Cincy Select Fastpitch League

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Unfortunately, John is comparing Baseball to Fastpitch.
There is 10 to 1 easy on the amount of players in Baseball to Fastpitch at the select level.
If we could find a location in say, Westchester or Springdale "with lights" I am sure you could make girls Fastpitch league take off on a Tuesday or Wednesday evening.

At this point, Marty and Patty are the only people with facilities able to pull this off in Cincy but; their location limits the teams that can attend.

Get something in Middletown, Springdale, Westchester, Fairfield Township and you will be able to make it work.
:yahoo:

 

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Unfortunately, John is comparing Baseball to Fastpitch.
There is 10 to 1 easy on the amount of players in Baseball to Fastpitch at the select level.
If we could find a location in say, Westchester or Springdale "with lights" I am sure you could make girls Fastpitch league take off on a Tuesday or Wednesday evening.

At this point, Marty and Patty are the only people with facilities able to pull this off in Cincy but; their location limits the teams that can attend.

Get something in Middletown, Springdale, Westchester, Fairfield Township and you will be able to make it work.
:yahoo:

Good points Dennis! If a place like Fairfield Water Works could Squeeze you in... you are onto something. West Chester is also a great idea... right off of I-75 could get lots of interest.

 

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I would be interested in seeing how many of the upper echelon teams play in a league. My guess is their thinking is they are a travel team that plays tournaments on the weekends with practice during the week. Take away some practice to play in a league? Can you really get enough out of it? Are you being more like a rec league team that plays tournaments on weekends? In Cincy do the top teams like the Doom95, Doom96, Riptides, Lasers ever play in a summer league? I think leagues are for fun and great for rec teams. Travel teams should practice during the week. JMHO

 

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Unfortunately, John is comparing Baseball to Fastpitch.
There is 10 to 1 easy on the amount of players in Baseball to Fastpitch at the select level.
If we could find a location in say, Westchester or Springdale "with lights" I am sure you could make girls Fastpitch league take off on a Tuesday or Wednesday evening.

At this point, Marty and Patty are the only people with facilities able to pull this off in Cincy but; their location limits the teams that can attend.

Get something in Middletown, Springdale, Westchester, Fairfield Township and you will be able to make it work.
:yahoo:

This I agree with ,Dennis. Totally agree. But, it takes a centralized location and not just teams figuring out on their own where to play, take care of the diamonds and all of that.
If Goshen ever got lights.... it'll be on. They hope to in the future.

If the teams would get together early in the Fall and commit to a league.... I'd almost bet Expressway Park would think very seriously about it.. but it takes that early commitment by teams.. enough to make it a whole night of girls fastpitch softball... or it's not worth it to a major park like Expressway Park. You guys should talk to him about it... gather teams willing to commit and take it from there.

That's my opinion.

 

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This concept reminds me of the I270 league in Columbus. These are Mon / Wed or Tues / Thurs leagues with double headers and most of the teams signed up are considered travel, but generally are school feeder programs and not elites.

There was no berth or weekend games at all. One umpire, no new inning after 70 min / drop dead after 80 min. For some teams it was merely used as practice during the week.

Personally I didn't care for it and our team won't be doing it this year. We really got cheesed often times over the time limits especially on cloudy days with squeezing in two games with limited daylight. Personally one good quality game with maybe no time limit or two hours would be better.

I will say that the umpires always showed, but it was two games, not one.

 

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To do a good league of double headers you need lights, time, etc... But you have to convince a major park that it is worth their time to host. A four game set is nice like 6:15 - 7:30 - 8:45 - 10 pm No new inning after 1:10. One week you play Round 1 and 3 the next week you play round 2 and 4, etc...

 

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Concerning births, the league WILL provide at least 1 direct birth per age group classification for ASA.

Do teams really want to start games at 8:45pm and 10:00pm on a week night? Do teams prefer to play games with a 1 hour 10 minute time limit? I prefer league games have no time limit. 7 innings straight up unless there is a run-rule.

 

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Here's the thing about berths. USSSA World Series - just ask

ASA eastern regional - everybody can play in it - just ask.

Teams want a double header league and to do so even with full games - you have to have lights.

