Rapidly changing landscape for the 95 DOB'ers

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I hope all of these girls are focusing on their education so they can take it to the next level......... real life and a career?

 

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Sounds like someone could start up a heck of a team with the '95 doomers and '95 championship girls. Too bad to lose top teams like these.

 

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when are the bandits tryouts anyway?

They dont have tryouts. Teams are formed well in advance of August (6 months or so).

 

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They dont have tryouts. Teams are formed well in advance of August (6 months or so).

it was just an attempt at humor.

 

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i didn't catch it at first but pretty dang funny wolfman....lol MD

 

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Ohio simply hasn't had enough of its very top players whose families have been willing to travel the country, as woolfman mentioned above. Or rather, nobody from Ohio has been able to pull it all together and those top players leave for the Bandits or someone else.

Seems like that is changing, with quite a few now deciding that you need to play on a bigger stage. When we decided to leave for a bigger venue, there was only one, maybe two girls willing to make the commitment at that time. All the discussion on this board at that time was about how could Ohio get a Gold team started. Maria from the Lasers Orange tried to organize a gold team, but did not get the support she needed to sustain a team. And it takes a lot of support to maintain something of that level.

Now it seems more and more recognize the benefits of playing at a nationally competitive level. We might of rethought doing it if there was a viable Ohio option then. And its not all about getting seen on the national circuit. Its about facing the same type of competition that you will see in college ball. Some of the bandit girls are going to smaller schools, and some to powerhouse schools. You just wont see 65+ mph pitching on the Ohio circuit. And if you do happen to run across one of those pitchers, you will be unprepared. You need to see that type of pitching every weekend, or you will not be ready when you get to college.

 

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Our decision to head "west" was for the level of competition we would (and did!) play. I believe it has helped my dd both in her current game as well as a prep for her future college play. (BTW..she had the "red eyes" for many seasons...until they stopped making them!)

 

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is it possible that if your dd isn't going to a top 50-75 type national program that playing for a Bandits or NJ Intensity is actually playing ABOVE the level the player will see in college ? Will players heading to a MAC level school or lower (where 80- 90% end up) see 65+ every weekend ? I'm not certain , just asking to see what the opinions are.

 

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Just a clarification - my kiddo is headed to the Lasers to play with Glen. Tough decision for us but one that I think will benefit her and at the 16u level, you have to do what is best for your own kid, even if that puts me in the chair watching (which alot of people may have wanted anyway!). Mike took a week to make the tough decision whether to keep the team together. He is now weighing his options as to the best home for Mason. I know that this tryout circuit is tough but everyone has options. If anyone wants to know about any of the CF kids, I would be happy to chat. The best group of kids I have ever coached with a super-supportive parent group!

Coach Murph

 

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Seems like that is changing, with quite a few now deciding that you need to play on a bigger stage. When we decided to leave for a bigger venue, there was only one, maybe two girls willing to make the commitment at that time. All the discussion on this board at that time was about how could Ohio get a Gold team started. Maria from the Lasers Orange tried to organize a gold team, but did not get the support she needed to sustain a team. And it takes a lot of support to maintain something of that level.

Now it seems more and more recognize the benefits of playing at a nationally competitive level. We might of rethought doing it if there was a viable Ohio option then. And its not all about getting seen on the national circuit. Its about facing the same type of competition that you will see in college ball. Some of the bandit girls are going to smaller schools, and some to powerhouse schools. You just wont see 65+ mph pitching on the Ohio circuit. And if you do happen to run across one of those pitchers, you will be unprepared. You need to see that type of pitching every weekend, or you will not be ready when you get to college.

Some of the pitching that you see in the so called elite travel circle will be above the level of what alot of kids will see in college. This last summer we played the St Louis Esprit. Their pitcher was 63 to 65 easily and not just one pitch, consistently, pitch after pitch. While coaching 3rd I was talking to the kids thru the dug out fence and asked. What do you think? Pretty tough competition? 2 kids that will be going D3 replied......... we will never see anything like this in college. But loved the challenge none the less.

The majority will never see a 65 mph pitch below the D1 Level ( not to get hung up on speed I know movement is important).

Everyone wants to play the best and become the best. Is it really necessary for the majority of kids that are college bound. No. But they are competitors and want the challenge and for that I congratulate every player and parent that takes on the task.


Tim

 

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I want to hear what pickledad has to say about the sapphires if they are folding or not.

 

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even if that puts me in the chair watching (which alot of people may have wanted anyway!). Coach Murph

Welcome Murph(s)!

You will be happy to know that as former coaches we retain our 'God given right' to question every decision Glen makes...

Words of advice:

1) Invest in a comfy chair
2) Don't ever sit with your spouse
3) You will learn to LOVE no pregame warm ups
4) Games are more nerve racking from outside the fence

 

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@Dan:

I'm not angry with you, at all, and you don't need to apologize. I was sincerely asking you if you had any ideas about what we could do to create a better pipeline to coaches.

@Coop:

Bill Conroy used to own the pro Chicago Bandits team and he is now "an Owner/Director of the Premier Girls Fastpitch and Surf City Tourneys" in charge of " sales and marketing, which includes TV contracts, Media and Sponsor agreements". I'm guessing that he either gets compensated for that work and the work he does for the Beverly Bandits or his partnership in HTS Consulting ("High Tech Solutions, Inc." out of Chicago) gives him adequate wealth to spend the time and money that he clearly does on fastpitch. I think that's great, but there aren't a lot of fastpitch coaches in Ohio that have that kind of money and time. We do the best we can and given our limited resources it doesn't surprise me that players who have the resources and talent go out of state to get the kind of support that Bill Conroy can offer.

