Olympic selection tryouts

[_MIA_]

USA Softball Announces 2020 Olympic Team Selection Trials Invites - FloSoftball

There are only 15 spots on the USA National Softball Team, which one of the 30 invitees will earn a spot.

www.flosoftball.com

Free to the public for anybody in the area. Time permitting, we might try and catch one of the days (not sure what time they will be working out..hopefully after school..)

 

[TMD]

This would be fun to watch.

Interesting list of invitees. I thought I had read somewhere that Sydney Romero was going to play for Mexico? No Barnhill? Any strong candidates that could unseat someone on the current roster?

 

[corlay]

Interesting list of invitees.

Faraimo - surprising pick. Not sure I'd include her in such a short and exclusive list of pitchers.
Fouts - too young/inexperienced. TONS of upside, though.
Hoover - can be a head-case.

Any strong candidates that could unseat someone on the current roster?

Nickles!

 

[marriard]

Interesting list of invitees. I thought I had read somewhere that Sydney Romero was going to play for Mexico? No Barnhill? Any strong candidates that could unseat someone on the current roster?

Interesting mix.... The USA has a massive amount of talent so there are probably very few bad choices. Maybe there are some sub-optimal choices, but not bad. I love watching Cat pitch but her inclusion means there is no specialist pitcher spot for a younger player so someone is going to never play in the Olympics - Barnhill may end up being that player.

Also the whole tournament setup for the Olympics is total garbage. 6 teams with at least 3 or 4 top teams not getting a spot. 17 total games. Obviously the best they could get but still. It also means your team makeup is going to be different than you would for most international tournaments. Pretty much every team can only afford to take two specialist pitchers - the USA is in a great position by having players like Garcia who can also bat.

Next Olympics for softball is 2028 - so if you think that way anyone who may be around for those may be a good choice. Not many players last more than 4-6 years post-college in the current pro-salary situation so I can see someone like Fouts who would be 27/28 at that time and should be in her prime.

 

[Gags]

Saw that on Instagram a few days ago - within a few hours of the post, there were already several "WTF - no Barnhill?" comments. I believe I heard the same about Romero - maybe as a way to ensure she'll get to play with her sister?

 

[90210]

I love watching Cat pitch but her inclusion means there is no specialist pitcher spot for a younger player so someone is going to never play in the Olympics - Barnhill may end up being that player.

Age doesn't really matter at this point, go with the best talent (with experience factored in). Hoover and Fouts are both somewhat odd choices over KB. No clue how good Cat is these days.

Also the whole tournament setup for the Olympics is total garbage. 6 teams with at least 3 or 4 top teams not getting a spot. 17 total games. Obviously the best they could get but still. It also means your team makeup is going to be different than you would for most international tournaments. Pretty much every team can only afford to take two specialist pitchers - the USA is in a great position by having players like Garcia who can also bat.

The depth of talent really isn't there, as is the case for a lot of women's sports (remember Thailand vs USA soccer). In 4 Olympics, only 4 different teams have medalled. It would be a bit of a shame if Canada doesn't make it in favor of a USA2 squad (PR or Mexico), but realistically it's very likely the US or Japan will take this down.

Next Olympics for softball is 2028 - so if you think that way anyone who may be around for those may be a good choice. Not many players last more than 4-6 years post-college in the current pro-salary situation so I can see someone like Fouts who would be 27/28 at that time and should be in her prime.

Is that confirmed? Fouts could be vagabonding in Botswana in 2028 for all we know, which is why picking young players for the sake of picking young players doesn't seem smart.

 

[marriard]

Age doesn't really matter at this point, go with the best talent (with experience factored in). Hoover and Fouts are both somewhat odd choices over KB. No clue how good Cat is these days.

Hoover and Fouts are likely not making the final squad, so having them involved may well be one of those 'for the future' things international programs like to do. This is it for Cat and probably not too much longer for Abbott so they are going to have to be replaced for future USA squads. The great thing with choosing underclassman is they ARE going to be playing at least for the next few years in college. Once a player leaves college they could quit literally at any time when they struggle to find a living playing the game.

The depth of talent really isn't there, as is the case for a lot of women's sports (remember Thailand vs USA soccer). In 4 Olympics, only 4 different teams have medalled. It would be a bit of a shame if Canada doesn't make it in favor of a USA2 squad (PR or Mexico), but realistically it's very likely the US or Japan will take this down.

One of Australia, China and Chinese Taipei are not making this Olympics. All have reasonably recent wins against Japan and/or the USA. Australia has 2 wins over the USA @ the Olympics. And yes, Canada may miss out for one of the Central American teams who all still have a lot of their local talent on even if they have intelligently grabbed some USA-born players who qualify for them. While there is still a lack of depth I would have to say that the depth at the moment is better than it has ever been and a good portion of it is not going to be at the Olympics.

Is that confirmed? Fouts could be vagabonding in Botswana in 2028 for all we know, which is why picking young players for the sake of picking young players doesn't seem smart.

For 2028 there is a good chance Softball will get back in. The Olympics are in the Los Angeles so in terms of influence on what 'extra' sports get in, baseball/softball is a good bet.

As for younger players - who knows what 2028 brings but I can see their logic. Also depite recent events, the NPF/USA Softball relationship is still not over friendly. Having college players over NPF rostered players was until very recently preferred (or maybe even mandated). And then there is a lot of personalities involved.