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 Southern Sports Promotions?
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BlueDevilBaseball

68 Posts

Posted - 11/05/2018 :  13:17:40  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
My team played an event with SSP in fall 2017 and I swore I'd never return. Low and behold SSP was one of the few local tourneys this past weekend that had a Sunday-only option so I bit the bullet and tried to give it another shot. I was let down again. The umpires were the 2nd worst crew I've seen in the last two seasons. Calling strikes 8-12 inches outside the plate for kids who are using 27-28" bats (10U kids). The first team we played was really good and beat us 5-4 and went on to cruise in the championship game, but we tied a 2nd team that we honestly should've beaten. To be fair, the umps called it both ways but it was painfully obvious that they were trying to speed the game up as much as possible just to get the hell out of there. For perspective, there were only 5 BB at 10U through 5 innings, 2 of whom were plucked (3 walks). To add to it, the parents of the 2nd team we played were yelling "asshole" at one of our coaches for asking the umps for a rule interpretation. The umpire fed into it and played along, which resulted in them continuing to shout obscenities. Luckily our coaches were cool headed about it and ignored the whole episode, but I found it incredibly unprofessional and not a setting I want my kids in.

Raising this to see what others' experiences have been with them. I love the location and the guy managing it seems to do a great job (always been very helpful and responsive), but both times we've played there it's been an awful experience.

Longlivebaseball

7 Posts

Posted - 11/09/2018 :  17:35:17  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
There are bad umpires and terrible baseball parents no matter what tournament you go to. I think it depends on the level of your team and where you are from a location perspective . Several years ago I would have said tournament of last resort. However, to me they have started to do a good job of communicating, good app, accommodate scheduling when possible and the fields (I don’t like Dobbs) are ok. They tier levels when possible and for a AA type team in the north part of town it’s a good option. If you can compete at Triple Crown you may have a little better experience, but I prefer them to Grand Slam. Try a RBI tournament and then compare them. I don’t even know if USSSA is still around. Haven’t been to one in over 5 years. So I guess I would say I’ve had decent experience with them.

Edited by - Longlivebaseball on 11/09/2018 18:58:58
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oldschool22

50 Posts

Posted - 11/09/2018 :  17:44:32  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
We played a Southern Sports tournament out of necessity last weekend in the 14U division. I likewise had vowed to never play SSP again after harrowing experiences with their umpires in past years, but they were pretty much the only thing going at the end of the fall season. I concur with you about the professionalism and attentiveness do the TD, but the umpires’ behavior was shameful. I hate to disparage people, but these guys simply didn’t know basic rules. But the worst thing they did was end the championship game prematurely. With 10 minutes left in a 6-3 game, they just walked off after 5 innings. This was so disrespectful to the kids that has competed all day. This was a terrible ending to what could have been a successful and productive day.

There really seems to be a dearth of quality umpires. This is a shame because the tournament was inexpensive, fields were maintained between games and the director was accessible. Hopefully Southern Sports sees this thread and realizes that unprofessional umpires undermine all their efforts.
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BlueDevilBaseball

68 Posts

Posted - 11/12/2018 :  14:02:16  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Mixed response! Lol. That's what I get. I want to give it another shot and probably eventually will, but with so many competing tournaments out there it's hard to justify going back if there's a chance that happens again.
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Panther21

30 Posts

Posted - 11/12/2018 :  23:40:59  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
We played in SS this fall and the umpires were bad also. Though the bad calls went against the team we were playing. It was prettjy bad and the team you (BlueDevilBaseball) played second was the same team we were playing. The coaches were very nice but the fans were out of control. The umpires are bad in every tournament. To be honest the umpires were worse in fhe two GS events we played in this fall. One game they called the end of the game prematurely like was mentioned in the above post. After both coaches spoke with the umpires they did come back. The other GS we played in the umpires were horrible. The balls and strikes were terrible for both teams. Worse than we have seen in years. Hopefully those umpires are going to retire. The only tournament we will never play in is RBI which used to be Central Park Promotions. Their own teams were allowed to use illegal bats for three summers we played there. The director didn’t care one bit and told us if we complained again we would be asked to leave. We will never play there along with the 9 other teams in our organization.
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gradypf

9 Posts

Posted - 11/28/2018 :  11:14:50  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
We're a new team and have played in both RBI and SSP for the fall. We also played a lot of all star ball prior to this. I have found both tournaments to be run well with a good deal and good level setting (matching up A's and AA's the best they can). Been around baseball a long time and around officials in general even longer (My dad was one). It's sugar or slop with them. We had one in SSP that put the big poofy shield in front of his face every time the pitch was a little high. His colleague couldn't help but laugh. Needless to say, he wasn't good at the plate for either team. Played on a different field later and it was much better. For both RBI tourneys we were in, we got blessed with good umps. Have had umps in TL tournaments in the past that didn't understand basic rules on force outs. It's hit or miss every time.

