tournament peeves

[YOCOACH]

Really? This was 18A ASA Western Nationals... Every big tournament we have ever been in has it, same for the 18A Hall of Fame.

We're playing mostly local showcases (within 3 hour drive) since I have some younger players on the team that are still looking to get recruited. Around our area, most tournaments are pretty much first come first serve when it comes to dugouts. Playing at the Regionals/Nationals/Big qualifiers I've seen it done and be quite successful. But not your normal, every day tourney around here.

 

[Andy S]

Oh, the mention of smoking made me think of this one:

* The people that think the "no smoking rule" doesn't apply to them because they're vaping in the stands by the kids. Extra points if you are the UMPIRE ON THE FIELD for god's sake (yes, I saw that. TD put a stop to it).

 

[nacho]

3. Gate fees when no one mentioned it in advance. Of course, I have no cash.

Gate fees are mine. I come from a baseball background and in our area all the baseball tournaments add the gate fee into the tournament fee. Yes, it's more to enter the tournament, but at least I don't have to pay each day to watch my kid play. Also, I hate telling grandparents to come watch, but you have to pay. I understand the tournaments need to make money, but I'd rather see them raise the entry fees.

 

[CoogansBluff]

Also, I hate telling grandparents to come watch, but you have to pay.

We played in Kansas City this summer, and 4 of the players were seeing some sights. There was a lady at a museum who took great interest in the players and what they did. She used to play softball when she was young. She was now 50. She said she wanted to come watch us play. We thought she was just being nice. Sure enough, she arrives and brings her daughter. She had to pay $20 ($10 apiece), and because of rain, got to see about 2.5 innings.

So yeah, raise the entry fee, IMO. For sake of this sport, we need to make it easy for people to come watch.

 

[SoAZDad]

My first and second biggest peeves are often the same.

1. Rude people.
2. Poor sportsmanship.

 

[Rocketech1]

If playing in SoCal, no tournaments should EVER be played in Hemet, Perris, or Palmdale/Lancaster.

 

[SoAZDad]

8. We know it's hot, but please stop setting your chairs up under the awning near the bathroom.

Saw a player last spring round the corner heading for the rest room at full speed and projectile vomited across the laps of several such people.

 

[Eric F]

If playing in SoCal, no tournaments should EVER be played in Hemet, Perris, or Palmdale/Lancaster.

Ever. Ever. E V E R.

 

[FP26]

Two tournaments in a row, our Saturday schedule was 8 am, 12:30 pm and 5 pm. Makes for a very long day.... Just when we started to get used to that, our next tournament was 8 am, 2 pm , and 6:30 pm..... Luckily we received an email the next day adjusting it to 8 am, 11 am, and 2 pm. Much better....

 

[marriard]

- Driving 4+ hours to play the team that is based 15 minutes away from your home field in pool play.

- Scheduling done completely without thought or done in such a way that it CLEARLY favors a particular set of teams. There is no excuse. It isn't as hard as you make it out to be - just a little time consuming to get it right the first couple of times.

- Tournaments that take too many teams that they knew they couldn't handle through either lack of fields or umpires.

- Poor umpires that are on their 8th game-in-a-row of the day because of the last item.

- Any tournament that plays 8U or 10U games with a start time after 9pm

- Tournaments that take 3 hours to call games even though the field looks more like a swimming pool than a softball field

Two more...

- Playing in a local tournament hosted by an org within 30 minutes - even one run by your org - but your division is playing on the FAR fields an hour away anyway.

- Arranging a hotel close to the fields on the tournament website - but playing 45 minutes drive away across the county. The closer your hotel is to the fields listed, the further the fields you are actually playing on are.