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as usual we were discussing softball at dinner last week and my son , Cameron, who wouldn't know a rise from a drop said " who was that girl that had the crazy colored contact lenses" LOL
@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.
At least 7-8 girls off the Championship Fastpitch looking for a new team now.
No, I don't think I missed your point and I think we are pretty much on the same page. We agree that it takes a long time (and I would guess you would agree a considerable expenditure of tangible and intangible resources) to develop those college coach connections. And I totally understand your point that once they are developed it makes sense for the travel ball coach to continue at the age levels where communications with college coaches can have an important impact on college prospects.
... But your approach of having a coordinated "Board of Spokespersons" at the higher level may well be the best approach. And I doubt that the Laser coaches would contest your point that California/Premier and Chicago/Premier folks can get through to more college coaches more easily than anyone in Ohio.
Unless and until an Ohio organization has these kind of contacts, I can't fault really talented players who have the resources for going to these out of state programs. We do agree on that point, right?
Are some of the girls from Championship Fastpitch going to Chicago to play ?
They play somewhere else because those out of state organizations have a much better entree to exposure tournaments and college coaches. That increases the odds of a good scholly (which is not to say that Ohio travel ball doesn't produce scholarship players; it's just a matter of increasing the possibility). There are some travel ball coaches in Ohio who can open the same doors as the out of state organizations in question (and you don't usually see their players leaving Ohio), but they are frankly few and far between. Assuming that a family has the time and the money to play for an out of state really, really elite organization, I can't fault the family for taking advantage of the opportunity.
And yes, the loss of these players to out of state organizations dilutes the talent for Ohio travel ball teams. But I don't think you can ask a family who has the resources to go out of state with a great exposure/college placement organization to stick around just for the betterment of Ohio fastpitch.
The good news is that Ohio is developing players who at the ages of 14u and 16u have the talent to get these opportunities.
I don't think so.
Get people like JP, Jeff and Glen to stay at the older age groups instead of cycling back down to the younger age groups. Ohio needs to develop anchors at the top of their organizations like Bill Conroy, Gary Haning, Doug Myers, Bruce Richardson, Tony Rico and Marty Tyson to keep the top players in-state.
Well tell all those Championship Fastpitch players that want to come to a tryout Thursday in Clayton, Ohio they are more than welcome to attend.
If she is a strong pitcher, she would be welcomed with open arms.
Honestly, we are pretty close to being a very good team. The addition of the right couple girls and we think we could compete with just about anyone.
This year alone, with only one 16 U player, we were able to beat a couple big time programs, including the HOH Explosion, which was ranked number 3 in the OFC's 16U poll. We're at least worth a look....just sayin' :yahoo:
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