Warren:
There was a time, for sure, when any team who was registered with Ohio ASA could go to ASA Easterns. Whether that is still true is a question that I have been trying to get answered for a couple of years now.
This is what the ASA Code, Article 516, Section H says about eligible teams for territory nationals:
"01. Eligible Teams. All teams within an ASA National Championship Finals
Territory that have not qualified for an ASA / USA Junior Olympic Girls’ Class
A Fast Pitch National Championship are eligible to qualify for the ASA
National Championship Finals Tournament through their local association.
Teams may play in their closest National Championship.
[ Ineligible. Any team that has qualified for an ASA / USA Junior Olympic
Girls’ Fast Pitch National Championship is not eligible to participate in an
ASA National Championship Finals Tournament. ]"
As with so many of the ASA Code provisions, this section is ambiguous. Does it mean that any member of the ASA local association qualifies for the relevant territory nationals, or does it mean that the ASA local association can establish further qualification conditions such as the ASA Eastern Nationals qualifier tournaments?
As I said, this is a question that I began asking two years ago. This year it is not relevant for our team but come fall I'll be scratching my head about it again.
I think that our softball community deserves a precise answer to this question. If the answer is, "you must qualify through a designated ASA Eastern qualifying tournament", that is fine. The additional costs for a tournament TD to have a qualifier and the additional concerns for a team to pay attention to roster eligibility issues that are created by playing in Championship Play (a defined term under the Code that includes the Eastern National qualifier tournaments) would probably be justified if earning a berth through a qualifier is required.
I am a lawyer by training and in the 32 years that I practiced I dealt with many statutes and regulations having some pretty poorly drafted provisions (not the least, the United States Bankruptcy Code). But I have to say that the ASA Code ranks right up there for its ambiguous and complex provisions. (Cliff Killian, who is extremely knowledgeable about the ASA Code, takes the position that the Code is accessible to all coaches, but on that point I will just have to agree to disagree).
On such a basic question as whether it is necessary to win a berth to ASA Eastern Nationals through a qualifier tournament, we in Ohio should be able to get an answer. If anyone out there has received an answer, please let us know.