PurpleJack, you of all people should know better than to say that. As the person who selected the field for the Stingray Tournament for four-five years, I know how hard that is. I haven't done so for a couple of years, and I don't know anything about the Hurricanes, but it seems to me that they are a fairly new team, and since these tournament fields are selected in the fall, it is hard to include a team with a rather limited resume, no matter how good they turn out to be in the following season. We have always been very open in saying that we make mistakes every year. There are teams that get in, who six months later do not perform up to the level that they did the previous year. In the early incarnations of our tournament we took all teams. That led us to a nearly completely unmanageable 116-team tournament, and we decided at that point (the third year of the event), that from there on, we would have smaller fields. We have been fortunate that many great teams, from Ohio and the surrounding states, want to be in our tournament, and the only way to determine who gets in, is to look at what they have done in the past. EVERY TEAM gets a thorough and detailed evaluation before selection. And I can speak from years of experience that selecting the teams is a gut-wrenching process. You want to include everyone, but it's just not feasible. So, if they are a new team, what do you judge them on? If they have not typically played in tournaments that put them up against the known power teams, what do you compare them to? If a better way makes itself known, I?m sure we will do it.
Like I said, I know nothing about the Hurricanes, nor the selection process of the tournament for the past two years, but to make a statement like that, as if the tournament was purposely keeping them out, is disingenuous. Now, if a team who was not selected has a great year, I am sure they will receive every consideration, as always, next year. Unless a team has displayed some sort of action in our tournament in the past that deems them unsuitable for inclusion, the only criteria is competition. We have screwed that up since day one, and have admitted so since day one, however, I think all of us that have had that job have done a pretty good job over the years, despite all of our admitted mistakes.
Good luck to the Hurricanes and all other Ohio teams as the National tournament season is underway.