PGF Premier or ASA Nationals

[Bugoozi]

My daughter's team won a PGF premier birth this weekend. We are also doing Colorado and Atlanta. My question is...is it worth it to fly to Cali and spend the money for the PGF nationals or since most of the team is within driving distance of Virginia, do the ASA nationals. Are there that many more coaches in Cali? If we get exposure in Colorado and Atlanta is that enough at 14? We are a 14u gold team. The organization mostly has girls being recruited in the East and Midwest.
Thanks

 

[Little Angels Softball]

PGF is the cream of the crop. If you want to be the best, you have to play against the best.

 

[CoachKevin]

If you are asking then that's problem #1. The team should have a goal and players and parents informed of that goal. If the goal was PGF, it should be a done deal if you qualified. If PGF was the goal, and the goal not reached, then ASA...

I don't get teams that wait until qualified to "decide" if they are accepting the berth. It puts a huge burden on the parents throwing a last minute National Attendance on the schedule.

 

[GunnerShotgun]

PGF is the cream of the crop. If you want to be the best, you have to play against the best.

Meh. I can tell you that the top teams in the midwest do not live in fear of the PGF teams out west.

Any organization that relies on having it's nationals on the west coast every year is going to be limited. Same as the ones that have their nationals in Florida every year.

I say we meet in the middle and see whats what.

 

[cuzmail]

Bugozzi, don't know you or your team so take this with a grain of salt so to speak.

My personal order

PGF Premier
ASA National
PGF Platinum

Now, with that said..... If you are alright with designating a 14U team as a Gold team, then you need to act like a Gold team and hunt out the best of the best across the country.

If you earned a PGF Premier berth, then your team must be good enough to go to PGF.

 

[MNDad]

PGF is the cream of the crop. If you want to be the best, you have to play against the best.

Total hogwash. PGF has become diluted like all the others. The best of the best are scattered among PGF Premier and the various ASA championships. Which one you choose for recruiting depends on your team's goals and where the coaches will be that are interested in your players.

 

[1696]

PGF is the cream of the crop. If you want to be the best, you have to play against the best.

Respectfully disagree. We will go to ASA as first year 16s. We beat 5 PGF-bound teams enroute to the tourney berth. ASA is the best fit for us, and we'll have all we can handle.

 

[sjross96]

Which is better, ASA 16U Nationals or the newer ASA 16U Gold Nationals?

 

[Daddylawman]

Going back to the OP question; if you're going to Atlanta and Colorado your team will get plenty of exposure. Unless you are primarily focused on SEC/PAC-12 teams for your players I don't see a major advantage going to Cali. I'm not saying PGF won't have more coaches and a slew of great teams, but at 14U the majority the costs outweigh the benefits for an east coast team (IMHO).

While ASA isn't what it used to be, PGF has spent the last couple of years diluting what was once clearly a superior product as well.

 

[SoCal_Dad]

The comments about PGF being diluted are curious - I presume they're talking about the addition of the Platinum division, which has no effect on the original Premier division.

PGF Premier has a large lead over ASA Gold at 18U and the gap narrows as you go down the age groups. While teams rarely play both, some players do (e.g. LeLe Ocasio in 2014).