Coaches Polls

[oiler_pride]

Andrew, not surprised at all on you're post above. This coming from a guy who sends me an email after he sent his vote in Tues morning after polls were posted. You wrote "No biggie, I get no love on it anyway. I may be done submitting it?"
You blast me for my post about going to Laser and Stingrays and getting respect. You're just sour that coaches didn't give you "Love" when they saw your scores from over the weekend. I don't decide the poll. I just count votes and post results.

Call the Coaches Poll anything you want, but for past 8 yrs plus the Polls have been run on OFC. Yes, it is for entertainment. You get no trophy or prize at the end of the year for being voted high, but many people read and respond each week to the Coaches Poll thread. Must be something right about the polls to have lasted this long.

 

[Rose]

Hey Steiner, sorry if I offended you about your advice to "gain respect" in the polls. I just thought it was funny. My "no love" comment was because teams that haven't played us don't know who we are. Your 10u team sure does. It doesn't matter to me one way or the other, that should be obvious by the email I sent you. The kids decide on the field, I used your poll to find out who was good since I am new at this. I think your time would be spent more wisely not worrying about my posts.

 

[BulldawgsDirector]

Are people trying to say adults ranking 9-12 year old girls softball isn't important?? Lol

 

[coachjwb]

Jeff has no skin in the game on these polls and doesn't get paid anything to do it. He certainly does know what it takes to get a team ranked highly in them, and I think it's great that he offers his advice to these younger teams. His Thunder Elite '00 dominated the top of the polls through 12-U because they played the best competition in the state and beat them. I could care less about the polls as well ... I always thought they were informational to see which teams were considered the best, but more than that I never cease to be amused by the chest thumping of a few teams, and the defensiveness of others. These are children we're talking about (albeit excellent softball players), and it's just funny to me that some "adults" can get bent out of shape over how children's teams are ranked.

 

[Ferrigno20]

The polls are for ego's of coaches. We all know who the top teams and orgs are. I have seen countless coaches get so caught up in the "chase" to be #1. Then go to nationals and finish tied for 17th with 20 other teams. The polls are meant for fun. If you take them for more then that I feel sorry for you because you are in for national heartbreak.

 

[GeneralsDad]

My DD never played on a ranked team. When she was 14U and realized she wanted to play in college we used past polls to identify teams she would try out for. I agree the polls are entertaining, but they are also informative. Many do know who the best teams are, but I would wager that most do not.

 

[wow]

The polls are for ego's of coaches. We all know who the top teams and orgs are. I have seen countless coaches get so caught up in the "chase" to be #1. Then go to nationals and finish tied for 17th with 20 other teams. The polls are meant for fun. If you take them for more then that I feel sorry for you because you are in for national heartbreak.

Not so sure about that there.. A number of Ohio teams from 10 to 16u finished better then 17 out of 20 in 2014... First off at the national stage way more then 20 teams! OHIO had a number of top 10 finishers, in the country, and they were at the top of the list. As far as the ego statement, I don't know how true that is. Not saying it does not exist but very general statement. I think you will find more humility and hard work at the top of the polls then ego.. Now for fun yes, is it competitive, yes...

 

[Justamom]

I always enjoyed the polls especially when I was new to the travel ball community. My daughter has never been on a ranked team and truthfully we never ran into most of them. If I were to participate in the polls I would have picked vastly different teams due to who I saw. The polls are not perfect but they do have their worth.

 

[manitoudan]

The best way to show your disagreement with the polls is to beat the teams in it and publically post the scores . No bragging , don't need a run down of anything else . Just post your scores . If you bellyache about the teams in it and have not beat any of them then just hush up and move on . And yes , I do believe their are teams the polls , usually in the 6-10th spots or in those " also receiving votes " that are just there because their coach wants to see them there . But the top 5 is usually spot on , or at least very close . They are for fun , the girls enjoy and it can be informative on looking for good teams to play . Seems like only 3 years ago the 10u Wild Thangs were movin' up the OFC poll . ( Led by Taran Alvelo and Michael Cunningham, U Wash and LSU respectively)

 

[Maxdad]

I've watched the polls for years for entertainment value. One thing that always struck me was that there are only usually a limited number of coaches voting. I remember seeing some weeks with like only eight or so votes. The most I have seen is about 15. As a percentage of all the teams in the state in a given age group that is a very low number of votes.

I've often wondered what a Non-Coaches poll would look like. Conduct a poll with anyone who would provide their name and what organization they are with (if any). Open it up for umpires, grandparents, parents that no longer have DD playing, etc. There are plenty of non-coaches in Ohio who may enjoy adding their $0.02 to a poll.

I realize this would be more of a popularity contest and not very scientific. Would probably take a huge amount of someone's time, but I think I would be highly entertained to see the results of how the parents and other non-coaches would rank a top ten. I would assume most of the Coach's Poll top ten would be included in many non-coach polls.

Could help build OFC membership if used as a marketing tool. Spread the word at tournaments etc. to create an account on OFC and vote for your top ten.

 

[steve77621]

First off let me say that i don't have a dog in this fight (my team is 14u) but i love softball and i go watch all ages play. I have seen your jackson team play on 3 occasions and your team is very good and it is 1 of the top 3 or 4 teams in the state and maybe the best but the reason you get no love is because you go win the po-dunk ville open every week. You say you can't help the schedule you set back in december because you didnt know who was going to be good back in december when you set ur schedule? All you would have had to do was look on ofc from last years polls or check results from any of the top tournaments last year. Anyone who knows anything softball could have told you the lasers at 10,12,14,16, or 18 yrs old would b one of the best teams at their age. (and no i am not affiliaited with lasers) What is your record vs lasers,stingrays,storm, or starz 04 teams? IF you havent played any of them? Then your not going to get voted ahead of them? JMHO

 

[coachjwb]

Maxdad ... go for it!

