Ohio fp - the next level??????????

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I think some teams have a better marketing machine than others. But I think to a degree there are a few orgs in OH that do have a good process down.

The logistics of it in OH would be the part you would have to overcome. Even if you had the best situation, with 12 or 13 committed girls and parents, we cant control the weather. Especially if one of those girls is from around Cleveland and gets hit with the Lake Effect, gets snowed in.

How would practices work? Do girls of that caliber need to work together as a team in the off season? Can they do the work on their own and then start getting together during the spring?

Myself, I am a big team practice guy. Live as a team, die as a team.

 

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The main difference betwen softball and baseball is that their is a baseball life after college. A great amount of athletes can actually plan on making baseball their career. What does softball have after college? A very small professional league that doesn't pay very much.

If you want to get people interested in improving the current softball structure, then you have to give them something else besides a college experience with an extremely slim chance of making a career out of it.

Take professional softball to the next level and then everything else will follow suit.

I dont know if the next level is possible? We have all lived through the Fernandez, Finch, Osterman, Abbott, Whatley, Smith, Bustos, and many other's era. If softball hasn't taken itself to the next level with the popularity of these girls, I dont know what will? Girls will continue to play for a free education! The video gamers dont see a market to create a video game and if the time was ever more popular it would of been during this past Olympic tour. Softball is more popular today than it was yesterday, but as far as marketing to get it to become more popular and where the girls could truly make a living like baseball players; hope for it, but dont see it happening. If the ballers for the past 10 years couldn't make it happen, I dont know who could? I think the place to start is the video game, JMO!!!

 

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Doom 95 and Lasers Red 98 prove that you can recruit from a relatively small geographical area and be immensely talented. I know for a fact all those girls put softball first and work many hours a week at it. Its work done at home that really makes a difference. If the coach does not have to spend more than a few minutes on indivuial drills it makes all the difference in the world.

 

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fps,

I agree with that. That is the way SoCal and the other major metro areas do it. There is simply a larger pool to choose from. The rest of us that live in the boondocks have to pull from a larger area, making it much more difficult.

 

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I know that the lasers(red) and the heart(nitro) learned a great deal down in Tennessee and can guarantee that a lot of the discipline and structure that the Cali.teams showed will be implemented with these teams, and try to break the mold and try to take it to the next level.
Good luck to all the teams this coming season,looks like it will be exciting...

 

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Just curious, why don`t more Ohio teams that receive bids to National Championships actually attend them? Last season at the 14u State tournament in Defiance 4 teams received bids to attend the ASA National Championship Finals and only two from that group of 4 attended. The other two I believe went to the Eastern Nationals. If more teams want to expose their players to the highest levels wouldn`t it make sense to go to a National tournament if you receive a bid? Where else will you play teams from all over the country that are the best? If your not planning on attending the National tournament why enter the tournament to obtain a bid? If you don`t go you never know.

 

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The rule is supposed to be if you Qualify for the "A" Nationals you cannot even attend the Eastern Regionals. I agree, why go to qualifier if you have no intention of going to the big one. It just causes everyone to play extra games that week end and takes away from the real reason for the qualifier. As you get older everyone should want to go for the exposure, at least at 16U. I can remeber ASA "States" back around 2002 or 2003 where only 6 teams would show up, it was usually the best 6 teams. There also was no "pool play" so you were only guaranteed 2 games. I remember the 14U States being a 1 day event in Fairborn one year.

 

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If Ohio FP wants to get to the next level, then it has to start with teams building themselves to be competitive at the ASA/USA qualifying level at the 12U and 14U age groups. Right now, the interest level in ASA/USA at 12U and 14U is just not there (outside of a few orgs such as the Lasers/Doom). ASA/USA qualifying events in Ohio are not well attended at those younger age groups - Ohio is still at a zone national (i.e. Eastern Nationals) level there. Then all of sudden teams get to 16U and they figure it out - too late for most. Having been through "the loop" now from 10U to 18U, I can see where ASA/USA competitiveness makes a difference at the "money level" - D1 & D2. Colleges know who is capable of producing ASA/USA caliber athletes.

 

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Ah, man, ram . . .don't get everybody jacked up about attending 14U ASA/USA qualifying. We were hoping to sneak a bid this year. J/K (well, not about trying to qualify Buckeye Heat 95, but about chastising you for calling attention to the sometimes low attendance rate at these tournaments).

