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CaCO3Girl
1989 Posts |
 Posted - 02/12/2015 : 10:02:49
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Does anyone have any insight as to who makes the determination if a team is A, AA, AAA or Major? I have seen posts for open spots that say "AAA/Major Team", but last year they played in a lot of AA tourneys, so that doesn't sound right?
As a parent you go to a tryout with your kid, see some spectacular kids at tryouts, accept the offer to join the team because the coach says they will be playing as a XXX team...but at the first practice none of those spectacular kids are there...and you are committed.
How do you know who actually has a A, AA, AAA, MAJOR team? Is there a list? I'm thinking of 12 or 13u. |
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Mad1
252 Posts |
Posted - 02/12/2015 : 11:00:13
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| CaCO3Girl, USSSA determines each teams starting classification based upon their starting rosters year end classifications from last year. It is determined by how your team performs in their assigned class. A team can be moved up and down by USSSA based on how they perform in class. You blow out AA teams and you will be moved up and constantly lose at a level and be moved down. They try to keep teams in their same competitive class. It is confusing and VERY subjective. There is a list of teams starting reclassifications based on last years performance on the GAUSSSABASEBALL.COM website. Hope this helps. |
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turntwo
955 Posts |
Posted - 02/12/2015 : 11:12:55
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Well... Coaches initially determine the level, based on ______ (ego, hope, past experience, etc). USSSA has rankings/standings and is the where these come from. Again, the coach registers his team with USSSA and says, "We are a/an Major, AAA, AA, etc team". This is important, primarily, for USSSA tournaments-- where only AA (and below), or AAA (and below) can play in xyz tournament. For PG, they are all open to any 'classification' or level, and T/C is about the same, other than they WILL disallow certain teams from D2/D3 tourneys if said team is a proven 'upper-echelon' team.
Once you start playing, and typically mid-spring, USSSA may reclassify you, if you CLAIMED to be AA only to be whipping/throttling everyone in sight. USSSA will move you up to AAA. If you THOUGHT you were a Major, and are taking beatings every weekend, you can request a down-classification. Again, this classification is important, as it may limit you and which tourneys you can compete in (USSSA tourneys that is).
USSSA publishes their re-classification report in the fall that, in some cases, REQUIRES teams to move up based on their previous season. So, if a team was AA last year, with GREAT success, they would be REQUIRED to move up to AAA. If same said team, picks up or replaces some weaker links with some studs, they could skip AAA and jump right to Major.
As far as the tryout you mention, that sounds like an 'academy'type of tryout, where multiple teams for one park/organization (who may be end up at different classifications) are looking for kids. The 'spectacular kids' as you mention may have made the Major team for the organization, where the others may have made the AAA teams or even AA teams for that park. |
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CaCO3Girl
1989 Posts |
Posted - 02/12/2015 : 11:53:08
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| And if you don't play in many USSSA tourneys? Is it just wishful thinking/ego by the coach then? |
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turntwo
955 Posts |
Posted - 02/12/2015 : 14:03:47
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quote:
Originally posted by CaCO3Girl
And if you don't play in many USSSA tourneys? Is it just wishful thinking/ego by the coach then?
If you don't play many USSSA tourneys, then it doesn't matter-- to an extent. If you're playing in D2/D3 T/C tourneys and are winning them all (Gold Bracket) by throttling people, then you need to be playing in D1/open T/C tourneys. MOST coaches want to play on their level, at the least, if not playing tougher teams.
ANY coach can CLAIM they are "Major" but very few are and/or can consistently compete on that level. |
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bballman
1432 Posts |
Posted - 02/12/2015 : 15:27:05
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I think bottom line, play against the best competition you can. As others have said, this A, AA, AAA, Major stuff is only truly designated by USSSA. Anything other than that is just something the coach uses to describe his own team. Maybe things are different from when my son travel, but I don't remember us playing in any USSSA tournaments that were designated AAA. I'm remembering pretty much all the tournaments we entered were "open" tournaments. I think we classified ourselves as AAA, then went to Major at some point, but the tournaments we entered were always the open tournaments.
