recruiting -18u gold question

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Dog's Dad,

They have been playing womens/girls fastpitch from one end of the state to the other for 20+ years, from the very beginning they played fastpitch, there was never any slowpitch played in HS, the pool of coaches has been outstanding from the very beginning, the fact is they had a huge head start both in HS and Travel Ball, before we moved to Ohio my daughter played in a youth league which had the girls pitching at 8 and 9 years old, for the most part being taught by either men who played fastpitch or girls/women that had played or were still playing. I don't think you can underestimate this advantage and the head start they had, IMHO we are now in Ohio where they were 10 years ago. I think it is important to note that there are VERY strong teams from all areas of the state of Illinois, don't remember who said it but "In numbers there is strength".

I have been asked a number of times why our Storm teams played in Region #10, my response is as it has always been, the quantity and quality of the teams involved, when we have played in region 10 we have seen 10-15 teams each year that will attend and play in the ASA Nationals, the situation is improving each year, but realistically if we played in region 9 we would have seen 3-4 in most years, I realize it is a function of numbers of teams. Over the years we have had our heads handed to us a number of times, but we have also at times competed with those teams, and for sure our girls have been pushed by the level of competition, again this summer we will find ourselves battling for our lives against those teams, and as always will enjoy the challenge.

Thanks for the info about the Illinois girls, haven't been on Spy Softball in a while, for my part I am not suprised at Illinois girls being on the list, I just didn't think it would be to the exception of somany of the other states with great teams. I have always maintained the California advantage was NOT weather, it was the experience of coaching, the 20 year headstart, the quantity of great teams and players, a good California team will see 20-25 ASA Nationals teams in a season, with more than likely 15 in the top 25 at the National, you cannot sell that level of competition short, yeah it helps to be able to play 12 months out of the year, but the other factors are more important, and to prove the point are a common thread with the Illinois results.

 

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If I can add 2 cents

What the girls are being taught and how they are being taught. My dd has been around the game of softball since she was 4. From day one she has been taught to get in a fielding position before the pitcher starts her windup and then to creep ( move on the pitch). I rarely see any girl move. Most girls sit flat footed back on their heels and wait for the ball to come to them before they move. My dd is little above average speed but gets to many balls because she is moving on the pitch.

Hitting is another big difference. When watching the NCAA college softball championships. I watch many of the girls take good healthy cuts. Having worked at the Ohio state championship games for many years and hosting teams from out of state for the Wendy's classic, I see many girls that get no extension on their follow through. They keep their elbows close to them on their swing, rotate only their wrist through the strike zone and hit their back with their follow through. Most of these girls have not power in their swing. The only time they hit the all hard is if they roll their wrist on the exact time the ball makes contact with their bat. Why do coaches insist on teaching this style. I have picked many out of state coaches brain on how they teach hitting. Many of them teach their girls to hit like you would hit a baseball. squash the bug, hip rotation. hands to the ball, finish high. Do not see that being taught much in Ohio.

Teach the little things, the fundamentals. Teach the thinking part of the game. Homeruns are nice and the crowd goes crazy but defense wins championships. Knowing how to make a relay quicker, fielding a short hop, reading a hitters swing, knowing the base speed on the hitter. The little things will separate two equal girls.

With that being said. I think Ohio has talent when it comes to softball. Just maybe that talent can be taken to the next level to equal that of the "softball power states"

 

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The most notable exception to the "no one from Ohio plays in college in California" that I am aware of (admittedly I have little knowledge of the subject), is Leslie Poole who I saw many years ago pitch for Tennessee as a freshman, not sure when it took place but she transferred to Fresno State and had a couple of very good years in the circle for them.

I am the first to admit this, so anyone that wants to comment can do so, I have a good sense of humor, and have been getting ribbed the last few years about it, in 2005 our Cincy Storm 16u Team that played in Sioux Falls at the ASA Nationals, for pitching had Jennifer McKee, and Kirsten Allen, how we didn't win more games I can't tell but it had to be the coaching!! LOL!

FYI, Jennifer from Hamilton HS is at Evansville, and Kirsten last November signed with Oklahoma, the very cool thing about this is that they both ended up at D1 schools, and for a while, Jennifer was recruited VERY seriously by Cal-State Northridge, to my knowledge she is the only girl from SW Ohio that has ever been recruited by a D1 Calif school.

