| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| baseballbrad |
Posted - 07/14/2009 : 11:11:27
I wanted to give the Ga area teams some feedback about the Global Sports USSSA World Series we attended in Gulf Shore Alabama.This was the best ran baseball event we have ever attened.The fields were incredibly manicured on par with ATTP and infields better than East Cobb.I vacation in Gulf Shores occasionally and am very familiar with the fields.Their quality was one of the main reasons we chose to attend.You have a 6 game guarantee for the tournament which runs from Thurs-Sat.They seperate into different brackets once you lose the first bracket game.They had 3 championship brackets similar to USTBA but instead of basing them off of pool play they base them off of what round you lose your first bracket play game.If you win the first 2 bracket games you go to the main chanmpionship.The umpires were flown in from places all across the USA.They were very professional (only missed 1 call in our 7 games) and also they were there for the kids.Their is a lot of stuff for kids to do in Gulf Shores as well.Not many Georgia teams attended but it was neat to play many teams from Texas and Louisiana.They play some good baseball out there.You do have to play in a global sports tournament and finish in the top 6 to qualify for the World Series but I would definately recommend it. |
| 12 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| 12uCoach |
Posted - 07/21/2009 : 14:35:01
Why play Elite 32 at Disney when you can go to Disney with AAU? Only 1 tournament to qualify (State Championship) not two (NIT and State). |
| bballman |
Posted - 07/21/2009 : 11:54:03
quote:
Originally posted by 12uCoach
What baseballpapa is suggesting is going to take a major change of thought with travel coaches. Having taken the year off only increased my belief that travel ball has turned into tournament ball. And, goodness gracious if you choose to not follow the heard and their beliefs into what tournaments youshould be playing. Read the posts from this past year, look how many people ask "Why is so and so team not going?" Also look at how people measure the season by how many tournament wins you have against teams that win.
Sorry, baseballpapa, your might team will not be #1 in my book at the end of the year. The winner of one of the myriad of National Championships will be number 1. Most likely one of the teams that are in thefinals of NYBC (youthmajors.com)
How many parents are willing to havetheir team stop chasing points. Run an unsponsored open tournament, see if you can get 8 teams to show up. A few are held each season, there should be at least 1 per week. Accept that it is OK to play 70 games against 60 different teams. Play what you need to get to the state tournament, but don't berate teams for where they don't play.
Changing the culture will changethe way things are done.
As the parent of an older kid (15u - going into sophmore year), I will say that none of this matters at these age groups. No one will care who was the #1 team at 10u. All that really matters is that coaches prepare their kids to make the HS teams by the time they get there.
The highest ranked and most successful teams up through 15 or 16 are the teams with kids who grow early. I have seen a ton of kids that were huge at 10 - 13 and are average or smaller than average by the time they are 15 or 16. Winning or losing doesn't matter. Your kids learning, being taught fundamentals and preparing for HS are what matters. Playing a wide variety of teams is a good thing because you get to see what else is out there. You will also see different styles of baseball that you can then prepare your guys to defend against.
Does that mean I think you should not be competitive - No Way. I hate to lose, but that should not be the goal. Winning should be the result of the kids learning to become better baseball players. |
| bmoser |
Posted - 07/20/2009 : 09:40:10
Our end-of-season World Series event stunk! We attended the USSSA 10U AA W.S. in Kissimmee. Other AA age groups were at the same park (Osceola Softball Complex).
Several teams had roster violations that we pointed out in advance to the USSSA tourney director, but we received no response.
3 teams never qualified, but got invited anyway. We had to pay to qualify in a sub-state, while others were just invited.
1 invited team were 9 yr old's, who dropped for lack of players.
NO scoreboards because USSSA wouldn't pay the park to use them.
Umps 30 minutes late to our 1st game. Nice 1st impression :(
Fields dragged once/day for pool play, twice for bracket play.
6 PM Sunday opening ceremony in FLA! Duh...it pours daily at 6 so our players and Coaches got soaked! Families had cover at least.
NO traditional batting cages at the park for our Coaches to warm up our hitters, with no advance notice of this.
Expensive concessions. $3 Powerade at ours, $2 Powerade at Disney!
Playground under standing water as were some bleachers.
Final results slow to post.
Long line to pay gate fee due to insufficient gate staffing.
Our AA World Series was not to be confused with USSSA's Elite World Series at Disney's Wide World of Sports. That was 1st class. I saw several games there and spoke to lots of teams from across the U.S. about USSSA. They're all having the same issues we are in Georgia. Most said they will play 2 USSSA tourneys next year, 1 Super NIT to qualify for Disney, then Disney. Overall ratings about USSSA (other than the Elite World Series event) were dismal.
We wont be back to play in any event hosted by this group, but do NOT miss the chance to play Disney if you can win a S-NIT, or get invited. Awesome place! That USSSA tourney director seemed to have his stuff well in order.
