8u tournament team for baseball (1 Viewer)

[belljr]

Um, you're 24-2.  Is there a reason you don't think you should be moved up?

A couple things here.   It's the fall so not all teams are "full strength".   But maybe we are ok.

We haven't played that many teams we feel our "equal" to us but we know they are out there.  Maybe they will get bumped up also.

It's new territory for us and it's a "good problem" to have but we're not sure where we really should be classified.  Although USSSA I think is trying to reclassify on a stricter level.  THe problem is we think we really are truely a B team and some of these teams probably should be C.  But the landscape is changing and maybe we should be moved.  Last year I would definitely say B.   The other issue is - there is a limited number of A teams and you end up playing everyone over and over. Which isn't always bad but maybe not

First off, congrats on the great season.  If you have won three tournaments and are 24-2 that is a little confusing to me.  It seems like you would have won 4 or 5 with that record.  Also, what levels are there in softball?  I coach my son in Arizona USSSA 12u AAA baseball.  We won our last tournament and at 10-2 were ranked as # 1 AAA in power ranking and very close to be moved up to Majors.  We have AA, AAA, and Majors.  Is A equivalent to Majors?

So this is how it works here.  I don't know if it is Fastpitch or the North East but it goes like this for USSSA and other associations in general.

• Class A
  
• Class B
  
• Class C
  
• Rec
  

Each have different qualifications etc.  But since we beat 2 "A" teams.  We most likely will move up to the A group in the Spring. So I assume yes it's the same as Majors as you described

As far as our record - how most of the tournaments go is this.

You play 3 games Saturday for seeding.   Then single elimination on Sunday.  We have played in 4 tournaments so far (2 USSSA). On Sunday for us it's been 3 games.

So first tourney 6-0

Second tourney 4-1 lost in the Semis 5-3 (should have crushed this team but it was one of those days

Third tourney 6-0

4th Tourney 6-0

So that is 22 - 1

We played 3 "friendlys"  against teams we know and are "equal"  We went 2-1 against them.  All good games

So 24-2



ETA:  We don't really care about the rankings that much but its "fun" to see

 

[Bull Dozier]

A couple things here.   It's the fall so not all teams are "full strength".   But maybe we are ok.

We haven't played that many teams we feel our "equal" to us but we know they are out there.  Maybe they will get bumped up also.

It's new territory for us and it's a "good problem" to have but we're not sure where we really should be classified.  Although USSSA I think is trying to reclassify on a stricter level.  THe problem is we think we really are truely a B team and some of these teams probably should be C.  But the landscape is changing and maybe we should be moved.  Last year I would definitely say B.   The other issue is - there is a limited number of A teams and you end up playing everyone over and over. Which isn't always bad but maybe not

So this is how it works here.  I don't know if it is Fastpitch or the North East but it goes like this for USSSA and other associations in general.

• Class A
  
• Class B
  
• Class C
  
• Rec
  

Each have different qualifications etc.  But since we beat 2 "A" teams.  We most likely will move up to the A group in the Spring. So I assume yes it's the same as Majors as you described

As far as our record - how most of the tournaments go is this.

You play 3 games Saturday for seeding.   Then single elimination on Sunday.  We have played in 4 tournaments so far (2 USSSA). On Sunday for us it's been 3 games.

So first tourney 6-0

Second tourney 4-1 lost in the Semis 5-3 (should have crushed this team but it was one of those days

Third tourney 6-0

4th Tourney 6-0

So that is 22 - 1

We played 3 "friendlys"  against teams we know and are "equal"  We went 2-1 against them.  All good games

So 24-2



ETA:  We don't really care about the rankings that much but its "fun" to see

There's nothing worse in travel/little league sports than teams played a level lower than they should just so they can be more successful.  I'm not saying that is what you are trying to do, but destroying teams constantly, and having a winning record against teams you think are on the same level is evidence of the need to play up.  No one greatly benefits from games of unequal competition, but the losers can take something away.  I hate games where we destroy other teams, because our kids don't benefit.  If we get beat, we can take something away.  If you are between levels, I always recommend taking the higher level because it will benefit everyone involved.
 