The one thing I will submit and anyone that wants to can debate this with me forever and I will stick to my beliefs, great players like these 2 girls get on the radar by attending the exposure tournaments (Colorado/Rising Stars/Etc), participating in the NFCA camps that are a part of some, and if possible playing at the 16u ASA Nationals when eligible. Ohio has tremendous talent and great teams, who really knows that but everyone in Ohio, how many great teams from Ohio in the past have simply played in the NSA World Series, at Compuware and only rarely left the state, from observation on this site and in the last few years, congratulations are in order to people like Joe A, and many others that I can't name but deserve the credit all the same, they have raised the bar and the expectations, and in the last few years when tryout notices are posted many more teams claim they will play an ASA schedule and travel to some of the exposure events, and YES make it a priority to earn an ASA/USA Nationals berth and attend, for all you 18's(Moline, IL), 16's(Owensboro,KY), 12's(Montgomery,AL), and 10's(Bloomington,IN), this IS the year, I can't remember the last time all but one of the Championships was East of the Mississippi River, 12u in Midland, TX and 18Gold in Oklahoma City, are the only events not easily reachable, every year many teams pack up and head to Florida to play, all but the last two mentioned are much closer than Florida, and lets face it when the competition for the Region 9 berths gets tough it will help everyone in Ohio.

Sorry again I got carried away, I am fired up with the steps Ohio teams are taking and can only see a bright future for our girls.

 

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Ohio is catching up, but there?s no quick fix, and Ohio probably can?t do it alone. 6 of 8 graduated or to-be seniors on dd?s team last summer are playing or have signed with out-of-state colleges, but only one went west. For one of the colleges, it is the first ever signing of an Ohio player. Until this year, the coach got most of his out-of-state recruits from Illinois, but this year 2 of his 4 recruits are from Ohio. Available coaching and instruction in Ohio is improving, so the talent level in Ohio is getting better, and with more talent, there?s more Ohio teams going out-of-state in search of better competition/ recruitment opportunities, where out-of-state college coaches are seeing and recruiting the Ohio players. The talent pool for Ohio (and most of the states east of Illinois and north of Fla), though, still has to get a lot deeper before we?ll see (1) even a few Ohio ASA Gold teams, (2) more big showcases here (or anywhere east of the Mississippi), or (3) a lot of Ohio teams venturing to the big showcases (either the few currently east of the Mississippi or the many west of the Mississippi).

 

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noassnrd,

Well said and much briefer than I ever could of or have! LOL!!

Guess I will just wait and see what you have to say before writing a book!!

 

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i dont know how many folks know of this web site but it has some great forums on gold teams, some of the forums are pretty close to whats been discussed here, enjoy

http://www.ultimatecollegesoftball.com/index.php

 

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C- Storm: I have always been in agreement that defense wins games as you posted earlier ("games are more often decided by which team makes fewer mistakes physically and mentally, than by offensive prowess .. but the reality is that when you play great teams they don't beat themselves with defensive mistakes, and if you present them with opportunities via errors or not getting an out when you needed to, they take advantage of it.)" .. my problem has been finding a team for DD with that philosophy. DD is very solid defensively but weak offensively. She has had to ride the pine watching girls in the field (who hit better) making errors that I felt cost us the game. I kept thinking if you wouldn't let them score with all the errors we wouldn't have to worry about all the players being power hitters. I also have felt that coaches should space out weaker hitters and if they can bunt well (DD can), then place them in the line-up after the power hitters to move them .. not at the end when no one is on base and a bunt is a wasted out. Anyway .. I am glad to hear that some feel defense is important. We will still work on hitting .. we work on the entire game .. but I have been swayed to feel that without hitting DD was not contributing .. now I feel that she does have a lot to contribute we just need to find a coach with a defensive mind set.

 

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this has been a really good winter conversation. Thanks to all who took the time MD

 

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In response to a couple of posts, that demonstrate how softball in the state of Illinois has evolved over the years at a faster pace then that of Ohio softball is well documented. IMHO though, I beleive that this beleif is based on past successes and not current (2007) teams. I had the extraordinary expereince to watch 6 days of softball at 14U ASA "A" Nats in Moline, Ill in 2007. I also had the honor of having 2 girls play on 2 separate teams in Moline, Ill and witnessed all 12 of their games, along with dozens of others involving the other 4 Ohio team's; Cali, Arizona and Texas team's. There were a total of 129 teams that showed up for this event.

