Grand Finale Fiasco

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The Grand Finale was not a fiasco; many people put a lot of effort in to trying to make the tournament a success; parents pitched in to help with the raking and dragging fields, cleaning up trash, concessions, etc.

No one can predict the weather.

The TD is taking way to much heat for this; if any of you felt the need to help then why did you not just step up?

Each year the tourney will get better and better but it takes everyone to make it a success.

The TD is a great guy and there is no way he will make all of you happy.

 

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We were at Berliner this past weekend. We were due to play at 11.30 Sunday but rain stopped that. We were told games were pushed back 2 hours and then told three hours. We finally got underway at 3pm. I walked most of park and with very few exceptions all fields were very good condition considering it had rained hard for an hour around 9am. There were no chalk lines but there were no mud holes on fields either. I feel bad for those who played in Pickerington and didn't get to play Sunday. Though the rain made for a long day I'm sure most people would have stayed to see their teams play and to help where needed if asked. We as parents and coaches put in long hours at practice and at tournies not to mention the amounts of money that we put into the economy on these road trips to have the carpet pulled from under our feet by some rain. There were many options available. Could have dropped lower seeds or played international tie breakers to see who moved on or went home. Seems like the public relations hand grenade blew up in the TD's face this time. Sorry to all.

 

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The Grand Finale was not a fiasco; many people put a lot of effort in to trying to make the tournament a success; parents pitched in to help with the raking and dragging fields, cleaning up trash, concessions, etc.

No one can predict the weather.

The TD is taking way to much heat for this; if any of you felt the need to help then why did you not just step up?

Each year the tourney will get better and better but it takes everyone to make it a success.

The TD is a great guy and there is no way he will make all of you happy.

Lion 13- The TD should take heat over this. It was not the weather that stopped this tourney it was the lack of a response to it. You ask why didn't we just help, well as teams started walking out I asked the site rep what was up and he said the tournament was cancelled. They did not ask for help nor did they ask any of our opinions on what to do. And to top it off they offer a $50 refund? Are you kidding me. We paid $390 for this and what did we get. This organization will make a profit on us. $340 off of us for 2 games. If you think that is fair you are nuts too. Once they made their money they could care less how they treated the teams. You say parents helped out but everyone that was there(central) only saw 3 or maybe 4 people helping out and 2 of those folks were in the concessions. When the rain stopped the fields needed a little work but the tournament was cancelled BEFORE anybody had a chance to help. I get the fact that you are sticking up for your friends but how about the dozens of teams that got ripped off. You and I know there was NO EFFORT made to get those fields playable. Undebateable, no question about it, NO EFFORT. As I said before, if you are going to collect $390 from teams you owe it to those teams to give it your best effort. Remember the heat the NSA took a couple years ago for how they ran the States in Cinncinatti after the rain hit....same thing here. At the Lady Bear in Cleveland a couple years ago they cancelled the tournament after rain and took a bunch of heat over it because they had empty fields to play on but did not use them and a bunch of people nearly got into a fist fight. This TD deserves ALL the heat he is getting. Last year we played less than the 4 game guarantee and recieved $200 back. We should get at least that much back, if not more. This is total BS

 

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Lion 13,
If you were one of the parents that helped the T/D with tournament, good for you. Help him kick the rest of the group that didn't help for all of the hassle he's taking. NOT OUR FAULT! We were never given the opportunity to pitch in and help!!! If we were, I'm sure my teams would have had a small army ready to get muddy and do whatever it took to get those fields ready! We had to do that in Zanesville a couple of times and it was no problem.
I'm sure other teams would have been ready too. I'll bet the Tropigals group would have been ready to help. I really felt bad for them and other teams like them that traveled so far to be there last weekend. That's a good group of players and parents.

I started this thread and I did it to air out my frustrations over the poor decisions that were made concerning the canceling of the tournament. Since then, I've seen just how many other teams were as dissapointed as we were. I doubt the T/D is still reading the new posts but if he is, just remember that this is really about our kids. They, like their parents gladly give up their summer weekends to compete in this game that they love. They miss out on other fun things that are going on, on the weekends because they understand the commitment they made to their teams and people are counting on them to be there and give 100%. They are the ones that I feel bad for, not the coaches or T/Ds or the hosting clubs. I didn't want this thread to become a bash fest toward the Extreme Fastpitch Club either. This is a quality organization, lots of talented girls and good parents. For years, we have competed against them on the field and had some very good games. I hope next years tournament brings you good weather, a great turnout and plenty of help.

 

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To be able to have perspective on this you needed to be there. Our team sat in our dugout at Central from 9:20 am (for our 9:30 game) for 45 minutes and watched the rain. The team we were supposed to play also sat in their dugout. The teams on the other 3 fields sat in their dugouts. We reviewed game strategy. We went over signs. We played trivia games. We watched the water pool up at first base and at home plate. Not one official tournament worker came to any of the teams to explain what was going on, what the game plan might have been at that point. After 10:00, I had to leave the dugout, walk over to the concession area, find someone who had something to do with the tournament and ask what was going on. I was told to come back at noon. It would have seemed easier for one person in charge to go to the 8 dugouts and explain this, rather than wait for coaches to come to them when they finally got tired of waiting. Very poorly handled. We went back to our hotel. At 11:20 am, after an hour of waiting around at the hotel, a parent from another team staying in the same hotel told me he heard the entire tournament was canceled. He asked "didn't you get a phone call?" Of course I did not. I called the TD and left a message. 20 minutes later, I still did not receive a return call. I called twice more, five minutes apart, and only got a busy signal both. 30 minutes total had passed, I called again, and finally got through. I realize there are 64 teams to contact, but I found out MORE THAN AN HOUR LATER THAN ANOTHER TEAM, and only because I called the TD, not the other way around. Otherwise my team would have made yet another trip to the field for no reason.

 

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This thread is still running but the GAPSS gets shut down...??? hmmm!

 

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I will also add, that my coaches and some of my parents would not have hesitated to help work on the fields had anyone asked us and given us the opportunity. A little manpower and time could have gotten those fields back in shape. It was just easier to cancel and go home and keep the cash. I realize the weather is out of the TD's control, but what was within his contol was getting the fields in shape and he failed miserably in doing so. This was not thought thru whatsoever. If you are going to label your tournament as a "Grand Finale" and host it on the last full weekend of July, then guess what? It IS a grand finale for most teams. What a horrible way for over 800 girls to end their seasons.

 

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This thread is still running but the GAPSS gets shut down...??? hmmm!

I was kinda wondering about that myself?