Is Ohio Travel Ball Watered Down

[coachjwb]

Cobb ... 5 players! 25 players someday?! Not even close ... last week on The Softball Zone Radio Show, we talked about 8 players from Ohio playing D1 ball very successfully this year (listed in 2 separate threads ... see the Jenna Lilley thread), and tonight we are planning to talk about 6-8 more ... Lee Pyles is working on the list. Go back and listen to that podcast about 30 minutes into it to hear what those first 8 are accomplishing ... and we haven't even talked about Jenna, Brittney D., etc. Some of course are making more of an impact than others. If I had to make a wild guess, I would guess there's probably at least 40-50 Ohio players on D1 rosters ...

 

[Converse Kid]

I originally started this thread due to being annoyed about users bad talking non elite teams and how its bad for Ohio. With the wealth of information provided in this thread, I feel this question should never have been asked because "Watered Down" is a good problem to have. How do the average players get better? By playing better competition. D-1 should not be the measuring stick of how we gauge success in this sport. How many girls in the state are playing D-2 and D-3, both of which I would be proud to see my DD playing for? So for those that consider watered down being bad for the girls and our state, I suggest you to learn to swim because this sport is going to keep on growing.

 

[Doom Leader]

The Doom alone had 8 players in D-1 from 2014

 

[coachjwb]

1 year ... 1 organization ... 8 players ... that's fantastic! That also makes me think that my 40-50 minimum may have been way too low!

 

[Doom Leader]

I would bet that 50 is a little low?

 

[JoeA1010]

Travel ball is not watered down. In fact, over the last dozen years the top players and teams have separated themselves from the pack more and more each year. It used to be you could find almost all good Ohio players solely in Ohio every weekend and scattered at 5-6 different tournaments in one weekend. These days, many good Ohio players might be in Ohio one time for Stingrays or Outlaws PGF.

Also, I think travel ball is just fine. There are tons of teams and tons of tournaments and everyone can find their comfort level. There is no government or other bureaucratic body trying to tell people where they can play and where they can't. It's a true free market with everyone making their own decisions. Would that the state quit coercing and forcing our choices in other areas of our lives.

 

[Coach Tony]

Ohio State has 12 or more ohio players. Akron, Cleveland State, and Kent State have ten or more Ohio kids each.

There's 40 right there. I would say the number is more than 80 Ohio players playing Division I ball.

 

[certainteeed]

I would guess that there are about 160 Ohio kids playing D1 ball at any given time- about 40 per class year.
D1 schools in Ohio probably make up 70% of that number: Akron, Bowling Green, Cleveland State, Dayton, Kent, Miami, Ohio State, Ohio University, Toledo, Wright State, Youngstown State

 

[cobb_of_fury]

Cobb ... 5 players! 25 players someday?! Not even close ... last week on The Softball Zone Radio Show, we talked about 8 players from Ohio playing D1 ball very successfully this year (listed in 2 separate threads ... see the Jenna Lilley thread), and tonight we are planning to talk about 6-8 more ... Lee Pyles is working on the list. Go back and listen to that podcast about 30 minutes into it to hear what those first 8 are accomplishing ... and we haven't even talked about Jenna, Brittney D., etc. Some of course are making more of an impact than others. If I had to make a wild guess, I would guess there's probably at least 40-50 Ohio players on D1 rosters ...

^^^ this and the posts that follow regarding D1 players is what I assumed - I was using harley's numbers to make my point
(Since I didn't have the actual numbers at hand) point was, if there were only 5 this year those were more than in the past and nowhere near as many as we will have in the future.

As long as we are able to get more girls interested in playing at higher and higher levels - the future looks
bright. If that constitutes watering down the pool - You gotta add more water to have a bigger pool.

 

[raidian70]

How about 20 years ago? I think back then just Ashland County had 5 by itself. Allerding - Kent, Gongwer - YSU, Chenevey - OSU, Bercaw-Army and I think I may have missed 1 or 2. Things aren't that much different talent wise than they were then. There are more teams now, but the separation from the top to bottom is the same, and maybe more teams do out of state tournaments instead of just heading to nationals. The recognition due to the rise in the internet allows us to follow and be better informed and I think that is what has changed, more than anything else, along with the hitters getting instructed now.

Now before everyone tears my head off, I am saying that there is not alot of differences, but there certainly are changes.

 

[harley78]

Ohio State has 12 or more ohio players. Akron, Cleveland State, and Kent State have ten or more Ohio kids each.

There's 40 right there. I would say the number is more than 80 Ohio players playing Division I ball.

