Levels of Play

[Lenski]

Here is SW Ohio ASA and PGF are king, USSSA is for the lower level TB teams, and then we have rec. NSA, PONY, etc. are basically non-existent.

 

[YOCOACH]

NE Ohio. There's rec and TB. Even if the rec teams or their all-star teams travel from township to township to play each other/tournaments, it's still considered rec because they are representing that local league. TB is a different story. The letters A/B/C usually denote the competitiveness of the team. Nowadays though, there seems to be the trend of adding gold, elite, premiere or showcase to the name to denote a superior level of skill over the "A" teams. I have seen many of these same gold/elite/premiere/showcase teams get their butts handed to them on a regular basis by decent "B" level teams. Just because an organization puts a word in the name doesn't mean the team has the skills to live up to it.

 

[RubberBiscuit]

It's always landed at this in WI:

Rec league/Little League
TB-C = level of play similar to Rec but just "more"
TB-B = Those that play better than C but still don't travel to far (mostly within 50miles)
TB-A = The big WI club teams that travel the country

"Elite"....? I think this might have been a Cali thing that just hasn't gotten here yet.....

 

[JAD]

My $0.02 on GA

REC : self contained local leagues that field teams and play each other.
All Stars : team selected from REC teams and play other local league teams in an extended Summer league.
C-level TB : usually All-Star teams that decide to give TB a try.
B minus TB : C-level teams that become more competitive and are looking to improve. Usually have a developing pitcher.
B plus TB : teams with a solid core of players, and can put up a pretty good 1-5 batting order, do well in B level tournament, but cannot consistently beat A-level teams.
A minus TB : Would win 80+% of B level tournaments they enter, but win only 20-40% of the A-level tournament games.
A plus TB : Wins 60+% of A level tournament games. Does not play in any B-level events.
Gold TB : Only plays other A-plus or Gold level teams. Will play up an age group whenever possible.

* - HC's "self rate" their teams in our area so there is a lot of sandbagging early in the season. Some of the TD's, especially ones that specialize in C-level tournaments, will block teams from playing down once they have won a tournament.

ASA qualifiers are still a big draw and will have 50+ teams in some age groups.
PGF qualifier - gaining in popularity, but usually have 15 teams or less.
USFA - does a good job hosting B-level tournaments
USSSA - competitive at 18U, younger age groups gravitate towards B-level play
TCS - very competitive at 18U
Camsports - B-level tournaments
GSA - specializes in C-level tournaments
NSA - popular in NW GA
Atl Metro Fastpitch - low B and C level

 

[SoCal_Dad]

"Elite"....? I think this might have been a Cali thing that just hasn't gotten here yet.....

"Elite" was referenced by MNDad, whom is in your neck of the woods...

SoCal TB teams are contenders, competitors, pretenders and B-circuit teams.
- Contenders get berths to PGF, get accepted by top events (e.g. CO IDT or TCS Power Pool) and play on the best fields.
- Competitors make a good showing at PGF qualifiers and a few qualify. They play on the better fields at showcases.
- Pretenders try to qualify for PGF and fail miserably. They're shipped off to the worst fields at showcases.
- B-circuit teams know their place and stick to lower-level events (USSSA).

IMO, many of the competitors and pretenders would be better off playing ASA instead of betting the farm on PGF.

 

[MNDad]

"Elite" was referenced by MNDad, whom is in your neck of the woods...

SoCal TB teams are contenders, competitors, pretenders and B-circuit teams.
- Contenders get berths to PGF, get accepted by top events (e.g. CO IDT or TCS Power Pool) and play on the best fields.
- Competitors make a good showing at PGF qualifiers and a few qualify. They play on the better fields at showcases.
- Pretenders try to qualify for PGF and fail miserably. They're shipped off to the worst fields at showcases.
- B-circuit teams know their place and stick to lower-level events (USSSA).

IMO, many of the competitors and pretenders would be better off playing ASA instead of betting the farm on PGF.

They call it Elite, but just like you we have contenders, competitors, pretenders and B-circuit teams. A large share of club teams here are just disgruntled parents who are building teams around their daughters.

 

[Rocketech1]

The SoCal posts are spot on but there is one glaring omission: 10U - 14U Tournament Teams.

In my area, primarily in the fall some coaches will form independent tournament teams (travel ball lite teams) made up of mostly rec all-star caliber players that play from Sept - January and come back to their local rec leagues in the spring and summer. The tournament teams can play in leagues against other tournament teams and will frequently play in a few open tournaments in Dec/Jan. I look at tournament teams as a way for the more competitive rec player to test the waters of travel ball without the 12 month commitment.

 

[Eric F]

The SoCal posts are spot on but there is one glaring omission: 10U - 14U Tournament Teams.

In my area, primarily in the fall some coaches will form independent tournament teams (travel ball lite teams) made up of mostly rec all-star caliber players that play from Sept - January and come back to their local rec leagues in the spring and summer. The tournament teams can play in leagues against other tournament teams and will frequently play in a few open tournaments in Dec/Jan. I look at tournament teams as a way for the more competitive rec player to test the waters of travel ball without the 12 month commitment.

Yep. I forgot about those in my previous post. Good addition, Rocket.

 

[29dad]

Neither here nor there and slightly off topic, but one of the unusual things about Minnesota fastpitch is that club teams are not allowed until 13u.