 

[Laser05]

Polls are for fun! I am first to admit that I like my Lasers 05 team getting recognition. Not a coaches Ego issue but rather I just love the girls getting respect from older teams and coaches because they really have worked very hard all winter. There are at least 15 strong teams in the state that I have watched and outside the top 3-4 most any of them can beat the others on any given day. Next week we could not be on the list of top 10 but that will not change how hard we play. It will not change how hard any of the 10U teams play. There is plenty of talent in 10U this season and it will change some every week. See you all at Stingrays! I know we got a very strong list of teams and it will be very tough.

Coach Ferguson

 

[Rose]

Steve, we won the Outlaws Breast Cancer Shoot-Out with Lasers there. Is that a po-dunk ville open? Michigan Pride, Thunder Elite, Ice, etc... were there. We have beaten Storm, Sundogs, etc... Lost by 2 to Stingrays at Spano. Posting this just because you wanted to know, and thanks for your nice words about my team. Again, I'm not concerned with anyone's advice on how to climb a Steiner poll. I just want my team to get better as softball players. And at 10u we decided we didn't need to travel all over to play softball. Good advice I got from a friend of mine Duck Krantz -- "You can get you a$$ kicked at home". It is easy to 2nd guess our schedule with how good our team has become. The team with arguably the best 10u pitcher in the state doesn't post anything about his team. They are ranked 9th and handily beat the 6th ranked team. This started because I posted that I thought it was funny Steiner giving advice on how to climb his poll. That advice was aimed at my team, not unlike your po-dunk quote.

 

[steve77621]

My po-dunk quote wasn't meant to be mean I was just trying to make a point, I hope your team is at stingrays or a tournament where you can meet up with the other top teams and show how good you are. I tell my girls all the time that to get respect you have to play the best week in and week out and compete. You r not going to win every game if you're playing top competition but ur results week in and week will show everyone how good you are. Best of luck to you.

 

[24GahannaLadyLions7]

The poll is fun and enjoy looking at it from week to week. It doesn't mean anything, but it's nice to see teams get the recognition they deserve. I really enjoy seeing the 05's creep up and down in the polls and I remember that from last year trying to gain the respect from the older teams. But as everyone knows it is 10U and the girls/teams play is so inconsistent. Anyone can beat anyone on any given day/game. I will say its tough when you play back to back to back in the top 10 of the polls and thats what has happened in your big tournaments like Metro, Lasers, and Stingrays. Same argument the SEC has in football when you have the high calibur teams that you are playing week in and week out. I have seen the Starz, Lasers, Stingrays, Storm, Lasers Blue duke it out all year in the same tournaments and it is tough, but we have played Lightning, Royals, Roadrunners, Energy, TE, SDogs, Wizards, Cincy and there have been great games also. I love the energy and passion the 10U travel ball provides. Girls at 10U are like a sponge learning the all facets of the game and I love that. There is a great team list for the Stingrays tournament and good luck to all attending.

 

[Maxdad]

Maxdad ... go for it!

I would have to put a little more thought into how to pull it off. For fun, how about a test? Anyone willing to contribute to a Non-Coaches Poll? Send your top 10 per age group to

maxdadOFC@gmail.com

No restrictions on age groups. Send a top 10 for 10U, 12U, 14U, 16U, 18U. Similar to the Coaches Poll, in order for your top 10 to be counted, list 10 teams in order 1-10, what age group, provide a name and organization you are with. Also include relationship (asst. coach, parent, big sister, grandparent, rec coach, etc.) No names or organizations will be disclosed as to who voted for who. Results will be anonymous.

Based on the number of responses I receive (if any) I will consider the ability to pull off the whole idea. Additional "rules" may have to be developed based on responses received.

What the heck, let's see what happens. Send me your Non-Coaches top 10 and I will let you know in a few days the number of responses I receive.

 

[wow]

I would have to put a little more thought into how to pull it off. For fun, how about a test? Anyone willing to contribute to a Non-Coaches Poll? Send your top 10 per age group to

maxdadOFC@gmail.com

No restrictions on age groups. Send a top 10 for 10U, 12U, 14U, 16U, 18U. Similar to the Coaches Poll, in order for your top 10 to be counted, list 10 teams in order 1-10, what age group, provide a name and organization you are with. Also include relationship (asst. coach, parent, big sister, grandparent, rec coach, etc.) No names or organizations will be disclosed as to who voted for who. Results will be anonymous.

Based on the number of responses I receive (if any) I will consider the ability to pull off the whole idea. Additional "rules" may have to be developed based on responses received.

What the heck, let's see what happens. Send me your Non-Coaches top 10 and I will let you know in a few days the number of responses I receive.

So a popularity contest of sorts? Not sure the results will be much different then what we already have.. No your just allowing everyone. Who is arguable less qualified..

Why not add some metric of objectivity ie points for differnt metrics. W/l, strength of schedule, runs for/ against, top team head to head, then tally the points from the metrics? Yea it could be a full time job...

Maybe we can all vote on whether to do a new poll?

 

[Bekah24]

I'm not naive enough to think that our team that consists of players within 20min of eachother, and a 05 pitcher will go above the top teams in the state who pulls players from all over. Our team just feels proud to be part of the top 10. Also in my opinion any givin day could give the top teams a great game. We like the polls not only does it give our girls something to be proud of, but it also gives our organization a name for future years to come. No need to take it so seriously take it for what it is, and just be happy to be noticed by the top teams. It obviously means your doing something right. If you think the girls don't think its awesome to be noticed, and its just about coaches egos that in my opinion is far from the truth.

 

[Socal16]

How about top 10 end of season tourney? Or top 12?