 

[belljr]

There's nothing worse in travel/little league sports than teams played a level lower than they should just so they can be more successful.  I'm not saying that is what you are trying to do, but destroying teams constantly, and having a winning record against teams you think are on the same level is evidence of the need to play up.  No one greatly benefits from games of unequal competition, but the losers can take something away.  I hate games where we destroy other teams, because our kids don't benefit.  If we get beat, we can take something away.  If you are between levels, I always recommend taking the higher level because it will benefit everyone involved.
 

We agree 100% completely.   No one hates trophy hunting more than us.  We aren't "picking" easy tournaments.  Well our first one was easier just to get some of the new girls ready

Heck we won an Open tournament.  Not all games have been blowouts, we've had to battle for some wins but I agree to your point.  We also don't want to get our teeth kicked in

Our goal is to provide the best fun environment where the girls grow and learn and get better.  Do we have a long term goal of high school and college.  Yes but that's not pushing our agenda.   We would rather play above 500 and have better games than blowouts. It was the main reason for jumping to club to begin with, The town was trying to force us to play "dwon" and no one learns from that.

 

[belljr]

so final update - we had our last tourney this weekend.  Got rained out Sunday so they did the final standings base on pool play based on Runs Against which I hate.  Any way little belljr struggled a little  and ended up giving up 5 runs in her game - 3 were earned so we ended up in 3rd based on runs against. Our other 2 pitchers are light years ahead of her

And here is the issue that I was speaking of before - 3 B teams we played.  We won 17-5, 13-0 and then the last game was an outstanding game in which we won 4 -3 against another really good team.  So we still have the question - are those others teams not "B"  was that other team we played going to also be bumped to "A".    It really is minor - we don't want to move up to a level that is unsuitable but I think in the end we will be an A team

We were really hoping to play one of the top 3 seeds besides us just to see where we really stacked up

A minor footnote in all of this.  We honestly do not care about this at all because we play other tournaments outside of USSSA.  This is just a neat by-product of the great fall season we had and in the end means very little but it's kind of a fun thing.   

I'll see if the link works but we are currently ranked #2 in the country based on power ranking for USSSA  for our current division   so silly

http://www.usssa.com/fastpitch/Rank2/#/?gdSport=16&stateID=0&classID=1031&seasonID=22&ranking=0

GL everyone

 

[belljr]

Welp, it's official we were moved to an 'A' team. It will be good for us but I fear our pitching depth is not good enough at this level.   Our #1 pitcher will have no problems.  Our #2 will be ok.

Its our #3 that I fear will struggle.   This year our #3 would pitch 2 games each weekend but always against the "lower" teams.  Now in theory there may be a not be the gap.

We shall see.

Side note:  Drama in our old league again.   The reason we left was the local league wanted us to have x amount of town girls which I understand. But opposed to us forming a club team.  Well the presidents kids town team 14u doesn't have enough town kids (even though they cut some) and has too many kids from out of town but not telling anyone. Also other things are going down. After I was given a "you've done so much for this league, don't worry about going club we'll give you field time etc." they are now talking about not allowing us to use fields.   

I'm going to go ape#### when that happens

 

[Bull Dozier]

Side note:  Drama in our old league again.   The reason we left was the local league wanted us to have x amount of town girls which I understand. But opposed to us forming a club team.  Well the presidents kids town team 14u doesn't have enough town kids (even though they cut some) and has too many kids from out of town but not telling anyone. Also other things are going down. After I was given a "you've done so much for this league, don't worry about going club we'll give you field time etc." they are now talking about not allowing us to use fields.   

I'm going to go ape#### when that happens

Nothing I love more that youth sports politics [sarcasm].

 

[Gally]

Welp, it's official we were moved to an 'A' team. It will be good for us but I fear our pitching depth is not good enough at this level.   Our #1 pitcher will have no problems.  Our #2 will be ok.

Its our #3 that I fear will struggle.   This year our #3 would pitch 2 games each weekend but always against the "lower" teams.  Now in theory there may be a not be the gap.

We shall see.

Side note:  Drama in our old league again.   The reason we left was the local league wanted us to have x amount of town girls which I understand. But opposed to us forming a club team.  Well the presidents kids town team 14u doesn't have enough town kids (even though they cut some) and has too many kids from out of town but not telling anyone. Also other things are going down. After I was given a "you've done so much for this league, don't worry about going club we'll give you field time etc." they are now talking about not allowing us to use fields.   