No park is going to set aside a night to play if there is only two or three rounds a games per night as they would bring in men's or co-ed to fill the time slots. That's where the problem lies in time limits.. It's all about how many butts you can put in the park and if it will make reason to hold a fastpitch league or not when you come to major parks running one.

But, your theory of ... you find the park, you line the fields, you drag the fields, you figure out the bases (whether you have to supply them) or pitching rubbers, etc... isn't going to work for fastpitch softball teams. Give them a central location.. play a double headers.. maybe even only three rounds per night on all the fields... and they are in.

But, find your "own" theory is not going to work.

I've gave you all the ins and outs, sir. I can't explain anymore to you. The teams have as well in their posts.

 

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You all need to get a life !! Set down to some egg nog, a cold one, enjoy the season. GEEZZZZ.

 

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Sounds like it could be exciting! I would love to have other options, rather then
just playing tournaments all summer long. Our team(Southern Ohio Swarm) would
probably need help with finding a home field, if we choose to join the league.

 

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With the I270 league fields don't seem to be a problem. Mainly because teams are school feeders so we played in HS diamonds. Almost none of them have lights though which is why we were usually crunched for daylight time. First game started at 6pm which was a push to get everyone there after work and traffic etc. Second game promptly at 7:30 and hope it doesn't get too dark.

 

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Having lights seems to be the problem with most travel leagues trying to play a double headers..... especially if you don't want that "crunched" for time feel of a league. I mean you can go three rounds at 6:30, 8:00 and 9:30 where every other week you have to play the 9:30 pm game.... I don't like 6:15 personally because of the traffic headaches actually around the 275 loop here in Cincinnati...

 

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Why all the negative feedback? I think it's a great concept! This league obviously isn't
for teams that will be playing tournaments every weekend. This is a perfect idea for teams like ours (Southern Ohio Swarm). We are a 1st year select team that won't be
traveling every weekend, so something like this is a great opportunity to still play games.
You don't have to play a tournament every weekend to be a select team. That's obviously for people with very deep pockets. I think as long as it's made clear to teams,
that this is a competitive league, and not a Rec League, then what's the problem? If you don't like it, then don't join. I don't understand bashing a guy who is trying to help improve fastpitch in this area. It makes absolutely no sense Imo.

 

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Why all the negative feedback? I think it's a great concept! This league obviously isn't
for teams that will be playing tournaments every weekend. This is a perfect idea for teams like ours (Southern Ohio Swarm). We are a 1st year select team that won't be
traveling every weekend, so something like this is a great opportunity to still play games.
You don't have to play a tournament every weekend to be a select team. That's obviously for people with very deep pockets. I think as long as it's made clear to teams,
that this is a competitive league, and not a Rec League, then what's the problem? If you don't like it, then don't join. I don't understand bashing a guy who is trying to help improve fastpitch in this area. It makes absolutely no sense Imo.

This already exists at Pastime. Lights are there, Marty gets the umps, sets the schedule, and takes care of all the other BS involved. Once he gets the fields dressed up and the other park improvements he's been talking about and working on this is a done deal and has been around for years. And oh yeah, it's only $150 and pay the ump on the field. Downside for me is that the 10u bracket has been week except for 2 teams in the past. I"m sure the 12u's will be totally different. We might play there this year. One other benefit (at least in the past) if you were in Pastime's league you got 25% off of tournament fees. Not sure if he is offering that deal again for 2010 but it's an option and I know he is working to get a sanctioned league as well. More news to follow I'm sure from Marty.

If not, skredsfan...if you want we can scrimmage (if not my team the other Static teams) anytime and save the cost since deep pockets are of concern for us all.

I to agree that if it fits the needs of a particular team go for it. But for us fortunate enough to be in the network (and if you are on OFC...) you are already in. Put a posting out requesting a scrimmage and many will show up to play ball and they will have fields and it's at your discretion. I'm not knocking league play, just know that this $250 hit and the work involved isn't laid out right for many of us right now. I'm sure others agree but are not talking on the forum yet...

