How do you qualify for nationals?

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I'm a newb when it comes to nationals since my dd played on a community team and only did four tourneys a year. Can someone explain how you qualify and tell me how hard it is to do. Thx :-?

 

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The typical way to qualify is to attend a tournament that is a qualifier. There are several qualifiers in the fall and winter, but many teams attend qualifier tournaments in the summer. In many instances, one national berth is awarded for every four teams that play in the tournament. Most qualifying tournaments have the word Qualifier in the name of the tournament. Examples would be Fourth Annual Fall Harvest ASA Qualifier, Sparta Summer Shootout 08 ASA Eastern Qualifier, Sting October Smash - Eastern Nationals Qualifier, Wildcat Softball Tournament - NSA Fall Qualifier, Phoenix Fall Finale Pony Invitational, Little Lady Quakers Fall World Series Qualifier.

If you have a team that is still developing, you might find it easier to qualify for the USSSA or PONY tournaments. The ASA is usually the toughest to qualify for.

There are other national tournaments that often will invite you if you contact them. You might try FAST nationals. There are others, but I can't think of them right now.

Hope this helps.

 

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Do you have to win the tournament or just place high enough to get a bid?

 

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I think if you host a tournament, you can also qualify.

 

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Except for ASA and maybe a few others.... all you have to do is pay the entry fee. Contact the area or State Commissioner for the sanctioning body in your area and see what he can do for you.

 

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Re: How do you qualify for nationals? - CAVEAT

Careful though, unless you have a top, top team, ?entry? into ?nationals? can be very frustrating and expensive.

NSA is probably not alone, but if you pay enough and put up with enough crap, they will allow you the ?privilege? of then paying something like $600 to play in what they call ?nationals? but should really be called ?Regionals?.

First you have to play in enough qualifiers to get a berth. # of teams that get a berth varies, and appears to be decided by how much more money NSA thinks they can squeeze out of each individual team before saying OK, you ?qualified?.

Then NSA makes you ?validate? the berth which simply means you have to play in the designated state tournament which typically translates into:
? really crappy schedule (e.g., only a 3 game guarantee, but stretched out over time so you have to take vacation on Friday, and spend $ on a hotel so NSA can squeeze out more $ by terribly overbooking the number of teams; and,
? lousy fields. ?the tournament ratings on OFC seem to show that NSA ?B? in 2007 did manage to find the worst fields that exist in Ohio. ?I guess they reason that if you drink enough beer at the lousy Softball World, you get numb to what a lousy deal you get (or fail to get). ?Oh, yeah, NSA Ohio really promotes great values for the kids ? they charge more for bottled water per ounce than they do for beer!?!

Before pursuing an NSA ?Nationals? (or Regionals), think about the alternative of saving a lot of $ by staying local and getting into a tournament that guarantees a more reasonable minimum # of games.

 

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HARP you pretty much nailed it. As sad as it may be.

 

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I should distinguish that there are some very good tournaments that are sanctioned by NSA. ?Naming a few in NE Ohio, organizations such as North Coast Spirit (Uncle Stan?s, Nailbiter), Valley Extreme, and Chain Reaction (Fathers Day) run some very nice tournaments. ?And the ratings by OFC members reflect that those folks appreciate what makes for good value.

At the same time, the fiasco called NSA B State tournament deservedly got a horrible rating when rated by 18 OFC members. ?The NSA state B debacle got the LOWEST POSSIBLE rating (1 of 5 stars) for Facilities ? Team; Facilities ? Other; Team Value, and Fan Value.

Remember, that you can see the tournament ratings by OFC members by going to:
http://www.game-ex.com/tournamentrating/Tournament.aspx and clicking on a specific tournament.

 

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Sorry to see that quite a few others have also had the unfortunate experience of seeing how utterly horrible the Softball World facility is. If there was a "blacklist" of tournament sites, this place would be up there at the top. There is no valid excuse for a sanctioning body of girls softball to even consider using this place year after year. Like Harp says, N$A must be all about profits at the expense of your DD.

Sorry to get a little off topic, but when I saw that "Softball World" was STILL being used for girl's fastpitch, I couldn't believe it! Do these people care that little about the girl's experience? Are folks gluttons for punishment? They seem to keep going back!!

 

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It's all about the money. Which is sad for the girls. In Wilmington, in the Fall, there will always be three tournaments that are non profit tournaments. I have the tournaments so the teams I sponcer can have the profits from the concession stand and T-shirt sales. Other than that, the money received for entry fees from teams... goes directly to tournament expenses (umpires, balls trophies) and prizes. All three are non-profit tournaments. See Forum section then USSSA tournaments and then click on our tournaments. I have no idea where a team could get a better value than here. Nowhere.

 

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Chico,

You don't always have to win a tournament. There is usually one berth for every four teams. If there are twelve teams, the top three will get a berth. Sometimes the top teams either have a berth or don't want it. Then they usually hand the berths to the next teams.

 

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Tournament directors when they buy berths, usually try to buy, as said above, 1 berth per four teams, as sanctioned bodies (USSSA NSA ASA) have a set price for their berth packages. Usually cost about one teams entry fees per package. Just some insight from here.

 

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NSA, earned at NSA Qualifiers. Berths can be passed down if a team has already earned a berth. ?Then, you have to attend the NSA State tournament.

ASA, berths to the USA/ASA National tournament are a lot more scarce than NSA berths. ?USA/ASA National berths can be earned at National Qualifiers, Regional Championships (Aka ASA State for most of Ohio), ?Hall of Fame Tournaments, National Tournaments, and Metro Championships. ?There is usually 1, sometimes 2 berths for the National Qualifier, Regional, and Metro Championships.

Pony, ?berths are earned at Pony Qualifiers. ?Pony berths are also awarded to teams that host Pont Tournaments.

USSSA, earn berths at USSSA qualifiers. ?USSSA has berths for each individual age group.(10U, 11U, 12U, 13U, 14U, 15U, etc.)

 

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Chico,

To give you the easy and simple answer, since that is the only way I know how to say anything. ?Each sanctioning body in softball has their own rules and how they award berths to National Championship Tournaments. ?So there is no exact answer for each governing body, such as NSA, ASA, USSSA, Pony and ect. ?So the answers you are getting are correct for some organizations but the answers may not apply to every organization or governing body. ?

For ASA simply go to the website:

http://www.asasoftball.com/tournaments/tournaments.asp

and it will explain in detail about the rules, the berths, the fees, and even the place where the National Tournment will be held next year for each age group. ? Since I am not familiar with other governing bodies, I do not know their rules or how the berths are established, but I am sure many on OFC does and if these other organizations have a website, maybe someone could list them for you. ?

So to avoid confusion on your part, keep in mind the answers you are getting even though are correct, they pertain to mostly how one governing body handles the issue. ?ASA has all the information on their website, so you can check it for yourself how the ASA governing body handles the issue of qualifying.

I hope this helps and clears up some of the confusion for you. ?

Ed