Just call yourself a team, enter good competitive tournaments with the best teams around and see how you do. It's not important how many tournaments you win or don't win. What's important is that you play a schedule with teams that will challenge the players. Learn from playing them. Learn what your weaknesses are and then work to improve them in practices. Learn what your strengths are and then work to capitalize on them. If you are not losing, you are not playing good enough competition. |
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DecaturDad
619 Posts |
Posted - 02/12/2015 : 18:42:22
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I think CaCO3GIRL's question how can you tell how good a team is before you sign on? I remember taking my son to some workouts with a "majors" team when he was younger. It did not take long to see that some of these kids were AA at best. One mom even told me she had been told it would be a AA team since it was her son's first travel ball experience. needless to say, we left and never looked back.
To answer the question: You have to go with what you see and talk to lots of people.
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CaCO3Girl
1989 Posts |
Posted - 02/16/2015 : 09:00:58
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quote:
Originally posted by bballman
Just call yourself a team, enter good competitive tournaments with the best teams around and see how you do. It's not important how many tournaments you win or don't win.
While I agree it's not about the hardware (wins/losses) I was referring to the caliber of the actual team you are trying out for as D-Dad mentioned.
I know the 2 or 3 6-4-3 teams will be high caliber. I know the ECB Braves and Astros are going to be top notch...but how does someone determine ANY other teams true ability? Just because a shirt says ECB doesn't mean the team is any good.
The worst case scenario is that you accidentally agree to have your child play on a team that is FAR below their level and they get used FAR more than they should because they are the best pitcher or catcher or other demanding position. Plus, they don't learn or get better. Does anyone have any advice on how to avoid THOSE instances? |
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bballman
1432 Posts |
Posted - 02/16/2015 : 10:16:45
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I think what Decatur Dad said is pretty much right on. Go with what you see and talk with a lot of people. However, you sort of went with what you saw at that one particular tryout you went to and that didn't really work out. Maybe ask the coach who are the returners on the team? Then make a point to watch them in that situation. I think the biggest thing is team reputation. As you play more, the more teams you will see. It is pretty easy to tell which teams are good and which teams are mediocre. Make some notes during the season regarding which teams you would be interested in having your son play on. If you play or see a team you like, go over and talk to some of the parents on the team and ask them about their experience. Then when the season is coming to a close, start making some calls or shooting out some emails to those teams to see when their tryouts are.
Your personal experience and the personal experience of those people involved is the best indicator. There are still some "academy" type teams out there that you can still be pretty sure their teams will be competitive and pretty well coached. Teams like 643, Windward, Nelson Baseball, Team Georgia among others are a pretty good bet. But there are others that just have too many teams and the gulf between the top teams and the bottom teams can be huge. ECB, Home Plate, Team Elite are a few that fall into that category. Nothing wrong with those places, but you need to know what level of team you will wind up on. Their teams can range from Nationally ranked to nothing more than a rec team. You really need to be careful about which team your player winds up on in this scenario. Don't go there just because of the team name.
Bottom line is, do your research before hand. During the season, evaluate the teams that you play and those teams that play before and after you and come up with a list of teams you may be interested in. Talk to the parents of those teams. Talk to other friends you have in baseball and ask about the reputation of different teams.
Hope this helps. |
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ivpartner
80 Posts |
Posted - 02/16/2015 : 10:38:31
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CaCO3Girl,
Here is one way to research the team you are trying out for. Go to the gausssabaseball website and look under Team Rankings and then put in the name of the team you are trying out for but use LAST YEAR and go see the names of the players on that team from the prior year. Here is the link http://usssa.com/baseball/Rank1/#/?gdSport=11.
Then ask the coach which players are returning from the previous years team. You can also see the History of wherever that player has played in prior years. That is invaluable if you want to know what level of players your son is going to be playing with.
For Example, look up any of the prior year 643DP Cougar teams or the ECB Astros teams going back a few years. They consistently keep a large majority of their players from year to year (the best players from previous years tend to stay put if their team, coaches, and organization is high quality).
We use that website to research teams we are playing in upcoming tournaments to get an idea of the level of real talent the team has. It is a great way to use the web.
Good Luck with it!!!! |
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rippit
667 Posts |
Posted - 02/16/2015 : 12:58:42
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| What's to stop a coach from lying? We ended up with a team last year that had a full roster posted in their website all winter and then lo and behold most of those boys never materialized, we were short on pitching and the whole summer was shot. |
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CaCO3Girl
1989 Posts |
Posted - 02/16/2015 : 14:44:53
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quote:
Originally posted by rippit
What's to stop a coach from lying? We ended up with a team last year that had a full roster posted in their website all winter and then lo and behold most of those boys never materialized, we were short on pitching and the whole summer was shot.