 

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I would be interested in seeing how many of the upper echelon teams play in a league. My guess is their thinking is they are a travel team that plays tournaments on the weekends with practice during the week. Take away some practice to play in a league? Can you really get enough out of it? Are you being more like a rec league team that plays tournaments on weekends? In Cincy do the top teams like the Doom95, Doom96, Riptides, Lasers ever play in a summer league? I think leagues are for fun and great for rec teams. Travel teams should practice during the week. JMHO

Musty has a good point! However, you know me Musty, the league would be in addition to practice . Although we played 14 tourneys last at 12U, we still played in the Pastime league at 14U from April thru May & then stopped since we played 7 out of 8 weekend in June & July. I like playing in league during these two month just simply because it gets the girls on the field & based on mother nature, you never know how many tourneys will be missed in April/May. Unfortuantely as Les mentions, the competition in the league was not up to par. For instance, the only games we lost at 14U was to our own 14U team - we run ruled the rest - which my intent for playing up is to get the girls ready for 12U on the weekends - but this did not happen last year given the level of competition.

A league is only successful if you have adequate competition - I want games that are one run games -does nothing for the winning or losing team if the score is a blowout.

 

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It's feedback skredsfan, some positive and some negative. That is what a forum is. Les had some great ideas for you. Scrimmaging might be a way to go. This select league if it comes together along with some scrimmaging could get you a lot of playing time at a low cost. Good luck

 

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Musty has a good point! However, you know me Musty, the league would be in addition to practice . Although we played 14 tourneys last at 12U, we still played in the Pastime league at 14U from April thru May & then stopped since we played 7 out of 8 weekend in June & July. I like playing in league during these two month just simply because it gets the girls on the field & based on mother nature, you never know how many tourneys will be missed in April/May. Unfortuantely as Les mentions, the competition in the league was not up to par. For instance, the only games we lost at 14U was to our own 14U team - we run ruled the rest - which my intent for playing up is to get the girls ready for 12U on the weekends - but this did not happen last year given the level of competition.

A league is only successful if you have adequate competition - I want games that are one run games -does nothing for the winning or losing team if the score is a blowout.

Hey Kavin! No you never lacked in the practice department even with the league in the mix and that equaled success on the field. You are right, a 12u team run ruling 14u teams while fun didn't help the girls get any better. A league of travel teams might work

 

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I agree with alot of what everyone is saying. I would agree that playing Rec teams would do none of us any good. Like I said before though..If it's clear to everyone
involved that this is a select league, not Rec, then I say why not? Like any organization in it's 1st year, it won't be perfect I'm sure. My earlier post wasn't intended towards those of you making suggestions. negative or positive. Fastpitch is a sport in trouble, so when someone attempts to give coaches, players, and parents more options...then I'm all for it! Oh and Les.. we would love to scrimmage when the weather breaks! Thx for the offer!

 

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I think the negative is the finding the ball fields, dragging them, lining them finding the bases, the pitcher's rubber, etc... for a lot of travel teams which seems to be his 3/4 of the list if you go to the website. Let alone finding any of them to commit to a Saturday or Sunday playing time versus having the diamonds ready and do nothing and play.

Les: You got time to drag the fields, line the fields, set the bases all before the one hour prior to the game warm-ups? Or do you have a asst. to do that? Or are you going to drag the fields and line it with a parent while your asst. coaches the team during warm-ups?

Positives: Giving first year travel teams that play one weekend a month a place to play .. then playing once a month is NOT a travel team in anyone's mind.

 

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I think the negative is the finding the ball fields, dragging them, lining them finding the bases, the pitcher's rubber, etc... for a lot of travel teams which seems to be his 3/4 of the list if you go to the website. Let alone finding any of them to commit to a Saturday or Sunday playing time versus having the diamonds ready and do nothing and play.

Les: You got time to drag the fields, line the fields, set the bases all before the one hour prior to the game warm-ups? Or do you have a asst. to do that? Or are you going to drag the fields and line it with a parent while your asst. coaches the team during warm-ups?

Positives: Giving first year travel teams that play one weekend a month a place to play .. then playing once a month is NOT a travel team in anyone's mind.

Our team plans to play in 2 tournaments per month. Should we not be considered a select team because we are not playing every weekend?
Should we join a Rec league after putting together a very talented group
of girls? I'm a bit confused. Again, the guy is trying something new..maybe it fails, maybe it works out. Why not let it take it's course? Why are you (Quakerman) so concerned with this?