Saw this on Facebook. Wow! Calling some folks out!
WARNING: LONG post but you MUST read it all. Will open your eyes!!!!!
I rarely post but tonight I just can’t help myself. As one of about 8 founding members/organizations of National Fastpitch Alliance (NFA), I am so glad now more than ever that we stepped out 3+ years ago and started NFA. Yes, I would argue that WE are the TRUE Alliance! We formed 3 years ago and we are truly an alliance of organizations that share the common goal of “Taking Back the Game”.
Most people in softball don’t understand what this means and it may appear to make no sense at all but let me explain. This marks the 25th year for me coaching Fastpitch softball. In 2008, most of the tournaments that people think you HAVE to ply didn’t even exist. There was no Legacy, no Scenic City, no Bolts 5-Star, heck, not even any Thunderbolt organization yet. There was no D-9, no PGF, no special Leagues that charge every team and player just to be able to pay to play in a tournament and no Team 1 Showcase. However, there was college recruiting at events everywhere and every kid over a 5 year stretch from 2007-2011 that played in my organization, went to college to play softball on a softball scholarship if they desired. The same is true for the other 7-8 organizations in The Alliance.
We played Rising Stars, Ronald McDonald, Louisville Slugger IDT, Music City Hits, Birmingham Vipers Memorial Day Tournament, Southern Force Fall in Watkinsville, GA and ASA qualifiers and Nationals. I know changes in the recruiting calendar have impacted some of these events but the fact that we played all these and many more and only charged each player $300/year is what shocks most people. Yes I said per year! We also had one fundraiser that raised about $35,000 and that supported a 6-10 team organization with more going to the 14-18u for their recruiting tournaments which ran $500 or so.
Suddenly in about 2009-2010 time frame some businessmen got involved in a kids game and stole the game of softball and replaced it with the BUSINESS of softball. They were smart and worked together with a you play mine and I will play yours agreement and we will draw coaches and not pay but charge others who want in a high price to play and we will all make money. Then someone invented the Stay to Play idea which gives tournament directors $15-$50/room/night. Today, most tournaments make as much on hotels as they do on the actual event. But since they say the hotels are discounted I guess that makes it ok.....NOT!
Now we have leagues! Great idea! We can keep up with teams records against each other and create a ranking so we can determine who the best teams really are in each region of the country. That is a great idea!!! Teams enter their own scores and the program does the work. That would sound good but Now comes the BUSINESS again. Charge every team $300 to participate. Wait, every team must have 10-15 players. Let’s charge every player another $45/player. Wait guys, the players payed the $300 team fee. Where do you think team money comes from? But now each team has paid $750-$1000 annually to participate in the league. LeGues are for ALL AGES. So a low estimate is 1500 teams in any given league ages 10-18 and each paying $1000 annually is $1.5 million JUST TO SAY YOU ARE IN THE LEAGUE. And there are 6 leagues minimum! That’s $9 million in somebody’s pockets. And that is the cost to be eligible to pay an additional $800-$1500 to pay in their tournaments.
Boy am I glad THE ALLIANCE is here to help the kids! Don’t get me wrong. There are good things and playing the best competition is ALWAYS a good thing but colleges recruit players. If all those same teams came to an event that NFA hosted, do you think colleges would attend? Of course. All the players are there so all the schools will be there. So if we only charge $600 entry and $10/ day gate fee which would be about $240/team. That is $840 total and no stay to play. We will figure on 6 teams per field and 1:40 games for 5 games in 2 1/2 days.
Field cost $300/day=$900=$150/team
Umpires $60/game =$300/team
Balls 1/game/team=$25/team
Arm bands/profile booklets/college coach hospitality, etc.$600/field/tournament =$100/team
That is $575/team in expenses. That leaves $265/team in profit.
These figures are high because many times fields are at no cost and cities pay groups to bring events to their area. Now think about that 300+ team event that cost $1500/team+ and profit is $925/team.
300x$925=$277,500
Now take 8 hotel rooms per team mandatory
3 nights for each reservation
$30/night to the tournament host plus comped rooms for umpires.
That is $720/team x 309 teams=$216,000
Now you understand the Business of softball!
