Now, they can attempt to play at the 18 Gold level, but if they do, then they would have to be registered with ASA as an 18 Gold level team.
 
May 12, 2008
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Lots of 16U teams play up in age till the qualifiers but you will find the "gold" teams at the ASA 18U gold qualifiers. No such thing as "gold" below 18U other than they can name themselves anything they want. How about platinum or diamond? Wouldn't that be even better than gold? ;)

Seriously, gold has a specific meaning in the ASA rules and it ONLY applies to 18U though younger kids and teams can play older if they wish.
 

sluggers

Super Moderator
Staff member
May 26, 2008
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Dallas, Texas
A "Gold" 16U team should be a team that competes at the highest level tournaments available. So, such a team should be composed of very good players with extremely competent coaches. Parents involved in such a team should be prepared to (A) spend more money, (B) spend more time and (C) work with their DD more.

Parents should recognize that the competition level within the team will be higher, so DD's playing time will probably decrease. Also, a team that plays at the best tournaments had better be very, very good or they will lose a lot of games.

On the other hand, if you want your DD to play in college, she has to play against the best competition. So, going with a high level travel team is pretty much required if she wants to play in college.

My advice is to really talk to the coach and understand how much this is going to cost and the expectations for time commitment. Get a list of the tournaments he intends to play in and their locations, and see if all of this matches up with what you want to do.

Make sure the coach is an honorable guy who has his sh*t together. I've seen situations where the coach brought in a new player half way through the season, causing another player to see more of the bench. And, I've seen these teams disintegrate midway through the season because the coach was a wacko. (My DD played successfully at the D1 level, so I've seen it all.)

Having a DD play on a top flight travel team can be a lot of fun. However, parents who get involved in one without understanding what they are getting into can be miserable.
 
May 12, 2008
2,214
0
A "Gold" 16U team should be a team that competes at the highest level tournaments available. So, such a team should be composed of very good players with extremely competent coaches. Parents involved in such a team should be prepared to (A) spend more money, (B) spend more time and (C) work with their DD more.

Parents should recognize that the competition level within the team will be higher, so DD's playing time will probably decrease. Also, a team that plays at the best tournaments had better be very, very good or they will lose a lot of games.

On the other hand, if you want your DD to play in college, she has to play against the best competition. So, going with a high level travel team is pretty much required if she wants to play in college.

My advice is to really talk to the coach and understand how much this is going to cost and the expectations for time commitment. Get a list of the tournaments he intends to play in and their locations, and see if all of this matches up with what you want to do.

Make sure the coach is an honorable guy who has his sh*t together. I've seen situations where the coach brought in a new player half way through the season, causing another player to see more of the bench. And, I've seen these teams disintegrate midway through the season because the coach was a wacko. (My DD played successfully at the D1 level, so I've seen it all.)

Having a DD play on a top flight travel team can be a lot of fun. However, parents who get involved in one without understanding what they are getting into can be miserable.


All good thoughts but let's keep clear the point that there is nothing in any organizations rules about a gold designation except for 18U. Even in 18U you still sometimes have teams calling themselves gold who aren't for recruiting reasons to suck in the uneducated BUT, gold is a classification within ASA that means some specific things. There is a gold nationals these teams aspire to and there are gold qualifiers ALL of these gold teams play in to try to get to gold nationals. There is also 18A which is the same as 16A except for the age difference. 18A is below 18 gold. 16A is the highest 16U classification same as 14's, 12's and 10's where A is the highest classification. Now within that A classification there are good teams, bad teams and all those in between. The good ones may use the term "gold" to communicate they are really trying to be the best or any of those teams may use the term gold to try to help recruiting or they may use the term gold in their name for no better reason than they like the sound of it, but either way, at 16, 14, 12 etc, the term gold has no meaning within the rules. Of course below all that there is B/all stars, rec and who knows what all some organization may have come up with but outside of international competition or some young college freshmen, ASA 18 gold is the top of the heap for girls younger than 18.
 
Jun 16, 2008
23
0
Thanks - food for thought. The DD's dedication is there, but the money is always an issue. I will make sure to ask all the questions you listed.
 
May 12, 2008
2,214
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If you keep track of spysoftball.com that's an easy way to know when the gold qualifiers near you are scheduled in case you want to go check it out.
 
May 12, 2008
2,214
0
Thanks - food for thought. The DD's dedication is there, but the money is always an issue. I will make sure to ask all the questions you listed.

Some very good 16U teams play in all the same exposure tourneys as the best gold teams but drop down to 16U for the qualifiers. I hear 16U ASA nationals is well attended by D1 colleges now that these top D1's are commonly making and taking verbal commitments with younger girls. You should go ahead and order Cathi Aradi's book on getting to play in college. It's cheap and it will sort out a LOT of these questions in your mind and claims from various coaches. Google Cathi Aradi and you can read a lot on her website and follow links to her book which I believe is offered on the NFCA website. Some of these coaches are VERY legit, some are used car salesmen of the worst variety and many are in between.

Lots to consider when picking a team and so much of it is difficult to figure out as early as you need to. Best to start doing your research the year before looking for a team. Figuring out who is who is not so easy.
 
All divisions in most sanctions (everything under 18) only has A, B and C. "Gold" level is 18s only. My personal experience is that most of the distinction between A and B is baloney. Any team can say that they are an "A" team, etc. From the college standpoint, playing A or B doesn't really matter (in my opinion). I've seen many college players go from "B" to playing in college. My daughter is extremely fortunate to play on a team in KC area, where tournament directors do an excellent job of matching up teams. Definitely want to play the best competition. If a team is winning every tournament, probably not playing in correct division? My suggestion is, for any coach that says he will get your daughter a college scholarship, be wary. Most of these guys are in it for their own egos or they are trying to "sale" their team.
 

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