First off I will compare and contrast the 6 Ohio teams and the 22 Illinois teams that qualified for this event. Second, I will discuss how some of these qualified and will be asking for advice from veterns. Third I will give some scores and opinions of some of the games that I witnessed involving both Ohio, Illinois and most interestingly Cali, Arizona and Texas teams.

Bracet Play results:
6 Ohio teams...
1) GCKA Nightmare 3-2 25th place
2) Valley Extream Blue 2-2 33rd place
3) Cincy Doom 92 2-2 49th place
4) MVX Red 2-2 49th place
5) Lasers Orange 2-2 65th place
6) Lasers Green 1-2 65th place

Top 6 Illinois teams
1) Oak Park Windmills 4-2 13th place...Note I seen this team and it was absolutely loaded and among the best!!!
2) New Lennox Lightening 2-2 49th place
3) Milan Aces 2-2 49th place
4) QC Firebirds 1-2 65th place
5) Alton Flames 1-2 65th place
6) BNGSA Angels 1-2 65th place

The other 16 Illinois team's had a combined record of 1-32!!!

Here's how the 22 Illinois team's qualified and this is where I need some help from you veterns to explain things...

Regional Ill...1 spot
Regional Chicago...1 spot
Host teams...2 spots
State Metro Ill...3 spots
State Metro Chicago....3 spots
National Qualifier....1 spot...Note that a California team won this berth
Ret 14N...1 spot
Ret 12H...1 spot
Fill In's...10 spots

Someone please explain ?

Now for some Illustrative examples of individual games...

One night I watched the GCKA Nightmare defeat the So Cal Wicked 4-3, I beleive with their 13U pitcher while on the diamond right next door I witnessed the Valley Extream Blue defeat the Corona Angels 2-0 with their 13U pitcher...Extraordinary!!!

Another example was a tough 5-4 loss by the Lasers Orange to the San Jose Sharks...honestly we outplayed them but we had 3 walks and 2 errors on bunted balls that gave them 3 runs in the last inning!

Another example was a 1-0 loss by the Valley Extreme Blue to the New Orleans Voo Doo who finished 17th out of 129 teams.

The Cincy Doom was eliminated 2-1 by the Arizona Hotshots Saunderhaus who also finished 5-2 and tied for 17th!

The GCKA Nightmare lost 2-0 to the American Atheletics Naudin who won the 2007 14U ASA "A" championship!!! I heard from a reliable source that the Atheletics only had 1 hit that game!

The MVX Red was eliminated 4-3 by the California American Pastime who finished 4-2 and tied for 25th!

The Lasers Green lost 2-1 to the Texas Katy Express (Cat Ostermans travel team)!!!

The Cincy Doom defeated another Cali team...the San Jose Sting 6-1!

The Lasers Orange was knocked into the losers bracket by the Georgia Impact Black 3-1. The Impact finished 8-2 and tied for 7th out of 129 teams!!!

The Lasers Green posted a nice 2-0 win vs to the Arizona Suncats!!!

These are just some of the examples that I remember off hand that showed that we in fact, at least in this age group, have moved past Illinois and making small steps towards the western teams!!!

Anyway, if any OFC'ers witnessed the 2007 14U ASA "A" and would like to add, or may have a different view point...feel free to comment. In conclusion the only difference that I saw was that 6-12 of the top teams were 12 or more girls deep...where the Ohio teams may have been 7-10 girls deep...JMHO. ?

 

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Thanks Bink , thats a great report. To hear our Ohio 14's did really well as well the 12's turning a bunch of heads it looks bright. Thanks to all those who work hard and spend the $$ to compete ! MD Sorry did'nt mean to slight the 10's --lasers did pretty well in Alabama

 

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Bink,

Good info, just to make sure we are all talking about the same thing you are referring to the 14u ASA's in 2007 (last summer) that were held in Normal, IL, not Moline, right?

In any case, please believe we have moved past Illinois at the 14u group, if that were the case, then in Midland, TX the Ohio teams will maintain that position and in Ownesboro those 14u teams from last year that have moved up will also maintain that dominance over the Illinois teams.

All good info that you provide, but, for the most part comparison's like your are never really indicative of anything but what happened in 7 days in 2007, perhaps Ohio has surpassed Illinois in this class, hoping it is true is great, resting on the results of one event is foolish.