There has to be a parent on every team that is like you mentioned. Depending on the make up of the team, they may feed off each other. We played on a team once that I had to walk away and sit somewhere else.
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BlueDevilBaseball

68 Posts

Posted - 11/29/2018 :  12:07:09  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
We haven't played Central Park Promotions since the first time because of the bat. You could hear it, everyone was talking about it, and nobody checked it. Nearly every kid on that team used it too. I didn't realize that's now RBI, but I'm glad I know now.

I like GS. Tim does a great job and always has good tourney directors on-site. We branch out and play other tourneys because we play many of those same teams in GGBL in 8U and 9U, but now that we're out of ggbl we'll likely play more GS events this spring. I've had bad umps there once, but only that one time. Same thing with them... trying to get home in time to watch a walking Dead I suppose. It's going to happen everywhere with the calls, but the lack of professionalism and the active encouragement of a parent yelling obscenities was too much for me. That's not want I want my 10U kids to remember about baseball when they get older.
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Crazyforbball

391 Posts

Posted - 12/06/2018 :  00:44:46  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
My big gripe with SS is the bat regulation. Allowing 14U to hit with anything less than BBCOR .... why?!
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JCOP

7 Posts

Posted - 12/17/2018 :  17:40:51  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
We’ve always had pretty good experiences with SSP. I don’t think they’re any better or any worse than most other tourneys. Between my two boys they’ve played probably 5-6 in the last two years, almost all were fall ball one day tourneys. The problem with the one day tourneys is if you get a bad set of umps, you’re usually stuck with them all day. But it only takes one or two innings to figure it out, and the kids need to make adjustments. Unfortunately bad umps are always going to be part of the game!
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dgersh22

169 Posts

Posted - 12/18/2018 :  09:48:36  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
When I coached we learned to make adjustments to the umpires just like we did to field conditions (poor mounds, portable mounds, crappy fields, poor lighting etc.), usually the calls evened themselves out. I had my issues with umpires from time to time, but there where more good ones than bad.

Now that I have retired from coaching and have been umpiring for some time, I tend to look at it the same way. I have umpired HS, PG, TC, SS, RBI, and some College scrimmage games. I have umpired with the good partners and have also had partners that I have requested not to be paired with any longer. Do I miss calls, does my strike zone widen out when it is 20-2, yes to both. The one thing that I have always tried to do whether I am having a good day or a bad day, is to hustle to be in position, communicate with coaches, never cheat a team on time of game (happened to me way to often) and be fair and impartial no matter the quality of the two teams playing.

Just remember that there are only so many of us to go around. On any given weekend you could have over 100 teams playing in just one county, between RBI, SS, TC, PG, Independent tournaments, scrimmage games, rec ball, girls softball. ALso during the fall many of the baseball umpires also do football. So just like the quality of some teams in a tournament the umpiring can get pretty thin. The directors always try to put a vetern with a rookie. Sometimes that is good other times not. It helps in controlling the game, but a few "iffy" calls by one umpire can make both umpires look bad. Unless it is a blatant missed tag, pulled foot, drop ball, etc., we are not going to change a call made by an umpire that is 5' away compared to one that is 120' away.


I also know that there are many good umpires that have just decided they have had enough. Mainly due to "entitled parents" and coaches that don't know the game, verbaly abuse their own players, and play favorites (daddy ball). The number of times that we as umpires hear things that I wouldn't hear in a bar is amazing. You may call 19 out of 20 pitches correct but once you call that borderline pitch one way or another watch out! Last I heard 95% is pretty good. Yes we strive for a 100% but once in a while we blink! Usually after 2 to 3 pitches we can tell whose child is at bat, who is the coaches son, and who is going to be the fan with the largest mouth!

The one thing that I just can't tolerate and don't understand is the umpire an TD that aren't prepared, don't know their own rules, won't stand behind you when you make a decision. I have had TD's overule a call or an ejection because they don't want to lose that teams money in the future. Even though the coach acted like a butthead. Those are typically the tournaments that I tend to shy away from when offered games. The tournaments that I mentioned above I usually enjoy doing and have not had a problem with. I umpire, because I love the game and enjoy being around baseball. My work travels, son playing college baseball and other family commitments allow me to set my own schedule when I want to umpire compared to coaching when I had to be there all the time for the team.

Lastly parents, please let your children play, holler encourangement, don't put them down during the game, don't try to coach them from behind homeplate when they are hitting or on the mound. Let the coaches coach. You wouldn't believe the number of times I have seen a player come out with the most enthusiam in the world only after 1 bad inning or bad at bat and after being berated the whole AB or inning by their parent to look like they don't want to play the game again. ALSO PARENTS who Videotape, I could care less if you want to show me that I missed a ball/strike when Johnny was pitching/hitting or if I missed a call. Usually if I miss one I will own up to it and I will let your son know.




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