Exactly! This is what I am worried about. Not everyone wants to play for an academy program, so how can you REALLY tell if you are trying out for a good team.
Even bballman's comment on writing down the teams you saw during the year...well who's to say the next year's team will be head coached by the same guy, have some of the same kids...etc.
It's looking more and more like if you don't go with an academy team it's a total crap-shoot if you want your kid to play on a competitive team. |
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CaCO3Girl
1989 Posts |
Posted - 02/18/2015 : 09:22:53
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quote:
Originally posted by teddy41
go ask the coach what players are returning?
why do you even care so much about the other teams get your house in order. I bet its the parents doing all the digging about the teams they are facing as most coaches really care less.
Most coaches really care less? HUH?
This thread is about how to tell what caliber of players/coaches will actually be on a team that your child is trying out for. i.e. if you think your kid is AAA material no point in trying our for a A team...but when you see the posts that say 11U AAA/Major team holding tryouts....well how do you know they really ARE a AAA/Major team?
This all came about because I was surprised to see a team I KNOW our team walloped advertise they were a AAA/Major team when I know our team isn't that....so how do you as a parent tell what level a team really is, or can the coach just make it up? The consensus seems to be that yes, the coach can just make it up! |
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turntwo
955 Posts |
Posted - 02/18/2015 : 12:47:33
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quote:
Originally posted by CaCO3Girl
quote:
Originally posted by teddy41
go ask the coach what players are returning?
why do you even care so much about the other teams get your house in order. I bet its the parents doing all the digging about the teams they are facing as most coaches really care less.
Most coaches really care less? HUH?
This thread is about how to tell what caliber of players/coaches will actually be on a team that your child is trying out for. i.e. if you think your kid is AAA material no point in trying our for a A team...but when you see the posts that say 11U AAA/Major team holding tryouts....well how do you know they really ARE a AAA/Major team?
This all came about because I was surprised to see a team I KNOW our team walloped advertise they were a AAA/Major team when I know our team isn't that....so how do you as a parent tell what level a team really is, or can the coach just make it up? The consensus seems to be that yes, the coach can just make it up!
Right, the coach just makes it up. An honest coach can assess his team and give a truthful answer. BUT, some coach's may feel they are 1-2 KEY studs away from being a legit AAA/Major team. If a team WANTS to be a Major, they have to advertise as such to lure the talent to tryouts. How may Major caliber players do you know that would even look at a AA or low-AAA team? I doubt many.
So a coach could post a more honest, "AA/low-AAA team seeking 1-2 studs that will make take us up a notch to AAA/Major..." or he could post as you stated. Which will he have better luck getting looks at Major caliber players?
It happens a ALL age groups. In my son's age, there was a team advertising their tryout as they were going to be MAJOR. Well, they got 2-3 Major caliber kids on the team, but the core consisted of Rec ball/AA kids. He registered the team as "AAA" on Utrip. If I was one of those 2-3 Major kids, I'd be PO'ed, and looking for a better team! |
Edited by - turntwo on 02/18/2015 15:23:19 |
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hshuler
1074 Posts |
Posted - 02/18/2015 : 13:57:06
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| You could ask what level the team played at the previos season. Most teams only go up or down one classification level...if at all. |
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mikepayne
173 Posts |
Posted - 02/18/2015 : 15:26:46
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CaCO3Girl,
Do you due diligence. If you see a team whose alphabet soup excites you then get online. Triple Crown shows their results for previous seasons, you can even do it by team. I am sure USSSA does the same. I think most AAA coaches are like me, when we are playing bad I wonder why we just do not move down to AA and try and win more, and when we are playing good I feel like we can compete with anyone at the major level for a game or two. Worry less what people think of themselves and find a team where your kid will have fun. |
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AllStar
762 Posts |
Posted - 02/18/2015 : 16:22:35
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quote:
Originally posted by rippit
What's to stop a coach from lying? We ended up with a team last year that had a full roster posted in their website all winter and then lo and behold most of those boys never materialized, we were short on pitching and the whole summer was shot.
Make sure that everyone knows who it was and what they did to the people that WERE legit on the team. Won't help you, but might help future players. |
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Who makes the determination...A, AA, AAA, Major?
