radness
Possibilities & Opportunities!
- Dec 13, 2019
- 7,270
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'Travel Ball' was an 'olds boy club' at the top, and unless you were in the know, you didn't get to be part of it. That power has shifted - there are now multiple power groups that have moved with the will of the customer (PGF, USSSA for the most part); and some that haven't (ASA in particular).
Standard Compete: ASA was complacent (and remains that way); they had their baby (The USA Olympic Team) and used it. They are now getting run over by PGF, which is basically some of their disgruntled old boys members and some people p***ed off ebough to be willing to put a whole bunch of work in. You will hear the 'it was better in old day' crowd; this, of course, is garbage - it may have been better for them, but not for a wider swath of people. Players don't automatically have to switch to one of the 'old boys network' teams - they have options. USSSA may be on the B/C/Rec side of this equation (though USA Elite is really good); but it is an organized behemoth and they have eaten into rec and ASA and others with their weekend tournaments and opportunities. Even 10 years ago, the goal for the best teams was to qualify for ASA Nationals. That is a joke now - in Florida, teams would rather go play a PGF event than a qualifier.
Recruiting: And college ball is on TV A LOT, so more people are exposed, so want to be part of it. Also there are WAY more college teams than ever - growth in teams over the years has been extremely strong. These teams need players and a lot of them. This is the system that the coaches and NCAA put in and it is terrible and stupid, but that is what we have right now and people have adapted to it. The showcase scene evolved not just in terms of $$$, but also because coaches needed volume of players and you couldn't just show up at ASA Nationals - that wasn't going to cut it. This leads to...
Growth: This is now nationwide - it used to be Cali was 95% of it, and the few that weren't had to go there. Now it is across the nation. You don't have one power center where everything comes out of or everyone has to go to.
Just to open more discussion toward this first paragraph.
The point "power has shifted" &
"old boys club"...
Imo it hasnt shifted,
Old dog Top teams are still collecting and producing top tier players.
Theres just more people who think when they start a team they have power! Lol
The old dogs are still doing their thing.
Now the litle pups and their teams wear the same logo's and try to bark just as loud.
When the young pup coaches finally grow in age brackets and get to compete against the old dogs, we still see the old dogs winning.
Perhaps because anyone can coach a team self-empowerment has grown too!
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