Not sure about 2007, but ASA shows the following berths and their availability for teams from Region 9 and the State of Ohio.
Registration Berths: Total of 4 Berths
Dayton Metro = 1 Berth
Cleveland Metro = 1 Berth
State of Ohio Assoc = 2 Berths
Region #9 Regional Qualifiers: For teams registered in Region 9 only!
2 Berths
Region #9 National Qualifier: For any ASA Team from any Region
1 Berth
Ashland Blaze won the 14u ASA Eastern Nationals Last August and within the requirements for returning players earned an automatic berth for either 16u or 14u. (FYI a great way to earn a berth if you believe you are a year away from being ready for "the Show"
This is a total without the Ashland Blaze of 7 berths for Region #9 / State of Ohio, any unfilled berths in the region could be filled by a team that played in a Championship Play event, it is possible in 2007 that berths were not filled and offered at the last event in Region #9 which was the State Tournament which as I understand has historically been a tournament for any team registered in Region #9. Which interestingly enough is the only Region with only 1 state encompassed, so effectively any event in Region#9 with the exception of Metro Tournaments in Cleveland and Dayton would be Region #9 events, this is unique in the whole of ASA, and creates the opportunity for 7 teams from Ohio to attend Nationals, and even more if Ohio teams qualify thru Metro Cincinnati and/or Region #10.
FYI the scuttlebutt is that, State of Ohio may lose their status as a one state region and may be given areas of PA, WV, and NY to include in their region, thus opening up the "monopoly" on those 6 of those 7 berths to a number of other teams. I am confused by the carping about this when for many years many of the Ohio berths have gone unfilled, I am happy to see teams recognizing that in order to be the best they must compete with the best, but does anyone really think that the NSA style of rationing out dozens of berths to just about anyone that wants one will make the ASA stronger? The fact is that the ASA berths available have been assigned to several events, and as such there are a number of opportunities to fight it out to win one of these berths.
We have competed for many years in the ASA world, and I don't think I have ever questioned the "winner takes all" format, even when in one year we traveled to Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to try to earn a berth and finished second behind California teams three times.
I really do understand the frustration on the part of the great teams at these events, but the reality is that several of them had an opportunity to compete last August in the Eastern Zone Nationals and a 1st or 2nd place finish there would have punched their ticket for 2008, my question is, have these great 6 teams attended more than one ASA qualifier? and if not, they put all their eggs in one basket, if they don't get a berth, the ASA is not to blame, there are open ASA NQ's in surrounding states, there are berths largely unfilled to the HOF qualifying events, I am sorry to hear that 6 great teams competed for one berth, I can only hope that this is not their only attempt at that task.
The reality is, I really believe that there are teams in Northern Ohio that can go to the neighboring states and compete for ASA Berths, I just don't see them doing it, and if they are don't hear about it.