Things I learned at 16u States

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In no particular order of importance...

My 14u DD will run a scoreboard for 12.5 hours on a Saturday with no complaints

The change-up is alive and well

16u kids make the same boneheaded mistakes on the field as 14u kids

The Marathon Diamonds concession stand is in very dire need of a walking taco

Running the scoreboard on field #2 as the sun rises is not a good idea

Is Joe A. as tall as Warren J. is round?

Working a scoreboard and reading OFC at the same time is not a good idea

The limit for my 12 year old son running a scoreboard is 3 games but really digs older girls! lol

 

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What were the outcomes?

 

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I would like to commend the crew that put this tournament on, schedule was handled well considering the late changes, the fields were very nice,and the umpiring was good, I had a 12u playing in Fostoria also and cannot say the same for them.

 

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In no particular order of importance...

My 14u DD will run a scoreboard for 12.5 hours on a Saturday with no complaints

We had the pleasure of sitting next to your daughter while she ran the scoreboard (we were filming our team's game at the time). Very nice girl and paid close attention to the game the whole time.

 

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I'm not very tall, so Warren wouldn't have to be all that round!

I learned...

A baseball outfield makes a very nice warmup area for several teams at once.

Some pitchers will need to make serious adjustments or else risk being called for non-stop illegal pitches in college. This is assuming college umpires in Ohio are following the NCAA's directive about calling the illegal pitch.

Van Buren has no problem getting its little ones to help behind the concession stand counter. And hot chocolate is only 50 cents? That might be the best bargain I've encountered in years and was appreciated on Friday. The shredded chicken was good, too.

Everyone looks about three years older than I remember them, which means I must also look the same.

Some teams still wear shorts? Or are we already to the point that pants are now becoming passe?

You still don't necessarily know what Lasers team you are looking at based on the color and the uniform. Black wears blue, silver wears red, etc.

If a siren goes off at 2:30 a.m. in a small town, it's not necessarily a tornado warning. I stayed with a friend in Bloomdale and leapt out of bed when I heard the siren. I looked out the window for nasty weather and figured I'd soon see the lights come on around the neighborhood. I checked my phone and saw no threating weather and wondered what the heck was going on. Maybe the Russians were coming. No lights came on in houses and nothing seemed to happen. The dog in the house didn't even budge. After about 15 minutes I went back to sleep. Apparently the siren is for volunteer responders. I thought I was in some nightmare and was picturing the entire town of Bloomdale being leveled, with me part of the wreckage. If this town ever does get a tornado warning in the middle of the night, I'm afraid it might be doomed.

Southern Ohio is finally a force in the travel ball world. Next thing we know, Southeast Ohio will jump on board if they're not already there.

IMO, teams don't run nearly enough, especially on what was a very windy weekend, making accurate throws for catchers very difficult.

You CAN have a 2-hour time frame for games and usually get in 7 innings. It was nice to see games played to the length that softball games are intended to be played to determine the better team.

Between the Marathon fields and the Van Buren complex, the Findlay area makes a nice venue for a big tournament. Both complexes are good and the Marathon fields offer a great setup for spectators. Thank you, Big Oil!

 

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but eight teams on that one baseball field and not being allowed on the dirt makes it very cramped.

 

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Pitchers are not considered fielders...

 

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"Some pitchers will need to make serious adjustments or else risk being called for non-stop illegal pitches in college. This is assuming college umpires in Ohio are following the NCAA's directive about calling the illegal pitch. "

My only critique of the tournament would be the focus on making sure all head bands and hair ribbons matched on every girl along with making sure all jewelry is removed and not taped even if it is a small plastic stud to keep a new piercing open but yet the umpires refused to call those illegal pitches. Other than that it is a nice tournament and it is run very well.

 

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Amazing when team hair bows, pants and batting helmets came in question...How the rules changed.....

Let EVERYONE know on the front end the rules and expectations....

BTW..... the umpires did not always know the rule of the day......

 

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Yes, the most bizzar thing learned had to be ASA's focus on the rule of matching head bands!! are you kidding me??? I learned of this rule as I watched the end of a Friday night game at Marathon where one team did not even have the same uniform on.. but they sure were on top of those headbands...

and yes that is right.. I thought they had a labaro(sp) on the field..actually two of them.. The CF and the pitcher both had on white short sleeve tops and the rest of the team had on blue long sleeve tops, but I bet they had on matching headbands.. ridiculus!

 

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Yep...Zorn is a stickler for that hairband/ribbon thing in qualifiers.


Just wait till he is behind the plate and stops the game a dozen times to tell girls to tuck their jerseys in. ;&

 

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but a team can have 9 different colored batting helmuts? but hair bows had to match....

the field maintenance was good with the exception that fields were not raked or relined at many of the other fields except marathon.

 

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I thought it was almost funny about the head bands. Yet one team didn't have matching socks or under armors. PLus everyone has different colors shoes. Where do they draw the line.

 

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Yes, the most bizzar thing learned had to be ASA's focus on the rule of matching head bands!! are you kidding me??? I learned of this rule as I watched the end of a Friday night game at Marathon where one team did not even have the same uniform on.. but they sure were on top of those headbands...

and yes that is right.. I thought they had a labaro(sp) on the field..actually two of them.. The CF and the pitcher both had on white short sleeve tops and the rest of the team had on blue long sleeve tops, but I bet they had on matching headbands.. ridiculus!

but a team can have 9 different colored batting helmuts? but hair bows had to match....

I thought it was almost funny about the head bands. Yet one team didn't have matching socks or under armors. PLus everyone has different colors shoes. Where do they draw the line.

