- Jan 1, 2023
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Maybe it’s just an assumption based on that last year all 3 teams they sent were in the power pool in each age bracket.
Sparkler review $$$
- Thread starter LEsoftballdad
- Start date
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A good friend of mine has a daughter on the 18U LD team. They had a great run after starting in the Supplemental Power Pool. Because they did so well, they got bumped to the National Power Pool for bracket play.
Speaking of your wallet. The 2024 TCS Sparkler is $2,700 per team. Yikes!!!
- May 13, 2023
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That's barely less than one month's rent of a
1 bedroom, 450 square foot apartment along the coast of So.Calif.
( common pricing)
Does that make Colorado tournament seem more affordable or less?!
- May 27, 2013
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Yikes! When I had my own TB team back in the day, that price would have allowed for 6-7 USSSA tournaments! Totally different animal, I get it - but wow!
Thats double my mortgage on 4,300 sqft on 1/2 acre. So, it seems even less affordable.
Our USSSA events were around $600 each. And that's not all that long ago. We only charged $990 per girl, and that price included uniforms, eight tournaments, and winter workouts. Bags and helmets were extra.
- May 27, 2013
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Yeah, our Utrips were $350-400 about 8 years ago. I can’t recall the dues I charged off the top of my head but definitely was less than $1000 for the year. I think we played in 2 tournaments in the fall and I want to say about 10 in the spring/summer with a “National“ tournament as well. We also did an ASA fall league with RR games and a tournament at the end. 2 unis, helmet, Boombah bag, and indoor facility over winter included in the fees. Oh, and coaches, including myself, were not paid, nor did we use team dues for our travel expenses. We also paid for our own kids to play.
Same here. I had two girls on my 12U team, and I paid full price. That was back in 2017. We did fundraising to get extra money for two more events, paid college trainers, and bags and helmets. We only raised $2,400 for the team, and we got everything we wanted.
I just found one of my old invoices. One-day events were $350, and two-day events were $475-$525.
- May 27, 2013
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Just found my old binder - yes, these costs you listed were more like it, with ”states” being on the higher end. I forgot that we started out doing 2 “C” tournaments because we were 1st year 14U and barely any of the girls had TB experience. The lower cost was because the C tourneys were only 2 games pool play. When we moved up to B the tourney cost went up, as well. A few of the local, unsanctioned events that we did were closer to the $350 I had mentioned. I’d say on average about $425-450 was the norm for us.
The disconnect seems to be the myopic view that some here are taking. The number of D1 quality players from non-traditional softball areas who go there for recruiting exposure is an outlier. With over 1000 teams and 12-15 players on each team, there are about 13,000 players there. There are only 285 D1 programs and not even half go to Colorado and the avg recruiting class size is around 4-5. Do the math. Step back and look at the big picture. Recruiting is not the main draw of that tournament.