@SoCal Dad:
Good point, but I'm also sure that those Laser coaches are maintaining their college coach connections to make recommendations on older players even while they cycle down to the younger ages. My point is that it probably took these coaches a long time to get the credibility and the pipelines to Division 1 programs that they have. They are to be congratulated on that, but I think it is overly optimistic to assume that coaches with time-consuming day jobs and with teams that only charge $700 - $750 in fees can develop similar pipelines overnight.

cgs - my darling son worked for Conroy in Chicago when he owned the Bandits and the league. His favorite saying by Bill was "the way to make a million dollars owning a pro fastpitch team is starting with 5 million". He will help the Premier Org.

I had a chance to talk to Dan Hay the week before the Nationals. He knows what they have to do going forward. With the 2 year exemptions over it will be interesting to see how the qualifiers go. My guess is that you will see a ton of Cali teams traveling to play in the qualifiers like they used to for ASA.

 

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@MarkT:

I'm not conversant in the changes for Premier qualification though I did read on the PGF web site that there will be fewer direct invites and more teams attending through qualifiers. And if that trend continues, you are probably absolutely right that Cali teams will travel the country trying to get berths.

I hope we get a PGF qualifier in Ohio or a contiguous state, as it is always fun to compare our talents to the teams from Cali and other states. Plus BH95 has those open weeks created by the Ohio rule that USA/ASA berth holders cannot participate in Ohio ASA tournaments awarding further ASA berths.

 

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is Premier going to keep their nationals in Ca. ?

 

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the asa gold used to be there quite often.

 

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@MarkT:

I'm not conversant in the changes for Premier qualification though I did read on the PGF web site that there will be fewer direct invites and more teams attending through qualifiers. And if that trend continues, you are probably absolutely right that Cali teams will travel the country trying to get berths.

I hope we get a PGF qualifier in Ohio or a contiguous state, as it is always fun to compare our talents to the teams from Cali and other states. Plus BH95 has those open weeks created by the Ohio rule that USA/ASA berth holders cannot participate in Ohio ASA tournaments awarding further ASA berths.

I heard while we were at Premier (but have not verified) that the PGF championships for 2012 would be held in NY/NJ area in an attempt to attract more east of the Mississippi team involvement. That their Calif location was only a two year deal.

There were many things that were really nice about Premier, location (Huntington Beach) happened to be one of them. There was no parking or gate fees (but the team fee was quite a bit more), cheaper than normal hotel rates (we stayed a couple days after the end of the tournament and our room rates actually went up). Obviously the level of competition was outstanding.

The only downside that I can think of, having been to 2 ASA/USAs, was the lack of 'national' team coverage. I always felt that seeing and playing teams from all across the country made the nationals experience what it was. However, as I understand it, Premier is just that, about getting the best 60 teams at each age group to play in a best of the best tournament and I think the philosophy is it has nothing to do with locale and everything to do with skills.

 

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I sent a message to PGF asking them when they were going to announce details about the 2012 championships like location, dates and the expansion to 12u. I'll post any response I get.

Location: PGF said 1-2 years ago that they would hold the 2012 championships outside SoCal. Their site requirements are largely logistical in nature - close to major airport(s), decent weather (avoid rain problems) and enough rooms nearby so rates are competitive. NY/NJ would meet at least 2 of the criteria and would also erase the notion PGF is just a western affair.

National coverage: PGF is definitely more interested in getting the best 64 teams to compete than having representatives from as many states as possible. Their championships are intended to be like ASA 18 Gold rather than the much larger USA/ASA A Nats.

PGF has good national coverage at the 18HS level because the founders have connections with all the top Gold organizations. They did better at 16u this year after struggling to fill it last year. This was the first year for 14u and they didn't fill it, although I expect they'll do better next year.

 

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Been searching for a 2nd year 16u college exposure type team for a good friend of mine and can't believe the large changes in the scenery . No more Doom 95. No more Championship Fastpitch, not many openings (if any ) with the other top clubs. where are all these kids landing ? going to 18u clubs ? getting mixed in with 96 DOB teams ? Maybe we will find out after tryouts .... This player was looking for team in Southern/Central ohio . MD

Dan, you nailed it. 2nd year 16s if talented and unsigned are looking to play 18 Gold / Premier, so the great teams either commit to Gold/Premier or their kids go find it.

 

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I hope we get a PGF qualifier in Ohio or a contiguous state, as it is always fun to compare our talents to the teams from Cali and other states. Plus BH95 has those open weeks created by the Ohio rule that USA/ASA berth holders cannot participate in Ohio ASA tournaments awarding further ASA berths.

Has anyone followed up on getting the Ohio ASA State Association regs? While you're at it, you should also get a copy of the regs for your region.

The Ohio ASA rule, if it actually exists in the regs, only pertains to their State and 'Cleveland Metro' (Strongsville) tournaments. You can play in the Dayton Metro if their association doesn't have the same rule as the Ohio ASA Association.

You can play in your Region Championship if your region's regs don't bar previously qualified teams.

You can definitely play in National Qualifiers in your region and other regions too.

You can also play in the HOF tournament in OKC, so you should at least consider qualifying for it.