Are you trying to say that these are Elite College Softball programs , I am talking about the teams from the Western side and Southern side of the country ,the reason you have all these girls from Ohio playing in OHIO is because they are not good enough for the Elite Teams except for a few , The respected teams that you mentioned from Ohio don't have a chance against Elite College programs ,Ohio is watered down .

 

[chixdad]

Kent State hung with Michigan this weekend, that's about as good as they get. if a school like Kent can do that a couple of other times who knows what could happen.

 

[Coach Tony]

Harley, I wasn't responding to you I was responding to Jeff. Your posts don't need responding to. They speak for themselves. I do have to say that in all likelihood these "less talented" Ohio Division I players have almost assuredly reached a higher level of talent and accomplished more as a player in their chosen sport than you have... That alone should garner at least some respect from you.

 

[coachjwb]

Harley ... not sure what you're trying to say ... to me, an athletic scholarship, quality education and the opportunity to play college softball are something, whether it's in a MAC school, Big 10 school, PAC 12 school or SEC school. Kind of like saying you're not a leader of business if you're only the CEO at a Fortune 500 company and not at Apple, GM or Amazon. There is just no denying the fact that softball in Ohio and the region has taken a huge step forward in the last 10-20 years as evidenced by the number of players from the region playing D1 ball ... and by the way, a few of these players are now playing for big time programs like Oregon, Tennessee, South Alabama, Kentucky, etc., and I don't believe that was the case 10-20 years ago either.

 

[Converse Kid]

Did Apogee Demon change his name to Harley78? LOL!

 

[FastBat]

... to me, an athletic scholarship, quality education and the opportunity to play college softball are something, whether it's in a MAC school, Big 10 school, PAC 12 school or SEC school.

Agree, can't top a quality eduction, that's really what it's all about! Softball is fun and a vehicle to help get an education. But softball will end and young women need a good education to help them become successful adults. Doesn't matter where they get the education, within reason, as long as they complete their schooling.

 

[initfor51]

I sure hope that none of these talented young ladies that have busted their butt to get a scholarship to play the game they love and have a future after graduating are reading what harley78 is posting. Everyone has a right to their opinion, but how dare you put a school down that a girl has worked hard to get into because they aren't western or southern?

Ohio softball isn't watterred down in my opinion-we just have too many pompous adults who are snobs towards our amazing Ohio athletic and intelligent young adults who choose to go to awesome colleges in Ohio.

Most of these scholar athletes choose the school for academics not how many trophies they will win.

 

[harley78]

Harley ... not sure what you're trying to say ... to me, an athletic scholarship, quality education and the opportunity to play college softball are something, whether it's in a MAC school, Big 10 school, PAC 12 school or SEC school. Kind of like saying you're not a leader of business if you're only the CEO at a Fortune 500 company and not at Apple, GM or Amazon. There is just no denying the fact that softball in Ohio and the region has taken a huge step forward in the last 10-20 years as evidenced by the number of players from the region playing D1 ball ... and by the way, a few of these players are now playing for big time programs like Oregon, Tennessee, South Alabama, Kentucky, etc., and I don't believe that was the case 10-20 years ago either.

I totally agree about the education and yes softball has taken a huge step forward, the post is about is softball in Ohio watered down and I was trying to mention that in my opinion i think it is , I also mentioned that there are a few in the big programs as you said but Ohio programs are not big time softball they are the watered down programs as in travel ball compared to the Elite teams in travel ball. I have a good comparison , I had attended a softball camp in Miami of Ohio and there was one player there from Texas and the difference in hitting and fielding skills were heads above anyone else there, I just think we have so many girls playing and so many teams that the state of Ohio is waterded down, And the part about the parents as someone mentioned in a post is the reason that Ohio is watered down because if my DD can't play were she wants than I make my own team.

 

[BulldawgsDirector]

Why do you care so much? Do you want to see half the teams eliminated and the rest combined? That's ridiculous. The more the merrier. This entire thread is kind of a joke. There is a place for everyone from REC through Elite, the cream always rises to the top. Any player good enough to get a D1 scholly is a baller. Get a grip.

 

[coachjwb]

While this thread got a little off topic, I think the main point to take away is that Ohio must be doing something right to have had the increase in girls both playing the sport and playing in and earning scholarships for college. No doubt a lot of this is due not only to more teams going out of Ohio to play, but also to more players getting private instruction. I also hear what some are saying about travel coaches being watered down ... my guess is there are more good coaches than there used to be, though the percentage of players getting good coaching could very well be down.