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G-Man
326 Posts |
 Posted - 08/31/2010 : 02:50:39
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Since we seem to have a few controversial topics in the 12u forum I thought I might add another to see the kind of responses and opinions you all may have on this topic.
What is your opinion of teams that trophy hunt? What I mean by trophy hunting is teams that seek out weaker tournaments that play teams WAY below their skill level just so they can win the plastic. Is there any benefit for players of such teams preparing for high school baseball? Also on a side note why does Georgia Usssa allow these type teams to participate in these tournaments? I could have sworn I read on the Georgia Usssa website that they will not put up with Trophy Hunters or Sandbaggers. If anyone from Georgia Usssa would like to respond I personally would love to hear why its allowed. |
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MadSkills
128 Posts |
Posted - 08/31/2010 : 09:07:06
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This is an interesting discussion because unless you are a major team, most tournaments are considered aa/aaa type. So if you are a top aaa team playing in a aa/aaa tournament you are within your right to do so but we all know the competition is going to be lower then it should be.
On the other hand, the same team playing in a majors tournament might go 0-3 with 3 tough ball games. It the "tweeners" that have tough choices. |
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G-Man
326 Posts |
Posted - 08/31/2010 : 14:32:07
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You are correct about the AA/AAA type teams. However you have some teams I have seen that register AA or AAA that are Major division teams. They may not be upper level major teams but still major. These are the types of teams that go out and trophy hunt. In my humble opinion AA teams are teams made up of mostly rec ball players. AAA teams are teams that are maybe not as deep pitching wise as most major teams. Yet they can make that jump to majors once more pitching is developed.
quote:
Originally posted by MadSkills
This is an interesting discussion because unless you are a major team, most tournaments are considered aa/aaa type. So if you are a top aaa team playing in a aa/aaa tournament you are within your right to do so but we all know the competition is going to be lower then it should be.
On the other hand, the same team playing in a majors tournament might go 0-3 with 3 tough ball games. It the "tweeners" that have tough choices.
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bmoser
1633 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2010 : 07:44:14
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The trophy hunting I see is mostly in USSSA. The high AAA teams would argue there's not enough Major tourneys to make Majors worthwhile, and its hard to disagree, but it was much improved 11U vs 10U.
The November re-classifications are designed to control this. The top 11U AAA teams will get pushed up to Majors for 12U, and the top AA's to AAA.
Since 9U, I have seen Georgia teams from this age group play in Western South Carolina to pick up hardware and pad their records. Never bothered me much, but the SC teams might object.
I see some value in shaking up the strength of schedule from time to time to develop depth, improve overall team satisfaction, and to re-build confidence.
I don't think there's enough "trophy hunters" in this age group to get upset about. There's a few, and they are easy to spot. Look for AA and AAA teams with multiple tourney wins who seldom play Open, and/or leave their area, or if they do leave their area its to play more AA or AAA and not Open.
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TAZ980002
831 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2010 : 10:17:18
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| The worst part about trophy hunting to me is that you build a false sense of accomplishment. The game is humbling enough without setting your team up for a 3 and out when you do enter a tournament with decent competition. |
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G-Man
326 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2010 : 15:13:04
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I agree the coaches of such teams are setting their players up and only padding their records in my humble opinion to satisfy a coaches ego / trophy case.
bmoser: As you know we are new to Georgia but I have yet to see Georgia Usssa reclassify teams that deserve to be either moved up or down. I know in Florida you have some sandbagging going on but if brought to the attention of the state director he reclassifies teams immediately.
In my humble opinion teams that seek out to play weaker competition to trophy hunt are no different than a school bully picking on the smaller weaker kids in their school. What ever happen to the days of always wanting to play the best. I know growing up playing ball we always thrived on finding the biggest and baddest teams we could play. Where have those days gone for some teams out there. Sure we like to win and enjoy getting a trophy for all that work put in to a tournament. However these pieces of plastic mean nothing in the over scheme of our baseball development. Heck if I want my son to have a house full of trophies I can go buy them for about $10 a piece LOL.
quote:
Originally posted by Bandit_Hawk
The worst part about trophy hunting to me is that you build a false sense of accomplishment. The game is humbling enough without setting your team up for a 3 and out when you do enter a tournament with decent competition.
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bmoser
1633 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2010 : 19:33:25
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G-Man:
If you go to the Georgia USSSA web site and click on re-classifications, you'll see many teams who were pushed up, or down.
There is an appeal process that some have pursued, but most just live with it or play other orgs and skip USSSA altogether. |
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HAWKS8
70 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2010 : 10:53:02
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I agree with the fact that the higher AAA teams have the toughest time with deciding on what to do. I also do not see the reasoning behind a coach taking his team to a tournament to go 3 and out every weekend just to say he is a major team. Is that really helping the kids? I think a coach needs to look at the level his boys are playing. If they are classified as a AAA level, and are playing to that level, it is more important to me as a coach to play them so they can get 4-5 games in as opposed to playing up to major with the possibility of going 3 and out. I feel they get more experince playing a game on Sunday afternoon as opposed to being home watching MLB on TV. I have to say some of my decisions on where to play are based on economics in this day and time. If I can get 4 games in a tournament that cost us $350.00, we feel we got our money's worth. It is not about winning the trophy, it is about game experience. Playing in a game. Like most coaches, I will play in a lot of open tournaments in a season and if those tournaments have AA, AAA, and Major teams in it, that is what we will face.
As for going and playing in South Carolina, for us being from the northern part of Gwinnett County, I can get to Easley, SC in about the same amount of time it takes me to get to Marietta and NO traffic. I agree the talent is not as good as what I see in Georgia for the most part, but I will tell you I faced the hardest throwing, best curve ball I have seen anywhere while up there. This kid was a hoss and threw BB's. I have not seen any boy at this age in Georgia or anywhere else that could do what he could. He was also bigger than most high school kids too.
I believe the coaches need to keep their kids playing at the level they can compete at. You will never go to a tournament with a whole field of equal talent. It doe snot happen at any level of travel ball being AA, AAA or major. There is the top and the bottom of all of them. If a team 10 run rules the whole tournament as well as the championship game, they are probably playing in the wrong tournament...or they had a really good draw and tournament. I feel teh kids in the lower ranks are probably more into awards then the ones at the top end. We personally have to start throwing them out or boxing them up as they can get a little cluttering after a bit. Maybe these TD would start giving out gift certificates to a restaurant. At 12 I need that more than I need a trophy...:-)
I do not think many of the good coaches are looking to trophy hunt as much as it is get games in for the kids. If my boys are pleying well and up to a higher level, I will be in those tournaments. If they are playing good AAA ball and having fun getting games in, we will be there...trophy or not. |
Edited by - HAWKS8 on 09/07/2010 11:13:33 |
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