Question for ASA...why South Dakota...or Midland, or Moline, or Bloomington......

[TheRogue]

Apparently only 3 of the top 20 "ranked" 14U programs in California were playing in ASA State this year. That means that they have thrown their hats into the PGF world.

ASA Nationals will always be the big kid on the block in terms of total numbers......but the organization is seriously screwing up by not recognizing the issues and changing with the times. This is oh so true for any "good old boy" organization.

 

[BrianMonk]

For me, the draw of ASA Nationals has always been to play against the best competition in the country. If the top 64 teams in the country go to Premier then what is the compelling reason to go to South Dakota?

There isn't one, go play Premier.

I would rather just go to Panama City Beach and play USFA!

If you don't qualify for Premier, USFA will be very happy.

Will the winner of ASA Nationals be declared the 65th best team in the country? LOL

I think they'll declare themselves ASA National champions. Nothing more, nothing less. And a few years after they win, no one will give a $h&%.

 

[BrianMonk]

It's 3 hours from Chicago to Moline.

I'm well aware of that, I'm just telling you what teams did and seemed to be having a good time.

 

[JAD]

BrianMonk - it is true that years from now no one will care who won, but if you were a college coach/recruiter with a limited budget, would you rather go watch Premier or ASA Nationals?

 

[MTR]

I agree....and I don't. If eveyone is there to play ball, can you address the 4 games in 6 days?

Too many teams? Would you prefer it be limited so it could be more controlled? Could always go back to forcing everyone to win a qualifier. Many of these large tournaments ballooned over the years because the big areas demanded more berths than the smaller ones. They tried a 3GG which seemed great until it came to nationals then all of a sudden teams were being sent on vacation after two days whilch those who won, played many more. When locations try to add complexes to help alleviate your complaint, then all they hear is about the driving time and their DD not being seen by this coach or that or whatever else doesn't fit into their schedule. For some, it is a no-win as there will always be someone unhappy about something. Like everything else in this world, you cannot be everything to everybody.

Maybe its time to change the formula? Instead of having bids come in.....go directly to these more cost effective areas and negotiate? The way you are describing it, it's almost like big cities couldn't host a tournament because they don't want it. Tell that to the Triple Crown World Series....they're hosting a 140+ team tournament in San Diego this summer. The Denver area will be hosting around 500 teams in multiple tournaments over the 4th of July. St. Louis will be hosting a 120 team tournament in October and again in November. Of course Florida has big tournaments as well.

Just one question. Who is doing the work and putting up the money to hold fields, personnel and blocks of hotel rooms? Probably isn't the cities. Richmond, VA used to have a 450-team tournament every Memorial Day weekend. But it wasn't Richmond, it was a commissioner who set everything up. Did he need the help of the city? Sure, but again, the city isn't going to bid on these.

It isn't like I haven't talked to people from these cities before. Talked to a CoC rep one year who was there to bid on the ASA National Council meeting. I asked why they were not interested in a tournament and was told exactly what I posted. It wasn't worth it to tie up their resources to make less money than is brought in by one NFL game. I'm not making it up as when I played I often wondered why there wasn't something not in the midde of Gibip?

If ASA simply asks for bids from state ASA groups, and then ASA votes on the bids, and as you admit there are the negotiations in the hall....will anything ever change?

They are not ASA groups, they are towns and cities, CVB and CoC. Is the local ASA group involved? Sure, that's your volunteer base, but they aren't footing the bill which is not cheap.

I understand the Sioux Falls has some nice complexes/fields. That's great! So do a lot of other places that are much more cost-effective.

More cost effective for whom? A location for which you don't care may be quite cost effective for quite a few people. Should they possible suffer just to please others?

If it's all about playing ball......put the committee in charge of coming up with a better solution. PGF is on the right track; there's no reason to spend 7+ days to play, for 1/2 of the teams, 4 games. If our team stays at the same type of hotel we stay at for most tournaments, and do the same van rental as we do for most tournaments, then we're looking at $1500 per player for this one tournament....and that doesn't even buy the t-shirt.

If it is a cost issue, have you considered changing the type of hotels or spending habits? Just asking a question.

I don't disagree with you, but have never been involved with a tournament intentionally drawn out. For that matter, most have been reduced in days from the original posted if possible based on the number of teams. Now, a question for you. Have you ever been to a tournament where the fields sat silent for no apparent reason? I've seen tournament fields break for seeding and assignment purposes, but never have I seen nor heard a TD say, okay, that's enough games for today, everybody hit the pool when there were still games on the table.

 

[BrianMonk]

BrianMonk - it is true that years from now no one will care who won, but if you were a college coach/recruiter with a limited budget, would you rather go watch Premier or ASA Nationals?

Given you mentioned limited budget, that excludes most of the heavy hitters. The PAC-10, SEC, Big-12 schools, while their budget may not be unlimited, they wouldn’t have an issue spending the money to send coaches to both.

If it was me, I would go to where I would get the most bang for my buck. If I’m located in the Midwest, I’d go to ASA, west coast I’d go to Premier.

You’d be shocked at how many kids play college softball that have never played in a Premier or ASA Championship. I’d venture to say the majority have never played in either (at least in the Midwest). In addition, if your goal is to go to a west coast school, your best bet is to move to the west coast. It’s seldom you find a kid from the Midwest playing softball at a west coast school. It’s more the exception than the norm.

If teams from the Midwest want to go to Premier to compete against the best, have fun and go on a mini-vacation, go for it. Enjoy it. If their goal is to get into UCLA, they’d have as good of a chance of playing on the Southern Cal softball team.

 

[starsnuffer]

It's also cheaper for an out of state kid to go to Harvard then it is for them to go to UCLA, Cal, or any other UC with the California state budget cuts being what they are. You'll see the decline of California softball, but it won't be because of the players or the games, it will be because of the decimation of the California public school system (which includes the UC system). For some reason, politicians like to cut money from education to keep people stupid enough to vote for them.

-W

 

[mad hornet]

At the younger ages, having something to do when softball isn't going on is a huge factor in the decision of where to go for nationals. Cities close to a nice beach are very appealing.

 

[MTR]

BrianMonk - it is true that years from now no one will care who won, but if you were a college coach/recruiter with a limited budget, would you rather go watch Premier or ASA Nationals?

I would think the coaches would go where the players in which they are interested are playing

 

[02Crush]

I must say that sitting back and wanting Cities/Towns/Counties to submit bids seems a bit high and mighty....
In today's world where the economy is what it has been for the past decade (yes I said decade not since 2008)
You are still an organization that derives it's existence from those who pay to be involved so it might be smart to
consider being a little more proactive and determine where "you" want to be. I live in a lower tax market outside of Atlanta
and we have awesome access via the airport, car rentals, hotels, food options and more...And still in a rural setting. Our county
would consider it a privilege to host ASA Nationals and it would bring significant revenue to the community for us..
I agree it is not so much for Atlanta itself but our community it would be.