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atlmarlinguy
1 Posts |
 Posted - 04/04/2018 : 20:09:02
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Good evening, everyone. Nice to find a baseball forum that is pretty active! Not many around.
I'm currently a coach here in West Florida, and looking for some advice/help. (The more the better!)
I am more than likely moving to the Alpharetta/Cumming area in the near future for work, and would like for my son to pick up on a team in the fall and the plan is to potentially start up a team down the road.
Looking among the different organizations in the area, I was looking to get opinions (pros and cons) of the different groups.
Triple Crown, PG, Southern Sports, USSSA, Grand Slam, and Training Legends seem to be where the vast majority of teams are playing, but each group seems to have a varying "Who's Coming" list from week to week.
What makes you choose where you play during the season? Umpires? Competition? Entry Price? Field Preference?
TIA |
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CaCO3Girl
1989 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2018 : 06:59:17
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| The first thing we need to know is the age group. USSSA is very dominant at 11u and under, then TC and PG take the forefront. Most under 12u play Grand Slam if they want to go to Panama City Beach for their end of the year trip. My son is 15u and his schedule is 80% PG, 20% TC....that's it. |
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Bravemom
204 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2018 : 18:46:57
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What age group?
After 13-14u top teams Play PG and TC.
Below that age group or if lower level team you play Training Legends and Grand Slam. Maybe USSSA, but they are not very popular anymore.
AA or lower Play Southern Sports, etc.
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turntwo
955 Posts |
Posted - 04/06/2018 : 11:16:27
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I would say "why" people play where they do varies, but in general would be:
-competition (too tough, too weak, or just right),
-location (too far? over-night stay required, what's the comfort level of families and how far they go every weekend),
-cost value (quality of fields/umps/awards all taken into consideration of cost value).
Now, there's also the whole, "end-game" (if any) that the team is trying to achieve, in terms of a 'world series'. Example: Gulf Shores (or E32) 'World Series' the team would have a 'heavy' U-Trip schedule... Panama City the team would play lots of Grand Slam... Ft Myers the team may play a lot of PG... Now, if it's Cooperstown, Gatlinburg, Myrtle Beach, Omaha, etc. then there are no 'win your way in' or 'play in xyz number of' tourneys, so teams may revert back to the top 3.
Further information I wrote up a while back, gives you an idea of which tourneys 'cater to' different levels of play...
Southern Sports: caters to AA to low-AAA, primarily in NW metro (Gainesville, Flowery Branch, Forsyth/Dawson counties). They play nearly every weekend.
Triple Crown: They have East Cobb (and Forsyth Co.) on lockdown for any weekend they want. Period. Cater to every level of play, from D1 (Major) down to Rec ball (D3).-- Probably the highest cost (for sub-15U) out of all, but typically secure the best fields.
Training Legends: caters to rec ball up to Majors, and gets so 2nd tier fields in the Cobb/Cherokee Co areas, and up to Cartersville, and now into Gwinnett Co and up the 75 corridor to Chattanooga.
Grand Slam: caters to AA/AAA, and typically has 'first choice' of field space in Gwinnett and Cherokee Co's. That's both northeast and west of the Atlanta metro.
Perfect Game: caters to AAA/Major. Has NW metro locked down on bigger weekends, if overflow from PG is needed. By far the most expensive 15U+, but the benefits and fields speak for themselves.
USSSA: caters to all levels, though has fallen out of favor for Major teams, especially in older age groups. The directors have it locked down on the east and west (and even south) portions of metro. Such as Walton Co., Henry Co., down to Columbus/Lagrange, and out to Augusta. Nearly every weekend, there's opportunity to play U-trip, especially at the AA level.
TravelBallSelect: caters to Major, and has second choice of East Cobb fields on weekends that TC does not have tourneys there. Same fields, same umps, cheaper prices, and just not as popular... for whatever reasons.
(There are other orgs, within a couple to 3 hrs drive, such as Net Elite (TN), Playmakers (AL), or Top Gun (S. GA/SC/NC), but aren't as popular with metro teams due to so many local/more convenient options.)
So, based on your teams level of play, and 'end game' (if any), you will have a plethora of choices of 'with whom' to play any given weekend, being in N. Fulton/Forsyth Co., and can then focus on other factors such as quality of fields, umps, awards, etc. |
Edited by - turntwo on 04/06/2018 11:32:41 |
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Choosing Where to play?