 

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I think some teams have a better marketing machine than others. But I think to a degree there are a few orgs in OH that do have a good process down.

The logistics of it in OH would be the part you would have to overcome. Even if you had the best situation, with 12 or 13 committed girls and parents, we cant control the weather. Especially if one of those girls is from around Cleveland and gets hit with the Lake Effect, gets snowed in.

How would practices work? Do girls of that caliber need to work together as a team in the off season? Can they do the work on their own and then start getting together during the spring?

Myself, I am a big team practice guy. Live as a team, die as a team.

Yeah, practice as TEAM is always most preferred, but as they get older...14u and up, the girls that are committed to ELITE development GET THE WORK DONE, but the key here is that today, performing the WORK doesn't always mean results if you're not plugged into a qualified resource, so the important piece here is that DD is working with qualified resource on own. Not just Dad in garage, as MOST of us mean well but only have small understanding when it comes to the finer details of mechanics and cause/effect assessments.

 

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Doom 95 and Lasers Red 98 prove that you can recruit from a relatively small geographical area and be immensely talented. I know for a fact all those girls put softball first and work many hours a week at it. Its work done at home that really makes a difference. If the coach does not have to spend more than a few minutes on indivuial drills it makes all the difference in the world.

With all respects to the teams you mention, the difference between recruiting talent and becoming ELITE, is that the talent is trained and develops ELITE SKILLS. I agree with you that finding TALENT, that can be trained with ELITE Skills is NOT Hard. However, Teams and Orgs commitments to provide ELITE Trainers of those skills is limited and often non-existent. Doom95 took 33rd at ASA Nationals last year and has two fantastic pitchers now.

However when it comes to hitting and defensive mechanics and hitting and fielding percentages that occured at ASA Nationals, they fall off to extremely low numbers. Extremely talented pitching can hide lots of missing skills and mechanics. You can't judge talent based on whether a team wins in OHIO, as OHIO is not the BAR an ELITE organization is shooting for. The Doom95 and Successful OHIO Teams just like them is exactly why I started this post. There is tremendous need/room for skills development, and yes THE TALENT IS HERE, but the SKILLS are NOT as this weekend would confirm at Kent State (many errors and not too many hits tells me... if you can't get it done in Ohio then you are NOT developing ELITE SKILLS..)

And please, this is not a dig at Doom95, but holds true for almost every team & org in OHIO. The fielding skills and hitting mechanics are SOOOO poor, that is why NOBODY outside of Ohio comes to OHIO to recruit.

Your example just happened to mention Doom95 and having played with them last year and having seen 12 errors at nationals and silent bats most games, there's NO QUESTION our best OHIO Teams are NOT ELITE SKILLED.

You will notice this also, once you attend nationals, unless your team is one of the exceptions in ohio that actually trains fielding and hitting mechanics ALL YEAR ROUND opposed to some rec league hitting and fielding drills.

 

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Is it possible that some org's are doing what Trip is talking about it's just that it takes some time for that "brand recognition" to be built ? Every coach in the US (via the power of the internet) should know by now that if a girl came thru the Laser org (only for example ) , played in multiple asa nat's , and had good stats she is just as ready as any west coast kid ? And hopefully before too many years pass by the doom, intensity, and a few more will have that rep .

I know that grouping together the best of those teams would produce something not seen very often , an off the charts team, but there are so many logistical problems to doing it. Not saying or hoping it can't be done but So cal 's girls don't live 3 hours apart. or 4 . That has to be a legit concern , esp at those early developmental years, 10 and 12u. I know the older ones can meet and play with success but it's harder to do with the young ones , esp if those 12 kids are from diff parts of the state. MD

Dan, the problem is if you think Lasers has an ELITE BRAND, then that is part of our problem in OHIO. Lasers has done tremendous work in getting DDs opportunities. This thread is about THE NEXT LEVEL...

How to those opportunities become appropriate for the skill/talent we have in the state.

1. The SKILL DEvelopment is limited (Need to have Travel Orgs commit to REAL ELITE Skill development from proven instructors
2. The Talent level is High.. SO HOW DO WE GET MORE OF OUR TALENT TRAINED WITH ELITE SKILLS PLAYING ON ELITE TEAMS....?

