Registering as a C Team

[FP26]

Our very first tournament at 12u included a "C" team like this. In fact, they added "Elite" to their team name. I'm not actually sure how an "Elite" team can register as "C", but they did... They ended up winning the tournament. They moved to "B" the following year and eventually moved to "A".

 

[Gags]

For USSSA Virginia, you can only register as B (well, maybe as A? But B is the lowest). To become a C or RAS (Rec/All-Star) team, you have to petition the director. IIRC, we sent an email saying "only a handful of girls have any TB experience, we just formed over the winter, we're not ready for even C tournaments". That was over a year ago - with some physical growth and skill development, I think we're only 2-3 players away from being competitive (i.e. .400-.500) at the B level. Of course, we'll be moving up to 12U in the Fall, so it's probably best for us to stay at C.

I was just talking to one of our coaches yesterday about a similar situation, and for VA and possibly MD/DE (USSSA), I recall reading in the C/RAS rules that records are reviewed, and you could find yourself being moved up a classification mid-season to maintain a competitive balance (or something to that effect). An email to the director may not be unwarranted, but I would hope they're already aware of recent tournament results across all the classes for their state?

 

[Cougars]

Illinois is the same. Register as B and email director requesting C. I think they look at the roster and make determination based on how many players have been registered on previous rosters of A or B teams, but I don't really know. Historical team season results might come into play, but that seems harder based on roster turnover. I don't know how often teams are told no, and stay at B, I've only heard about it 1 time with a team that was playing in our local league.

I understand the threat of moving a team up mid-season, but I would guess it almost never happens? By January, or early February, teams typically have schedule sorted out (and paid for) through July. Would be really tricky to find out June 15th that team is no longer allowed to be in paid for tournaments the rest of June/July.

 

[Ksphenom]

I'll chime in on this since I'm in this situation right now. So we started with a team with 5 (YMCA) level of training Softball players around 10 months ago. These girls don't know the game, couldn't hit or throw a Softball.

Being an independent startup team only a couple experienced players who really know Softball took chance on us.

After all these months of training and very little turnover we have started winning. Winning quite a bit lately. First year age group with girls new to pitching.

Now after having nobody even giving us the time a day we have 25 parents that see the Softball we bring to the field. We still have a couple of girls leaving do to issues outside of Softball.

I believe a cell tower is burning somewhere trying to get us moved up. We're staying down until fall then moving up.

Only been back 3-4 weeks so the pain caused to the large clubs will be over soon enough.




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[HasBeenorNeverWas]

I will never understand people staying back. If my (rec) team could be competitive I would move up in a heartbeat! I would love for my team to be able to play at an A or B level! What good is a trophy when you didn't have to work hard for it

 

[Big Daddy Michigan]

I will never understand people staying back. If my (rec) team could be competitive I would move up in a heartbeat! I would love for my team to be able to play at an A or B level! What good is a trophy when you didn't have to work hard for it

I agree with you, but some parents and coaches measure their self worth by wins, stats, and trophies. I saw a HS team win a state championship, but graduate most of their roster. They still returned a low level D1 pitcher and a superstar D2 shortstop. The coach dropped out of every tournament with good competition and dropped every opponent that had a winning record (non-conference) to play scrub teams.

The parents bragged about the stats their kids were putting up and the coach bragged about their W-L record. They were beating teams by 20 runs in 3 inning games and putting up lofty stats vs. garbage pitching and poor defense. Then they lost in districts...

What's important to you, getting better or being able to brag?

 

[let it be fun]

If you are not playing at the top level there will be sandbaggers in your division.

 

[Johnreilly]

Just curious if any of you have seen anything like this before.

Last weekend my daughters 1st year 10u B team played against a team registered as a “C“ per their USSSA registration. We are pretty competitive in the B level (20-10) and were quite surprised when we got beat up pretty good by this “C” team.

Upon further research it turns out that this “C” team had a record of 27-4 last summer at the “B” level and returned seven players.

Maybe this sort of thing happens more frequently than I thought, but it seems very bush league to take a strong, predominately 2nd year B team and register as a C.

i’m guessing it’s purely trophy hunting as I can see that 80% of their games are blowout wins versus low to mid level teams C teams.

Has anyone experienced anything like this before?

In New Mexico, some rec leagues are Utrip and also travel and play tournaments after their rec season. In Farmington, they are all classified "C" because they play in that league. Doesn't mean they can't win games or tournaments against A n B teams. They do.
And out here, an A team just means the coach registered the team like that, nothing they've earned. In fact, I can only think of one 12u A team in Albuquerque, and they get stomped- a lot. They pay that monthly fee to pretend they're Rico, , but I'll take the C teams from Farmington winning that matchup 8 out of 10 times.

 

[_MIA_]

Here is my 2 cents: People worry too much about what everybody else is doing.

 

[PDM]

This is a ridiculous thread . Trophies are life changing........

A $20 piece of plastic will have a lot of people lying, cheating just to have their Facebook status changed. It's shameful

I wonder what these guys do with all of those trophies. I have been coaching a long time and those that I couldn't give away are in a box in my basement. Why would anyone feel the need to cheat (or stretch the truth) in order to win one in a meaningless tournament? Someone wants to feel important, or use the list of championships to sucker more parents into writing checks and joining the club. The one positive (for everyone else) is that the girls on that team are never challenged so in the end their development suffers.