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| baseballpapa |
Posted - 07/16/2009 : 20:04:29
12UCoach: I agree if I understand you correctly. I don't even know if our team deserves to be #1 as it is so hard to play in all the tournaments that you would need to play in to prove yourself as being #1. Mostly due to financial issues and travel expenses.
Travel baseball as some call it and tournament baseball as referred to by you is constantly changing. A perfect example of what you are saying happens only in your age group and my 12U Chiefs team. I really think that the strongest tournament in this group turns out to be the tournament of champions held at East Cobb but there are certainly others than can claim the same type format with the majority of the teams being super elite travel squads.
The problem with this paper championship or being #1 is that until there is a place that all of the elite teams hook up at the same time and the same place that they will be several teams with legitimate claims to the crown. Is the BPA World Series winner the best or the Elite 32 or the Cooperstown champion #1 in the nation.
I don't really think it matters at 10 years old who is ranked #1 but what does matter is that I feel that the competition in this age group this year pushed us all to get better and lets all remember that at this age we are only trying to give them the opportunity to learn and master the skills that they will need if they plan on continuing in this arena.
Sorry Baseballbrad as this post is getting a little off topic |
| 12uCoach |
Posted - 07/16/2009 : 11:28:21
What baseballpapa is suggesting is going to take a major change of thought with travel coaches. Having taken the year off only increased my belief that travel ball has turned into tournament ball. And, goodness gracious if you choose to not follow the heard and their beliefs into what tournaments youshould be playing. Read the posts from this past year, look how many people ask "Why is so and so team not going?" Also look at how people measure the season by how many tournament wins you have against teams that win.
Sorry, baseballpapa, your might team will not be #1 in my book at the end of the year. The winner of one of the myriad of National Championships will be number 1. Most likely one of the teams that are in thefinals of NYBC (youthmajors.com)
How many parents are willing to havetheir team stop chasing points. Run an unsponsored open tournament, see if you can get 8 teams to show up. A few are held each season, there should be at least 1 per week. Accept that it is OK to play 70 games against 60 different teams. Play what you need to get to the state tournament, but don't berate teams for where they don't play.
Changing the culture will changethe way things are done. |
| kbuck |
Posted - 07/16/2009 : 09:26:38
I'm on board!!!!!! |
| baseballpapa |
Posted - 07/15/2009 : 20:30:00
Guys, Papa has been telling you since the first of the year that USSSA and especially Matt seems to care little or none for the teams or the kids and are only interested in you signing up, paying your money, and do what they say. USSSA in my opinion has the least to offer of any baseball organization at this point in time. Has any one of you seen a response to the many questions raised concerning USSSA on this or any other web site that promotes youth baseball. If you have Papa has overlooked it. Matt will not even return a direct phone call concerning major issues much less minor issues. I keep saying that the way to get their attention is to quit entering their tournaments. Boycott the Super NIT's - Hmm, this might be a start. |
| ItsjustLLBBall |
Posted - 07/15/2009 : 11:15:18
USSSA has been known to change the pitching rules after the pool play is completed which is absolutely absurd. |
| kbuck |
Posted - 07/15/2009 : 10:11:00
I would agree with you that the fields were very nice and the umps were pretty good as well but I have to comment on USSSA droping the ball. Once again USSSA made a change to the pitching rules and instead of putting it in writing they left it up to the coaches to call and get a verbal explanation of the rule. This blunder cost us the Championship in 12u. Our coaches, along with MANY other coaches, had the rule explained to them wrong and it cost us the game. I would say that our coach missunderstood the rule but when so many other coaches got the same info I have to blame USSSA. On top of that nobody could get in touch with Matt, who made the changes to the rule per the email all coaches got. Our coaches even got a phone call from USSSA apologizing for the mess up. They took the excitement and the celebration away from our players and turned them into tears. Bad press for USSSA in my book. |
| baseballbrad |
Posted - 07/15/2009 : 09:26:16
The 2 facilities are Gulf Shores Sportsplex (just finished 6 months ago) and Orange Beach Sportsplex.The Organization hosting was GLobal Sports USSSA.Much better ran than our usual USSSA tournaments around here.
http://www.usssabaseball.org/global_sports.htm
http://www.usssa.com/sports/Bracket.asp?Type=Winners&Tournament=557518
these are 2 links explaining the tournament format and some of the teams attending.
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| JCB |
Posted - 07/15/2009 : 09:08:19
do you have link or web address for this facility or tournament hosting organization? THX |
| baseballpapa |
Posted - 07/15/2009 : 08:40:25
Papa's job took him to the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach areas for over a year. I had the opportuntiy to watch some baseball played on these fields and agree with baseballbrad that this seems to be a great place to play baseball. I know the facilities are top notch. |