It's stupid but the headband thing is in the rule book.

 

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Have no problem with headband rule, as long as all the umpire's enforce the rule. You know 15-16 year old girls, soon as the umpire doesn't make the other team match they are up in arms. Fashion first, game second. I thought the umpiring was pretty good, the strike zones did vary but they were consistent and that's all you can ask for.

 

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Yes, the most bizzar thing learned had to be ASA's focus on the rule of matching head bands!! are you kidding me??? I learned of this rule as I watched the end of a Friday night game at Marathon where one team did not even have the same uniform on.. but they sure were on top of those headbands...

and yes that is right.. I thought they had a labaro(sp) on the field..actually two of them.. The CF and the pitcher both had on white short sleeve tops and the rest of the team had on blue long sleeve tops, but I bet they had on matching headbands.. ridiculus!

I remember a track relay team a few years back disqualified for not having matching bras. Is that next in softball with the racer back jerseys?

 

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It would be nice.. if someday.. we just get back to softball. Plain ole hard nosed softball. And stop all the stupid c r a p that goes with regulating.

 

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I know it seems strange that a rule exists for headbands and bandanas but there was an issue years ago with girls wearing stuff that had a gangland flavor to it, prompting quick action on the part of rules committees from all sanctions. Quite frankly, this rule was added to the books about as fast as any change I have ever seen in our sport. From the time I was aware of it till a rule in the books was 1 season. Maybe other areas of the country were having serious issues but I remember teams came back to Ohio from 16u & 18u national tourneys were wearing "dew rags" and such. State Directors were beside themselves trying to get a handle on this issue. I remember at a USSSA State tourney the pitcher had a bandana on and the umpire held up the game because she either had to take it off or the entire team had to have one on. Unfortunately, the girls all had them and put them on, but wore them around their necks instead of on their heads. It only took about 2 innings before the umpire found enough reason to eject enough players to force them to forfeit.

Then-----Jennie Finch shows up wearing the sparkling head bands and another can of worms is opened. lol. Where was the rule book during the Olympics?

I believe what we are seeing in our sport is a time of transition. We are getting enough teams participating in our game that recreation level teams are advancing to become more involved. More opportunity is available for lower tier teams to play local tournaments for the love of the game and to have fun just participating. Tournament directors are able to fill empty slots and collect the fee. These teams just want the tourney environment and opportunity without the financial commitment. It mirrors the adult league slo-pitch stuff at a class D & E level without the beer drinking trophy.

I believe this is a good sign in the sport and great news for girls everywhere. Fastpitch is evolving to higher level. The problem will be segregating the true travel teams from the others. There are not enough promoters out there to chance hosting lower tier tournaments for these all star or recreation teams, forcing them to attempt to participate in travel tournaments that may be held locally on occasion. It'll be up to tournament directors to draw the line in the sand or wave certain rules so these teams can play.

Personally, I want to see them play.

While I fully understand the reasoning to carry a hard line for the entire rule book, I also understand that more girls would take advantage of an opportunity to play if uniform rules were waved. There are parent coaches out there that just can't pull off playing 1 or 2 tourneys a summer because if the spent their money on uniforms they wouldn't have the entry fees. They can't afford to travel, and the temptation to participate in a tourney being advertised to be played in their home park has drool dripping from their mouth. Here is a great opportunity for a promoter to schedule a few tourneys in August, no qualifier, wave the uniform rule, and make some money. Leagues normally are finished and some "weekend warrior put together teams" could test themselves against a wide variety of talent while playing with friends they may have made in softball.

 

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You can't schedule a tournament in August without getting any girl regulated by OHSAA into trouble and now would be ineligible to play HS sports.

The issue just came up with Rick Moorehead and the Rec World Series.

OHSAA looks at the events in August. If it is a NATIONAL tournament .... the August Rec World Series tournament is REQUIRED to be attended by teams that have qualified.. to by pass this.. Rick had to make a rec tournament an 2012 Eastern Regional Qualifier.

ANY tournament director who has an event in August... is just asking for trouble when it comes to OHSAA.

I agree, DaBoss... in the younger age groups I think it is VERY important to have "A" and "B" divisions for the coaches, teams, and parents.

What we watch every year in Ohio is the rec team that comes out at 10u and try travel ball.... and take their whippings. Now the next year comes and they are 11u playing 12u and again take their whippings. Now, the parents have went through two years of money and all they got was "whippings" and a bad taste in their mouth.

Ohio TD's don't run "A" and "B" events.. where in many states they do. I would have to say it is because of extra trophies, etc.. that have to be purchased and the fact that " nobody else is doing it".

This is why I am big on 11u age division to give those kids and opportunity to play teams of the same age group in their younger years.

But, in Ohio.. 11u hasn't caught on like in other states.

Does that surprise me? Surely not.

I like an "A" and "B" division in 10u and 12u .... I hear it all the time from coaches that they like to play teams equal to them.

I look at it this way.

"Got to play the best to be the best"... well you got an "A" division.. have at it.

" I'm tired of going to tournaments each weekend and getting my butt handed to me".. well you got a "B" division... have at it.

 

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.... and to add something.... I just wonder when the 10u and 12u division are going to get tired of being treated like " second class citizens " at tournaments.

Everyone in this industry knows that 10u and 12u teams ... usually DON'T get the better umpires of the tournament and their experiences are EVEN WORSE !!!! No fault of the TD as he has to take what he got delivered to him !!!!

I love seeing college umpires doing 10u game. Gives them a reality check I think.