The Dude
Member
For me the HS softball system DOES play very important roles. State level records and the All Ohio awards. There are players who are on elite travel teams, but they are not among the leaders in any high school records and are not recipients of the All Ohio awards recognizing the best players in the state.
My point being is that if the competition is poor at the HS level why isn't every single player on the most elite travel teams either showing up among state statistical leaders or All Ohioans? Yes, most if not all, of the players getting those accolades are travel players, but there are several players on the top travel teams that do not.
There are about 200 All Ohioans chosen every year, which means about 50 per the 4 divisions. If an elite travel player can't make that list, I have to wonder how good are they? Yet I see several college D1 signees that never earn that distinction in 4 years of HS, nor are they among the leaders in any state level statistical categories.
If local governments can keep information about lead in drinking water out of the public eye, don't you think that statistics can be fudged, sometimes in an outrageous manner?