 

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Triple, well said.
The only thing I can offer is this. There are a few kids who, for some reason, not only have the talent, but have the skill as well. We have all seen the naturally talented kid who has the skills. Could be they are a visual learner. Dimaggio, Mantle etc, never had the advantages of todays sophisticated learning tools, and they did ok Where the problem lies is they are far and few between and in Daddy ball, sometimes pride gets in the way of good judgement. Being around several west coast kids who became All Big Ten or All American, I saw first hand how advanced these kids are as freshmen. Especially hitting. Overall pitching in this state has gotten better, but the best are no better than the best of the last 15 years. Chain, Leary, Maynard, Baker, to name a few, would still be dominant pitchers today.

 

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There is a certain mentality that cripples development of Ohio kids who might have potential. Let's call it the "Fast Food Factor". A travel ball parent wants their kid to "get better" at pitching, hitting, fielding, etc. So they look for someone to give their kid lessons. But they don't want to drive more than 20 minutes each way... You should see where this is going... If it's quick and easy...

There is an old business saying: Quality, Service, Price: Pick two.

 

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99.9 pct of parents want cheapest,easiest, closest
you get what yuo sacrifice for

 

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There is a certain mentality that cripples development of Ohio kids who might have potential. Let's call it the "Fast Food Factor". A travel ball parent wants their kid to "get better" at pitching, hitting, fielding, etc. So they look for someone to give their kid lessons. But they don't want to drive more than 20 minutes each way... You should see where this is going... If it's quick and easy...

There is an old business saying: Quality, Service, Price: Pick two.

HOMERUN!

Couldn't agree more.. But there is also a FISHING MENTALITY that is equally as opposite to that. YOU DON"T ALWAYS HAVE TO DRIVE A MILE FROM YOUR DOCK TO CATCH FISH. Problem is, WE NEED TO LEARN where the "close" fishing holes are and get there when they exist.

 

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is anyone thinking beyond softball? just wanted to throw that curveball out there...i hope i have been instilling everything my DD needs for when she plays the Ohio circuit (I'm down for not playing in Cali) and softball is over.
and if u dont have the money for said instructors, you best be one lucky dude! finances are a big issue, maybe second to time. Kids always have time to hit off as tee, throw, etc, it's all about priorities in the end, and with all this cali talk, is it our priorities to become the best by any means necessary (have you been to some of these games? parents are brutal, kids are snotty? ) that bring forth these arrogances?
be thankful your DD isn't a goth queen or some runaway, running into some homeless teens in Hollywood--i bet thats not the Cali we had in mind

 

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stat... great post

Also kids want to play I know of kid's that go off to big time schools only to sit.

The kid's want to go where they can make an impact not chase thier parents dream of saying my kid went D1

 

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I will disagree with both of ya, a lot of parents in the younger ages dont know where to go or where their kid should play, they dont figure it out until they are a last year 12 or 13 yr old. We played in an organization that talked about being the best, but yet played mainly weak to rec tournaments and avoided the best Ohio had to offer.
I didn't know about this website or how to get to the best teams until DD was in her last year of 12U when I became a member of the OFC, shame on me I guess you'd say! We thought kids were suppose to play on teams in thier local area, it only made sense to give your local area the popularity of producing good ball players.
Once I got on here, we left the local area and played against the best 14u had to offer as a 12yr old. Parents will drive thier kids to the end of the earth to make them better, quit selling parents short!
TT I'd like to know what you think it takes to be an ELITE ball player, or why an ELITE player cant be a stud in 2 sports? My dd now attends a Jr. High that has over 1200 students in 7th and 8th grade and no she doesn't play Club Volleyball, but that doesn't mean she cant play volleyball with the best in her age group. Softball is her Club sport of choice and she has a long way to go become a D1 scholarship athlete (if she ever becomes one), but that is her goal!
I dont know what your doing to get your dd to be known as an ELITE, but I'd like to find out? I'd even like to know her stats, so I can gauge where my kid is at? You seem to know what it takes to be an elite athlete, so dont be afraid to PM me to discuss further or come in the chat room as I'm in there almost every night talking with the Dads that have kids on SCHOLARSHIP to D1 or D2 schools, I'm always willing to learn more and do what ever I can do to assist my kid to be better. Come on in the chat room after 9:00 pm your time so I can pick your brain, as you post that you are on the right track and I can see how far off track we are?
Thanks,

Roger

 

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a testament to the power, or i should say, the networking and following of a website like the OFC. With all the team info and the amount of coaches, parents and players, one cant go wrong. I know lots of people who say, "i only look" and dont post for whatever reason. Not every post has to be a jab at someone or controversial, and posts like these are what it is all about.