Keeping in mind that stats and figures can many times support one point no matter what it is, one could point to the girls born in '88 this represents 4 of the 6 Illinois girls on the watch list referenced in this discussion,

the '88 girls from Ohio and Illinois compared as follows at the ASA Nationals :
1998 1st 10's = IL 3 teams (25/25/49) OH 2 teams (25/33)
1999 2nd 10's= IL 1 team (33) OH No Teams
2000 1st 12's = IL 4 teams(33/33/49/49) OH 2 teams (65/65)
2001 2nd 12's = IL 1 team(25) OH 2 teams(17/49) on a somewhat smaller scale the results you speak of from 2007 14u!
2002 1st 14's = IL 2 teams(49/65) OH 2 teams (33/65) another clear indication of the kind you speak of!
2003 2nd 14's = IL 16 teams(top6 6 teams 17/17/25/33/49/49) OH 1 team(65)
2004 1st 16's = IL 11 teams(top 6 teams 9/25/33/33/33/49) OH 5 teams (25/49/65/65/97)
2005 2nd 16's = IL 9 teams(top 6 teams 7/17/33/49/49/49) OH 5 teams (13/33/49/97/97)
2006 1st 18's A= IL 11 teams (top 6 teams 9/9/17/33/33/33) OH 6 teams (3/33/33/65/97/97)
2006 1st 18's Gold= IL 1 team (17) OH 1 team(49)
2007 2nd 18's A= IL 7 teams (33/33/33/49/65/65/97) OH 7 teams (9/33/49/49/65/97/97)
2007 2nd 18's Gold = IL 2 teams (7/17) OH 1 team (49)

In the last 6 years of Gold:
IL 10 teams (1/17/13/17/17/17/17/25/49/49) OH 7 teams (17/33/33/49/49/49)

Perhaps we have closed the gap with the '92 and '93 classes, I find it difficult to offer a correlation between the results in '07 in Normal (it was Normal right?), and the talent level in one state or another, perhaps the 6 girls from Illinois and None from Ohio has more to do with exposure to areas other than Illinois by their teams, both in terms of the MAJOR Exposure Events that draw coaches from around the country and the volume of teams attending the ASA Nationals (for those of you keeping track it was 67 to 34 in the '88 class), perhaps it is just an anomaly, we have closed the gap for sure, but we have a long way to go, and as the '88 class shows, unqualified success one year doesn't always mean the same results the next year.

Bink your information is encouraging, and it certainly says that the 6 Ohio teams in Moline, ooops, there see, it's an honest mistake even if you have played and umpired there literally dozens of times, I mean Normal, comapred favorably with the 6 best finishing Illinois teams, unfortunately your ridiculing Illinois for having so many teams there is part of the problem, if teams in Illinois get a chance to go to ASA's they go, whether they think they will win any games or not, the experience makes them better and proves to parents and players how good they can be with dedication and commitment, I don't really think there are many Ohio teams that will go to the ASA's for the experience, unless they think they can win a few games, cause I see that as being the determining factor more often than not, I guess that is part of the difference, in any case I don't think I have proven anything one way or the other, but hopefully I have shown like the ridicoulous, who's the best in Ohio threads that pop up on this site occasionally, that you cannot quantify such things until the end and then its simply what you want to believe anyway.

It is fun and interesting to debate the merits of all the ideas that we all have, and nice that we can do so.

 

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Cincystorm, as always solid info on your part and I always enjoy your informative posts! You are correct, it was Normal and not Moline...lol...that must have been where our hotel was...lol. I wasn't ridiculing Illinois teams, at least that wasn't my intent, but ridiculing the system in general for providing such an abundence of berths for one state. I mean a 1-32 won-lost record for those 16 team's, IMHO makes me question whether some of the team's were worthy?

It just seems to me that the 6 Ohio teams had to jump through a lot of hoops just to qualify and there were a couple of other 14U Ohio teams that were just as good as those 6 but didn't have a chance to qualify because of a lack of opportunities. For example, the Ohio Ice Clark team finished 4th or 5th at NSA "A" in North Carolina and were eliminated by the Orlando No Fear who finished 2nd or 3rd at NSA "A". The Orlando No Fear went on to finish 5th at ASA "A" in NORMAL...lol. So by this showing and reasoning, they could of placed as high as any of the other Ohio team's.

I was serious though when I ask for veterns, such as yourself, to explain how/what some of Illinoise qualifying berths that I listed meant, and how does Ohio get some of these additional berths?

Thanks in advance,
Bink ?

