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Ken Krause

Administrator
Admin
May 7, 2008
3,911
113
Mundelein, IL
So there you are, sitting at your computer looking at softball tournament listings, wishing you knew which were the good ones and which were the ones to avoid. But unless you've been there before, how do you know which to choose?

That's the purpose of this forum. Let the rest of us know about the tournaments you like, and the ones you don't. Here are a few of the parameters you can rate:

* Name of the tournament
* Location
* Quality of teams -- high A, mid-A, low-A, high B, etc.
* Field quality overall -- no divots or holes in outfield
* Field quality for games -- lined and raked regularly, only in the morning, not at all
* Communication from tournament director (were pool games delivered in reasonable time or last minute?)
* Facilities (such as condition of bathrooms, number of porta-potties)
* Number of umpires per game
* Concessions (availability, quality)
* Comments

You can use a number system (1-5, with 1 being avoid and 5 being love it), but if you can say why it would be more helpful. Let's all pitch in and help each other deliver the best tournament experience to our teams.
 
Jul 26, 2013
2
1
Thanks Ken for this thread, I recently got back into coaching softball and the Regional Tournament in Beaumont California was the worst ran tournament I've ever been involved with. It's a shame that they didn't even know how to chalk a batters box, at one time the box was 8ft long. The umpires who we always love to hate haven't improved either. The thing I noticed about ASA pitching rules are they aren't enforced, and the umpires refuse to enforce the leap and crowhop, it's just disappointing that these so called pitching coaches are teaching their kids to cheat, not all of course but they are out there.
 
Jul 16, 2008
1,520
48
Oregon
* Name of the tournament: 16A ASA Western Nationals
* Location - Spokane, Wa
* Quality of teams -- high A
* Field quality overall -- Horrible - Fields were not level, bumps and valleys in the infield
* Field quality for games -- Poor, fields were only dragged every other game (and this in a National Tournament)
* Communication from tournament director - Good. On Friday all games were rained out
* Facilities (such as condition of bathrooms, number of porta-potties) - Good, nice center area for everything
* Number of umpires per game - 2
* Concessions (availability, quality) - Don't know didn't go
* Comments - Overall this Tournament was poor at best for a National Tournament. Opening Ceremonies were a joke. On Friday, an email was sent notifying coaches that during the weekend everyone had to pay for parking, also there were 300 Volleyball teams at the same complex during the weekend for a huge Tournament. You cannot tell me the TD didn't know this ahead of time. I would be hard pressed to attend another Tournament in Spokane.
 
May 15, 2016
926
18
Communication from tournament director (were pool games delivered in reasonable time or last minute?)

Being new to TB I don't know what is common for a tournament informing the teams of their pool play. I was assuming the Sunday or Monday before the tournament is reasonable. How close to the tournament date is unreasonable? Is Wednesday considered last minute for a tournament that begins on Saturday?
 

Ken Krause

Administrator
Admin
May 7, 2008
3,911
113
Mundelein, IL
I would say yes, Wednesday is pretty late to be getting the information. People often have to travel, and some will be making a decision as to whether to book a hotel room the night before or not, depending on how far away the tournament is.
 
Jun 11, 2013
2,619
113
Being new to TB I don't know what is common for a tournament informing the teams of their pool play. I was assuming the Sunday or Monday before the tournament is reasonable. How close to the tournament date is unreasonable? Is Wednesday considered last minute for a tournament that begins on Saturday?

We usually don't get until Wednesday Night for most tournaments.
 
Dec 2, 2013
3,410
113
Texas
For regular weekend tourneys(10U-14U), the pool games are usually sent out on Wednesdays since there are always late adds and drops. For college showcase tourneys, we usually get the schedule the weekend before so that we can send our game times to college coaches.
 

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