“Take Back the Game”
Play NFA
WARNING: LONG post but you MUST read it all. Will open your eyes!!!!!
I rarely post but tonight I just can’t help myself. As one of about 8 founding members/organizations of National Fastpitch Alliance (NFA), I am so glad now more than ever that we stepped out 3+ years ago and started NFA. Yes, I would argue that WE are the TRUE Alliance! We formed 3 years ago and we are truly an alliance of organizations that share the common goal of “Taking Back the Game”.
Most people in softball don’t understand what this means and it may appear to make no sense at all but let me explain. This marks the 25th year for me coaching Fastpitch softball. In 2008, most of the tournaments that people think you HAVE to ply didn’t even exist. There was no Legacy, no Scenic City, no Bolts 5-Star, heck, not even any Thunderbolt organization yet. There was no D-9, no PGF, no special Leagues that charge every team and player just to be able to pay to play in a tournament and no Team 1 Showcase. However, there was college recruiting at events everywhere and every kid over a 5 year stretch from 2007-2011 that played in my organization, went to college to play softball on a softball scholarship if they desired. The same is true for the other 7-8 organizations in The Alliance.
We played Rising Stars, Ronald McDonald, Louisville Slugger IDT, Music City Hits, Birmingham Vipers Memorial Day Tournament, Southern Force Fall in Watkinsville, GA and ASA qualifiers and Nationals. I know changes in the recruiting calendar have impacted some of these events but the fact that we played all these and many more and only charged each player $300/year is what shocks most people. Yes I said per year! We also had one fundraiser that raised about $35,000 and that supported a 6-10 team organization with more going to the 14-18u for their recruiting tournaments which ran $500 or so.
Suddenly in about 2009-2010 time frame some businessmen got involved in a kids game and stole the game of softball and replaced it with the BUSINESS of softball. They were smart and worked together with a you play mine and I will play yours agreement and we will draw coaches and not pay but charge others who want in a high price to play and we will all make money. Then someone invented the Stay to Play idea which gives tournament directors $15-$50/room/night. Today, most tournaments make as much on hotels as they do on the actual event. But since they say the hotels are discounted I guess that makes it ok.....NOT!
Now we have leagues! Great idea! We can keep up with teams records against each other and create a ranking so we can determine who the best teams really are in each region of the country. That is a great idea!!! Teams enter their own scores and the program does the work. That would sound good but Now comes the BUSINESS again. Charge every team $300 to participate. Wait, every team must have 10-15 players. Let’s charge every player another $45/player. Wait guys, the players payed the $300 team fee. Where do you think team money comes from? But now each team has paid $750-$1000 annually to participate in the league. LeGues are for ALL AGES. So a low estimate is 1500 teams in any given league ages 10-18 and each paying $1000 annually is $1.5 million JUST TO SAY YOU ARE IN THE LEAGUE. And there are 6 leagues minimum! That’s $9 million in somebody’s pockets. And that is the cost to be eligible to pay an additional $800-$1500 to pay in their tournaments.
Boy am I glad THE ALLIANCE is here to help the kids! Don’t get me wrong. There are good things and playing the best competition is ALWAYS a good thing but colleges recruit players. If all those same teams came to an event that NFA hosted, do you think colleges would attend? Of course. All the players are there so all the schools will be there. So if we only charge $600 entry and $10/ day gate fee which would be about $240/team. That is $840 total and no stay to play. We will figure on 6 teams per field and 1:40 games for 5 games in 2 1/2 days.
Field cost $300/day=$900=$150/team
Umpires $60/game =$300/team
Balls 1/game/team=$25/team
Arm bands/profile booklets/college coach hospitality, etc.$600/field/tournament =$100/team
That is $575/team in expenses. That leaves $265/team in profit.
These figures are high because many times fields are at no cost and cities pay groups to bring events to their area. Now think about that 300+ team event that cost $1500/team+ and profit is $925/team.
300x$925=$277,500
Now take 8 hotel rooms per team mandatory
3 nights for each reservation
$30/night to the tournament host plus comped rooms for umpires.
That is $720/team x 309 teams=$216,000
Now you understand the Business of softball!
“Take Back the Game”
Play NFA