 

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Bink,

Illinois consists of The State of Illinois association and the Chicago Metro association, between the 2 associations and adding in the berths awarded by registrations the 2 area have the following berths available to them:
Region #10 Berths: 2 regional qualifiers, 1 national qualifier
State of Illinois : 3 berths from registrations
Chicago Metro : 2 berths from registrations
In addition if any of the Illinois teams finished top 2 in eihter the 2006 12u ASA/USA or Northern Nationals and also the 14u ASA/USA or Northern Nationals they by virtue of that 2006 finish and by fulfilling the "returning" roster spot conditions would have earned a berth.

And to really solve the mystery, if you were to peruse the ASA Code Article 510;Section E; Items 01 and 02, it will clear up the mystery, Illinois was the Host Association and because so many berths are unfilled by some associations (please note that every time an Ohio Berth goes unfilled you can assume that it is used by a fill-in), the host association can fill any unused berths up to the tournament capacity at their discretion from by succesion, their association(IL), their region(10), neighboring regions, ANY region or association. The requirement is that they offer these berths to teams that have participated in national or regional qualification play with in the region, in local association championship play. The only other proviso is that they must offer these berths to teams by their order of finish in the commensurate event.

So you see if they had 129 teams there in Normal, according to code Illinois could have "at their discretion" filled another 9 berths either from State of Illinois, Metro Chicago or anywhere from Region#10 including Metro Cincinnati, or from any of the regions contiguous to region #10 (Incluidng Region #9), clearly the fact that region 10 has hosted ASA/USA Nationals every year is an advantage for the teams registered in Region#10, in fact in 2008 region 10 will host the 10u Bloomington, IN, the 16u Owensboro, KY, and the 18u Moline, IL,

Now the hard fact's are as follows regarding Ohio Berths for 2008, if I am mistaken in any of this help would be appreciated:
Region #9 (which does NOT include teams registered thru Metro Cincinnati which is part of Region#10)
National Qualifiers - 1 berth
Regional National Qualifiers - 2 berths
Ohio Assocaition - 2 berths (from # of teams registered)
Cleveland Metro - 1 berth (from # of teams registered)
Dayton Metro - 1 berth (from # of teams registered)

Total of all berths available WITHIN region #9 = 7 berths
Total of all berths available EXCLUSIVELY to teams from Region #9 = 6 berths

In addition, any Ohio team that finished in the top 2 at the Eastern Nationals or at the ASA/USA Nationals in 2007 has earned a berth in the ASA/USA Nationals in the appropriate age division so long as they comply with the "returning" roster spots qualification.

ALSO.....if an Ohio team were to attend the Hall of Fame Qualifier in Oklahoma City for their age division and finish in the top 8 of this 16 team event they would have earned a berth.

In addition ANY Ohio team can compete for a berth in any ASA National Qualifier held, as a suggestion take a look at the Region #8 Great Lakes, Region #10 Midwest, Region #7 Central Atlantic, Region #2 Mid Atlantic, Region #4 Southern, and Region #12 Mid America.

Dependent on what part of Ohio you are in there may be a National Qualifier within a days drive, within the regions mentioned above are, PA, Buffalo, Michigan, TN, St.Louis, IN, Chicago and Illinois. the fact is we know there will be an ASA NQ in each one of those regions, and I am convinced that there are teams in Region 9 that can compete fo those berths, also remember if a team DOES NOT accept a berth it is passed down, hold TD's and your JO Commish responsible for passing the berths down and be aware of what teams are accepting berths and planning on attending.

As for teams not being worthy of attending an ASA/USA National, let me say this in 2000 as the QC Ultimates we attended the 12u in Bloomington, IN, quite literally we competed in only one game having our heads handed to us on three other occasions, one of those teams happened to be staying in the same hotel (St.Louis Espirit), their parents and players had a great deal of fun that week at the free breakfast spouting off about how "some teams are here that really don't belong here", four years later back in Bloomington, we watched as a team from New Mexico that we had beat, eliminated from the tournament that same St.Louis Espirit Team, there were 8 girls in attendance from that 2000 team in 2004, for 4 years they worked and worked with that day in mind, and when it was all over NO ONE was ever going to be able to tell me that anyone that has the Cajones to take their team however humble to the "big show" and learn what it takes to play at the level those teams play at that level, they don't belong or aren't worthy, I am sorry but I cannot or never will accept from ANYONE the statement that someone dosn't belong or isn't worthy, who are we to pass judgment on any other teams, I have always gone to great pains to remind our girls over the years, "remember whence thou came"

I am not offering a rebuke, simply what I believe is an informed and experienced point of view, take it for what you believe it is worth.

