USSSA Extends season through August

[4 girl's dad]

What would be fair to you?

Fair?? Lol. There is no fair.
But to receive at least a partial refund for the incomplete season/tourneys that were rescheduled and to have the pickup players pay their way If they decide to go.

I dont have the answers. These are unprecedented times. But using funds from players that cant play in tourneys that were rescheduled doesnt seem right to me.

 

[Gambler Bob]

Fair?? Lol. There is no fair.
But to receive at least a partial refund for the incomplete season/tourneys that were rescheduled and to have the pickup players pay their way If they decide to go.

I dont have the answers. These are unprecedented times. But using funds from players that cant play in tourneys that were rescheduled doesnt seem right to me.

If half the team could not make a rescheduled tournament, I would agree that the team funds should not be used for that tournament. If there were only 2 or 3 players that could not make a rescheduled tournament where you had a couple of months notice I would personally disagree with you considering the issue at hand. If you have to pick up a player to have 10 or 11 girls to play in that tournament does not seem like a terrible idea.

Given the circumstances, there is no way to make everyone happy. Coaches and organizations are trying to do their best. USSSA adding an additional 5 weeks is just giving organizations an additional option to try to get some extra softball in.

 

[Westwind]

I would count the August tournaments as not much more than a chance to play. It will be close to home. One step up from scrimmages. Regional teams won’t be doing this I bet. They will be gearing up for fall which will be huge for hs age players.

I would also expect to see mixed up rosters and varied participation from players. They may need to relax the roster rules. And it’s going to be HOT. Some zip codes this probably won’t work.

This really won’t work for most 18u teams that have hs seniors on them.

For states that have fall softball, this will be a wild year for the hs kids that are recruiting age. Hopefully the state associations allow club participation during the hs season. I have a feeling the recruiting season will be adjusted to start September 1 this year.

 

[Bullseye]

Fair?? Lol. There is no fair.
But to receive at least a partial refund for the incomplete season/tourneys that were rescheduled and to have the pickup players pay their way If they decide to go.

I dont have the answers. These are unprecedented times. But using funds from players that cant play in tourneys that were rescheduled doesnt seem right to me.

Understand the delema. The choice to play is an option you pay for. If that option changed date its still an option.
Rain out, Injury or any other illness or sercumstance would still be part of your choice.
Those complaining if they have something else planned are complaining because they have to choose.

 

[uncdrew]

August is a hot, hot month here in Georgia. Yes, our girls will want to play. Yes, us parents will want to play.

Perhaps they can just shorten the games to 25 minutes. hahahahahahahahahaha. I'm losing it.

 

[4 girl's dad]

Understand the delema. The choice to play is an option you pay for. If that option changed date its still an option.
Rain out, Injury or any other illness or sercumstance would still be part of your choice.
Those complaining if they have something else planned are complaining because they have to choose.

That’s kind of my point. What we signed up for wasnt playing in August. But my team/org is still charging me/us full price for something I may not be able to participate in. Thats not what the plan was. It’s not the same as if its a rain out. That’s the chance we all take with ball. But this is beyond that. . (Note, we dont have to choose. We dont have anything going on in August. I’m just making a point)

Being asked to play a month later or when multiple people have lost income due to world wide pandemic circumstances and not giving them an out is an issue for me. So many scenarios to this. I’m just trying to give other perspectives.

 

[The Man In Blue]

Illinois has junior high ball in the fall and we usually have our first games the first week of August. Currently the association doesn’t specifically ban dual participation but I’ve read they are planning to make that amendment this summer. Doubt Utrips announcement will matter to them and I don’t see allowing my daughter to double up. Would be way too much on the body and this is a marathon not a sprint. The only ones I see benefitting would be the states that don’t have fall high school season and of course TDs and the association.

Tryout season will be a disaster for those potentially switching teams or partial teams aging up etc.

Kudos for the effort but.....meh.

The IESA (our middle school association in Illinois) has an unbelievably compact season in a normal year! I agree @coachbubbles , I cannot see any kids in that age group doubling-up, particularly if their school plays a packed schedule (some schools do, some not so much).

Granted, USSSA's tournaments draw for ages that are NOT in IESA as well. Because the IESA season is so short though, I could see the IESA age groups possibly getting a couple of weekends in afterwards if the weather is there ... and in Illinois, it could be!

 

[The Man In Blue]

That’s kind of my point. What we signed up for wasnt playing in August. But my team/org is still charging me/us full price for something I may not be able to participate in. Thats not what the plan was. It’s not the same as if its a rain out. That’s the chance we all take with ball. But this is beyond that. . (Note, we dont have to choose. We dont have anything going on in August. I’m just making a point)

Being asked to play a month later or when multiple people have lost income due to world wide pandemic circumstances and not giving them an out is an issue for me. So many scenarios to this. I’m just trying to give other perspectives.

I'm with @4 girl's dad on this one ... Cramming your season (or half of it) into a traditional off period is NOT the same as having a rain out that gets tacked on the end or into an off-weekend in between.

However, I would hope that people are having these conversations with their coaches and teams NOW, not waiting to see what will happen. I would hope that coaches are coaching their teams, meaning they are having these conversations NOW as opposed to coaching for themselves, which means they squeeze in anything they can based on their schedule.

If your organization (or team) has NOT been communicating with you regularly during this period ... I wouldn't be sending any more checks and would be looking for a new team.

There is no concrete answer, but regular updates and conversations on "if this, then that" should be happening.

 

[The Man In Blue]

Another point of view to consider ... you will be competing with fall school ball for umpires. (Hint: school ball pays MUCH better.)

On top of that, the umpire pool is already going to be thinned out due to the number of umpires who have already said they will not be working this year at all for health concerns.

 

[Cougars]

If your organization (or team) has NOT been communicating with you regularly during this period ... I wouldn't be sending any more checks and would be looking for a new team.

There is no concrete answer, but regular updates and conversations on "if this, then that" should be happening.

I have reached out to my families a few times, and our org has sent out occasional "updates" as well. The hard part however, is given how uncertain everything is, you can't have much of a plan.

Pre-virus, we were scheduled to end July 12th. I am planning on contacting my families this weekend to get some feedback on if they would want to extend the season. A lot of "if's" in that possibility.