Changing of the guard? The "elite" ?

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I would say Joe Abraham knows Kabota's system pretty well, (I think he got the seal of approval from Howard to put his clinic on)and I believe in the fall he puts on a clinic open to his kids in school ball and travel along with a few extras. I'm sure Joe will verify this.

 

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Re: Changing of the guard? The

Bigtrain,

I remember how boring those rec league softball practices were for both my daughter and me! Took a combination of just the right circumstances and timing for my daughter to still be playing softball:

? ? ?-- ? ? ?her brother took up baseball/pitching (so his little sister wanted to give pitching a try);

? ? ?-- ? ? ?by total happenstance, we hooked up with a great softball instructor (few in the area, not cheap, and can be very hard to find);

? ? ?-- ? ? ?rec league softball practices and games remained boring while soccer/basketball were sooooo much more fun to play (and watch), but her softball instructor suggested tournament softball (something we knew absolutely nothing about);

? ? ?-- ? ? ?still my daughter would have ended up playing soccer or basketball because there were no 10U tournament softball teams in the Cleveland area, but her softball instructor told us to check out OFC (nothing else out there to help us find a 10U tournament team);

? ? ?-- ? ? ?via OFC, we hooked with a 10U team and were invited to a tryout in Akron (wouldn?t have driven all the way to Akron for tryout and practices if we had younger children or we couldn?t afford it); and

? ? ?-- ? ? ?she made the 10U team in Akron (several girls who tried out didn?t make the team);

? ? ?-- ? ? ?she chose to play tournament softball that summer, instead of rec league or travel league softball, soccer or AAU basketball (a 10 year old chose to play with a bunch of girls she didn?t know, instead of some of her best friends); and

? ? ?-- ? ? ?we had a positive experience that summer (coach, parents and teammates were ALL wonderful).

Looking back, the odds seem to have been really stacked against softball, but my daughter is now playing 18U tournament ball (and loving it) while all her school friends seem to be either soccer players or cheerleaders.

The local softball rec league and travel league just can?t compete here with the soccer, basketball and gymnastics. And I don?t see anything changing for the girls around here anytime in the near future. We may now have a few more softball tournament teams in our area, but we still don?t have many softball instructors, 10U Ohio tournament teams, or people who know anything about tournament softball (or that softball doesn?t have to be sooooo boring). So I?m afraid it may take a looooong time for softball to catch up with soccer in our area.

 

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What's really unfortunate, especially in the Akron area, is that softball had a HUGE head start on soccer in terms of opportunity to play and progress. Competitive youth softball in the Akron area, which was the springboard for Ohio, began in 1975.
The reason softball stayed stagnant is lack of coaching.
Obviously, the pitching end was taken care of, but a lot of those great ones are getting on in years or have passed away.
The hitters and fielders received NO training.
Consequently, the well-trained pitchers (Patty Dennison of Springfield) of that era totally dominated the games. EVERYTHING was a shutout.
That's a great gig for the pitcher -- not a whole heckuva lot of fun for everybody else.
The soccer coaches began working with girls in the early 80s. The difference was they taught ALL of the game's skills to ALL of the girls.
Every human being feels better when they know have a chance to be successful. That was the feeling the outstanding (MALE) coaches gave to the soccer girls by teaching them the skills.
Ron Poole of the Ice is the person who recognized Howard Kobata's greatness in concepts and teaching. Ron Poole is responsible for that step being made.
But for all that, how many top-level middle infielders has Ohio produced????? The list is remarkably short.

 

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ty for the info , would be great if that was posted when it happend would like the dd to attend, thanks again

 

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Wow, been gone for a while and thought I would drop in and read a few. Someone really dug deep to pull this topic back to the top.

It doesn't seem that my orginal post was that far off from my predicitons. Many of the fall and winter tournaments have been won by others than the traditional "elite" teams. It is good to see other teams/organizations make the transition from good to the upper tiers. I know that the ones that made the transitions are not newcomers, but rather, up and comers. Good Job!

 

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I have been fortunate enough to slip into a few practice facilities/tournaments and such and have seen a few "past premier " teams who seem to have lost a little kick. Also, seen a couple who look to be real suprises this year. Of course it is early, but most rosters are pretty much set. It will be an interesting year for sure. It will be nice to see some new uniforms late on Sundays.