 

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C/Storm,
Great post...
Ron Poole

 

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What should be interesting to see is whether all of those good teams we had at 14-U last year will be playing Gold in 2009 and beyond. All of those teams Bink listed that they beat or barely lost to will be playing Gold. That will be the final step to the top girls on those teams getting offers from the MAC or from the Big Ten. That's perhaps too much of a specific statement, but I think it's generally correct.

The top Ohio teams playing 18-U now and over the last few years made good steps into ASA A Nationals at 16 and 18, and with trips to Boulder and Aurora, but only the Xpress has played Gold. I think the rest of us just didn't quite have the culture in place yet to shoot for Gold. Maybe the Valley Extreme Blue, Nightmare and those others will get their girls and parents in a mind-set of Gold for the next few years.

 

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Cincystorm,
An excellent and informitive post on the in's and out's of the ASA selection process!!! Also the fact that Illinois/region 10 hosts a national ASA "A" event annually also explains why ASA is more liberal with the number of berth's, and honestly I didn't take that into consideration. Anyway, thanks again for passing along information on the process.
Bink

 

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It appears that for the 2009 season there are a number (5-6) of Ohio teams advertising or considering that they will play Gold in 2009, just thought I would revive this thread while adding some research that I was given to it also, it is interesting to see who has played gold and what the results have been.

Ohio Teams at 18u Gold Nationals:

1996 - 36 Teams - Stockton, CA
No Ohio Teams

1997 - 57 Teams - Pasadena, CA
No Ohio Teams

1998 - 55 Teams - Phoenix, AZ
Grand Slam, Uniontown, (1-2) 33rd
Mad Dogs, Alliance (1-2) 33rd

1999 - 64 Teams - Chattanoga, TN
The Dogs, Rootstown (1-2) 33rd
Mad Dogs, Alliance (1-2) 33rd

2000 - 69 Teams - St. Louis, MO
Lady Lasers Green, Pickerington (1-2) 33rd
Roadrunners, Norwich (0-2) 49th

2001 - 70 Teams - Marietta, GA
Mad Dogs, Alliance (2-2) 25th

2002 - 66 Teams - Broken Arrow, OK
Mad Dogs, Alliance (3-2) 17th **best by an Ohio team in Gold

2003 - 64 Teams - Salem, OR
Mad Dogs, Alliance (1-2) 33rd

2004 - 65 Teams - Marietta, GA
Mad Dogs, Alliance (0-2) 49th
MVX, Dayton (0-2) 49th (65th team added by ASA to settle threat.)

2005 - 64 Teams - Salinas, CA
Mad Dogs, Alliance (1-2) 33rd

2006 - 64 Teams - OK City, OK
MVX, Dayton (0-2) 49th

2007 - 57 Teams - OK City, OK
MVX, Dayton (0-2) 49th

2008 - 66 Teams - OK City, OK
MVX, Dayton (1-2) 33rd

To my knowledge for the last several years there has been no competition for the Region #9 berth, the sole qualification to represent Ohio at the Gold Nationals, has been a willingness to travel to the Gold Nationals, I believe there has not been a representative from Ohio at Golds that has played in more than 1 qualifying event in any year for at least 8 years, and no team from Ohio that has been awarded a berth as a result of a qualifying tournament.

Please understand me, I think it is great to have a team at Gold's from Ohio, I would just like to think we have teams in Ohio that would and could play a competitive Gold schedule to prepare for their appearance in OK City.

In any case I am looking forward to seeing a dogfight for the Region 9 Gold berth next summer, unfortunately in that scenario, several good teams will be unable to play in any ASA National event unless code is changed.

Hope this helps everyone understand where Ohio stands in the GOLD world.

 

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It is true that teams shooting for Gold won't be able to play in an ASA Nationals if they don't qualify. And I saw a ton of those teams in the last month. While it is disappointing for them, they have traveled to Colorado, Las Vegas, California, etc., so missing out on a trip is of no consequence. The only disappointment is that they won't be able to play in the Gold Nationals. A different Nationals would be no consolation or even a consideration.

 

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Cuncy Storm you hit the nail on the head, thats what its going to take is a dog fight, its growing pains, let the Ohio teams that want to strive to play with the elite teams from all over the country go there, and better yet work their tails off to get there i wish there were 10 18u gold teams so that we would have to have a tournament in ohio to get the berth how cool would that be , were moving in the right direction,,, it just takes time

 

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lol sorry i mispelled your name,,, ment Cincy Storm, no disrespect intended