Very Impressed with USSSA

[Passion4theGame]

We played in a USSSA tournament this past weekend down in Zanesville and I must say I am impressed with how smooth it was ran. Scottie did a great job as Site TD. It makes me question why none of the top teams really want to play USSSA unless we really have to?

So I started thinking why we don't take our teams to USSSA tournaments and after thinking about it I would definitely jump in another tournament @Mike_Craig_-_Ohio USSSA hosts. He and his team do a great job.

Please don't give me the excuse of no Ghost!!! They now make one with all stamps. Besides if your DD or team needs a Ghost to be solid hitters then you might want to consider Soccer.

My only complaint along with a lot of coaches- Mike Craig doesn't do Showcases. I think ALL of us could help change that.

But you don't need to play a showcase if your athletes are sending the emails, camps, ect. and your recruiting coordinator is doing their part. Our team proved that a couple weeks ago while playing in Beaver, OH. They emailed their coaches they have been communicating with and low and behold a few started showing up. Ones that couldn't watched on AthletesGo Live.

Here's my thoughts after playing a Mike Craig tournament this past weekend. If you have a big name across the front of your uniform give it a shot and jump in one of his tournaments early if you don't have anything scheduled. You will not be disappointed. With your Big name Organization it will help pull the other solid teams.

I get some of his tournaments cater to the C level teams but if some of the BIG teams start showing interested then he can make some changes and show the A level and Higher B level teams more interested. It's got to be both sides showing interest and efforts to make it work.


Lets be honest here. We ALL played Mike Craig tournaments when he was with NSA starting way back when we had 8u teams. So why did we all decide to move on from his tournaments? He always makes sure the girls get to play. I remember seeing and being part of the field crew in Lancaster and he would make decisions to use countless bags of Diamond Dry. That stuff is not cheap and comes out of HIS bottom line.

All I am saying And (I am guilty of it too) give USSSA a fair shot. Its not bad at all. IMHO
Nothing is perfect.


Thank You @Mike_Craig_-_Ohio USSSA for working your tail off during this Pandemic and making sure these Athletes get on the field.



Jeff Hill
Bo Jackson Elite 04

 

[Dawgsdad]

We played in a USSSA tournament this past weekend down in Zanesville and I must say I am impressed with how smooth it was ran. Scottie did a great job as Site TD. It makes me question why none of the top teams really want to play USSSA unless we really have to?

So I started thinking why we don't take our teams to USSSA tournaments and after thinking about it I would definitely jump in another tournament @Mike_Craig_-_Ohio USSSA hosts. He and his team do a great job.

Please don't give me the excuse of no Ghost!!! They now make one with all stamps. Besides if your DD or team needs a Ghost to be solid hitters then you might want to consider Soccer.

My only complaint along with a lot of coaches- Mike Craig doesn't do Showcases. I think ALL of us could help change that.

But you don't need to play a showcase if your athletes are sending the emails, camps, ect. and your recruiting coordinator is doing their part. Our team proved that a couple weeks ago while playing in Beaver, OH. They emailed their coaches they have been communicating with and low and behold a few started showing up. Ones that couldn't watched on AthletesGo Live.

Here's my thoughts after playing a Mike Craig tournament this past weekend. If you have a big name across the front of your uniform give it a shot and jump in one of his tournaments early if you don't have anything scheduled. You will not be disappointed. With your Big name Organization it will help pull the other solid teams.

I get some of his tournaments cater to the C level teams but if some of the BIG teams start showing interested then he can make some changes and show the A level and Higher B level teams more interested. It's got to be both sides showing interest and efforts to make it work.


Lets be honest here. We ALL played Mike Craig tournaments when he was with NSA starting way back when we had 8u teams. So why did we all decide to move on from his tournaments? He always makes sure the girls get to play. I remember seeing and being part of the field crew in Lancaster and he would make decisions to use countless bags of Diamond Dry. That stuff is not cheap and comes out of HIS bottom line.

All I am saying And (I am guilty of it too) give USSSA a fair shot. Its not bad at all. IMHO
Nothing is perfect.


Thank You @Mike_Craig_-_Ohio USSSA for working your tail off during this Pandemic and making sure these Athletes get on the field.



Jeff Hill
Bo Jackson Elite 04

I agree!! We have a player has been in contact with a school and we played in Beaver last weekend. They too, came out watched. Its not always about the event type as much as if the players are in communication with coaches. We needed to play due to multiple locations being full after heating it up cancelled and it was at least some dirt time

 

[Mike_Craig_-_Ohio USSSA]

Thanks Jeff. We ran our Open State in Lancaster also this weekend and had some nice teams mostly A-/B+ teams but none of them were pushovers. We did even have a couple of showcase or open type teams. If any of you know me personally, I enjoy watching great athletic performance whether it is volleyball, tennis, baseball, or fast-pitch so this past weekend was a good one to kick off our season with.

