What makes a team an "A" team or "B" team

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Member

• Jan 21, 2010

• #1

I am curious as to everyones thoughts on what makes a team an "A" team or a "B" team for purposes of ASA and NSA. How should a team decide what tournaments to play in? Are there 'rules' as to which teams can play "A" and which teams can play "B"?

 

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Member

• Jan 21, 2010

• #2

JMO

Play in one and you will find out. Play in a "B" tournament and crush teams and you are probably and "A". or play in an "A" tournament and get crushed you are probably a "B" team. Other than that I would just find an legitimate "A" team and schedule a friendly to see where your team is at.

JMO

 

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Member

• Jan 21, 2010

• #3

Just play A and get better until you win.

Making popcorn...a lot of strong opinions on this one. Can you say trophy hunters. hehe

 

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Member

• Jan 21, 2010

• #4

Not sure if there are any rules as to what level you play...might want to ask Warren Jones (ASA Ohio) warrenjones@zoominternet.net.

 

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Member

• Jan 21, 2010

• #5

Doesn't it have something to do with grades???

 

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• Jan 21, 2010

• #6

fpitchdad said:

Doesn't it have something to do with grades???

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:lmao: Sorta, your smarter to play A

 

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Member

• Jan 21, 2010

• #7

do the friendly thing before you sanction. If you sanction "A" you will have to stay "A" this season. If you are getting beat badly by "A" teams your kids may not hang around long enough to improve.

JMO

 

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Member

• Jan 21, 2010

• #8

I was told "B" means your whole roster has to reside in the same community.

 

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• Jan 21, 2010

• #9

I think its funny that there are so many different interpretations of the rule on this. You would think that the governing bodies (ASA, USSSA, NSA, etc) would at a minimum put out an easily discernible definition at least within the individual sanctions themselves. The current definitions leave way to many loopholes for teams to "justify" A or B. They are also (at least to me) confusing as to what portions apply to what groups of participants. You have to be a lawyer to get through the jargon, and even then they would argue what's what.

Has anyone ever heard of anyone getting "called to the mat" for not claiming the correct division? I know we took a team of "B" players to the ASA Eastern National "B" tournament a couple years ago, and there were a couple of teams that I saw that could have easily been "A" teams just by talent alone. I don't know if there are any checks and balances other than if a team wins the "B" nationals, that they are not eligible to play "B" again the next year in the same age division.

 

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• Jan 21, 2010

• #10

jsoftballdad said:

I was told "B" means your whole roster has to reside in the same community.

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After a conversation with ASA Warren Jones a couple weeks back... ASA "B" is a rec team from the same community or from the same community based rec league. Ohio does not have a "C" division totally devouted to rec as some states do in ASA.

USSSA has "A" an "B" travel divisions and "C" is rec. Same with NSA.

 

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Member

• Jan 21, 2010

• #11

mustohiofastpitch said:

Just play A and get better until you win.

Making popcorn...a lot of strong opinions on this one. Can you say trophy hunters. hehe

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Popcorn doesn't require STIRRING, does it???? LOL.

 

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Member

• Jan 21, 2010

• #12

ohioquakerman said:

After a conversation with ASA Warren Jones a couple weeks back... ASA "B" is a rec team from the same community or from the same community based rec league. Ohio does not have a "C" division totally devouted to rec as some states do in ASA.

USSSA has "A" an "B" travel divisions and "C" is rec. Same with NSA.

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Does that mean 100% roster, or 51%, or what for ASA? Does one girl on the team from a different city disqualify "B" status? What is the definition of community? You would obviously have a large talent pool to choose from if you are from Cleveland, Columbus, or Cincinnati, you would be totally out of luck, and at a huge disadvantage if you are from Linndale, Dilles Bottom, or Cadiz, OH.
Its kind of irritating that we cannot open up a rule book and all come up with the same answer. The ASA could clear all this up by just stating in plain english the intention of the rules in the rule book. As it stands, there is way too much open to interpretation.

 

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• Jan 22, 2010

• #13

Well all i can tell you is A.S.A states ALL PLAYERS MUST PLAY IN THE SAME LEAGUE, to be an "B" division team, Plus there is alittle more to it then just that. So if your teams players do not play in the same league then you CAN NOT be a "B" Division team.

 

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Member

• Jan 22, 2010

• #14

That is indeed ALL that there is to it. ASA does their own decision what is a "B" team in Ohio, according to Warren Jones. So I guess if you have a question on a status of "B" classification... write him and ask him is all I can suggest.

 

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Member

• Jan 22, 2010

• #15

I talked with the ASA Commissioner out of Canton and he said that ASA "A" are travel teams, ASA "B" are community based teams. So how can tournaments say there will be both A & B selections for the Nationals. And for NSA I received this:
All 18 & under teams that are considered B cannot have college players on their team.

All Age Divisions

All ball players must live within a 75 mile radius of the team in order to maintain a B status.

No B teams can pick up an A player to play in tournaments and still maintain their B status.

B players can move up and play A ball but cannot go back and play on a B team if the A team qualifies A.

B teams must have lower than a .650 winning percentage.

A & B status will also be determined by the team?s competition.

I hope this helps,

Lisa M. Simpson
Assistant Fast Pitch Director - NSA
lsimpson@neo.rr.com
www.ohionsafp.net

 

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• Jan 22, 2010

• #16

good job semperfi1977!

 

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Member

• Jan 22, 2010

• #17

Basically you have to be like a rec league select team to qualify for B.

 

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Member

• Jan 22, 2010

• #18

The explanation of class status from any sanctioning body will be vague at best. All leave interpretation cloudy so as to not paint themselves in a corner. years ago, we used to say "B" was for 1st year teams and "A" for second year or more in the same age group. The only real rule followed was that of players that are on an "A" roster are not permitted to drop back and play on a "B" team without a hoard of headaches and paperwork completed.

In Ohio, The northern half seems to be more popular for "A" sanctioning teams while the southern half seem to favor "B" sanctioning. It has nothing to do with ability as I've witnessed firsthand. In our area, "A" and "B" teams play together in the same pools. I personally like USSSA and their points system as they allow for this mix of competition and reward "B" teams with additional points if they win a game against "A" sanctioned teams.

If you are a first year team, I suggest you sanction "B" and play a few tourneys and see how you measure up. You can always reclassify up if you feel the need.

 

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Member

• Jan 22, 2010

• #19

mustohiofastpitch said:

Just play A and get better until you win.

Making popcorn...a lot of strong opinions on this one. Can you say trophy hunters. hehe

Click to expand...

Musty,

There you go, bring up memories of some of our past conversations.;&

 

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Member

• Jan 22, 2010

• #20

ASA "B" is not USSSA "B"

USSSA has two divisions when it comes to travel ball... "A" and "B" . Class "C" is rec.

ASA has one division when it comes to travel ball in OHIO "A" . Class "B" is rec based teams from the same community based rec leagues. That is what I was told by Mr. Jones and that they (ASA) decides who is a "B" team. Each state for ASA has their right to classification. Some do "A", "B" and "C" divisions. Ohio DOES NOT.