I'm going to go ape#### when that happens

When I was on the board of our little league field time at local schools and parks were very difficult to obtain.  Insurance was a big reason why so if you aren't tied to the league there could be insurance reasons why you would not be allowed to use the fields.  It sucks and doesn't make a lot of sense if you have your own team insurance however with the suing mentality of many people not having the proper insurance and approval can cause significant issues.  One of the most frustrating things I ran up against. 

 

[belljr]

Nothing I love more that youth sports politics [sarcasm].

Yep. It really is the worst.  It doesn't help when the president is a snake oil salesman.  Normally i wouldn't care but I feel hes been very sneaky about certain things.  Now in the end he is not stealing or anything that bad but without going into it, he's basically sticking his nose into everyone's business and /or making decisions on his own. I'm technically not in the league anymore but it could affect me.   In the end are they the worst infractions? No but its how its being done

When I was on the board of our little league field time at local schools and parks were very difficult to obtain.  Insurance was a big reason why so if you aren't tied to the league there could be insurance reasons why you would not be allowed to use the fields.  It sucks and doesn't make a lot of sense if you have your own team insurance however with the suing mentality of many people not having the proper insurance and approval can cause significant issues.  One of the most frustrating things I ran up against. 

Sadly this is not the issue. We have our own insurance,  We had fields in the fall.  Long story short, we had an exodus of players (mainly because of the president above and the head coach) of the team his daughter is on.  He's terrible but whatever.   The president has been hell bent on trying to get these other "club" teams banned from the league we play in.

How does that help our program? It doesn't.  So he's had this hard on for 2 years now.  Now he claims that that one coach that left is causing a "stink" that our program is giving field time to teams that are not 75% from town kids.  Which is true but we've been loosely associated with the Club program that has  I'm in now for over 10 years and is given field time.  BUT now it's a problem "allegedly" because of these 2 idiots.

/rant

 

[Bull Dozier]

Just to pile on the horribleness of youth sports, we have an umbrella sports organization which a lot of the youth programs play under.  They are a separate entity from the city, but work in conjunction with the city for preferential treatment on using the fields and buildings.  Under the umbrella are arms for most of the sports, but some of the sports operate separately as they don't want to be involved in the umbrella.  In the last ten years, two sports have now had directors and/or treasurers empty that specific sports bank account on their way out the door.

 

[Gally]

Sadly this is not the issue. We have our own insurance,  We had fields in the fall.  Long story short, we had an exodus of players (mainly because of the president above and the head coach) of the team his daughter is on.  He's terrible but whatever.   The president has been hell bent on trying to get these other out of town teams banned from the league we play in.

How does that help our program? It doesn't.  So he's had this hard on for 2 years now.  Now he claims that that one coach that left is causing a "stink" that our program is giving field time to teams that are not 75% from town kids.  Which is true but we've been loosely associated with the Club program that has  I'm in now for over 10 years and is given field time.  BUT now it's a problem "allegedly" because of these 2 idiots.

/rant

Just having your own insurance doesn't necessarily mean you can use the fields.  That could depend upon the insurance the field owners have in place.  The fact that you used them previously doesn't necessarily matter either as we had that exact issue with some of the schools we used in the past.  We were not allowed access due to "insurance issues" even though we had our own.  It had something to do with the type of insurance the field owners had that didn't allow outside organizations access. 

It doesn't make sense but this is what has happened.  It doesn't seem like this is the issue for you here though.  Sucks that people are petty about these things. 

 

[belljr]

I understand what you are saying but trust me.  The Club organization I am in has been using the town field for over 10 years.  This is from poor management of the board I'm on (the town softball) and 2 individuals petty fighting

All our fields are town owned and premits are given to our town softball (which then decides who can or can't use them)

 

[sbonomo]

I understand what you are saying but trust me.  The Club organization I am in has been using the town field for over 10 years.  This is from poor management of the board I'm on (the town softball) and 2 individuals petty fighting

All our fields are town owned and premits are given to our town softball (which then decides who can or can't use them)

Can you go to the city?