Regarding the showcase type teams, it is hard to break that market as there are a lot of those events and new ones popping up every day. I wold like to have one signature type event that is more for the DII/DIII/NAIA type athletes who may be staying closer to home. Let's all be honest, the girls who will eventually end on DI rosters are probably not playing on teams that frequent those type events that I am mentioning. One good event like that and a couple of competition-based events in addition to a type of circuit like I reference below would be a great start. But like all things, it requires time and planning. I don't want to run it haphazardly nor let the other events decline because my whole day is chasing college coaches to attend my events. My whole mantra has always been to put on organized quality events for teams to play in regardless of skill level.

I would rather create a A-/B+ circuit so those teams can get there licks in and move on to Open/Showcase type events if they choose. it would be a way to let those teams sharpen there skills to compete on that stage. I think there are a lot of teams that fit that mold out there and Ohio is kind of a all or nothing when it comes to tournament choices for better teams who just want good competition.

We do have our USA Elite Select program which is getting larger every year. Lorenzo over in Indy is getting more events off the ground every year. We are lacking in Ohio for those right now but we are running one this fall at Berliner on Sept 26-27, 2020. The USA Elite program is meant to be more on par with the PGF program offerings for higher end teams.

If anyone has interest in getting in on the ground floor with us for that, get in touch with me.

 

[AnotherSoftballDad]

Thanks Jeff. We ran our Open State in Lancaster also this weekend and had some nice teams mostly A-/B+ teams but none of them were pushovers. We did even have a couple of showcase or open type teams. If any of you know me personally, I enjoy watching great athletic performance whether it is volleyball, tennis, baseball, or fast-pitch so this past weekend was a good one to kick off our season with.

Regarding the showcase type teams, it is hard to break that market as there are a lot of those events and new ones popping up every day. I wold like to have one signature type event that is more for the DII/DIII/NAIA type athletes who may be staying closer to home. Let's all be honest, the girls who will eventually end on DI rosters are probably not playing on teams that frequent those type events that I am mentioning. One good event like that and a couple of competition-based events in addition to a type of circuit like I reference below would be a great start. But like all things, it requires time and planning. I don't want to run it haphazardly nor let the other events decline because my whole day is chasing college coaches to attend my events. My whole mantra has always been to put on organized quality events for teams to play in regardless of skill level.

I would rather create a A-/B+ circuit so those teams can get there licks in and move on to Open/Showcase type events if they choose. it would be a way to let those teams sharpen there skills to compete on that stage. I think there are a lot of teams that fit that mold out there and Ohio is kind of a all or nothing when it comes to tournament choices for better teams who just want good competition.

We do have our USA Elite Select program which is getting larger every year. Lorenzo over in Indy is getting more events off the ground every year. We are lacking in Ohio for those right now but we are running one this fall at Berliner on Sept 26-27, 2020. The USA Elite program is meant to be more on par with the PGF program offerings for higher end teams.

If anyone has interest in getting in on the ground floor with us for that, get in touch with me.

This is spot on. The "all or nothing in Ohio for tournaments" comment is dead on....especially once you get to 14u and beyond as teams start to filter out. We have played in multiple events put on by Mike in 10u and 12u and they were always extremely well run....and it was kind of a breeding to prepare for showcase events as we moved up. We really appreciated Mike's tournaments as it could be counted on as a tournament that we knew was going to be competitive and very organized.

 

[kristy scalesi]

In Lancaster this past weekend, 5 of the 8 teams are ranked in the top 15 in Ohio. We are always happy with USSSA tournaments and the way they are run. Thanks @Mike_Craig_-_Ohio USSSA for running a good set of tournaments at every level.

 

[wpaguy]

perfect timing regarding USSSA Tournaments. We jumped into a USSSA event in central PA this past week after our scheduled Tournament lost fields and had to cancel the 16/18u age group. Complex was nice, Tournament director "Jeff" was very nice he went around and talked to all the families and coaches and thanked us for coming. I would love to see more Ohio teams come to the IUP Showcase , I think for teams with players looking to play D2/D3 it could be a change of pace and a chance to play some different team.S One thing about PA , is East and West is a little different. Western PA has A and B teams, the Eastern part of the state have more B and C teams .....not really sure why that is