coachjwb
Well-Known Member
So I am guessing many people would say that California is the top state in the country for fastpitch softball. Lots of the top travel organizations, good college programs, the weather in at least the southern part of the state to play all year long, more than their share of the top tourneys in the country, etc. So where would Ohio rank?
So yeah, we have crappy weather this time of year ... but it seems like we've had a huge growth in indoor facilities, and there's seemingly a lot of indoor leagues. We also don't have many highly ranked college programs in any division ... but that's arguably also at least partially due to the weather, and there are seemingly an increasing number of Ohio players at good D1 programs across the country. In travel ball, the Lasers, Outlaws, Doom, Bandits (with a lot of Ohio players) and others have had some great finishes and even wins at some of the top national PGF, ASA and elite showcase tourneys. We have arguably one of the top most popular Forums (thanks, Ricky!), and we even had a radio show. We have some excellent regional tourneys that teams come to from multiple states like Stingrays, Fire in the Sky, etc. We have one of only a half dozen pro teams. We have an outstanding organization like Stay in Softball that's even getting some national press. High school softball is very popular and we many schools with JV and freshman programs. We have hundreds and hundreds of travel programs.
So how far down would we rank after California? After the west coast and SEC states, is Ohio perhaps the top? Of course it's all very subjective, but I thought it would be good to debate. My opinion is probably pretty clear ... I think we're extremely fortunate, and we have a lot of organizations and coaches who deserve a lot of the credit for making Ohio one of the top fastpitch states in the country!
So yeah, we have crappy weather this time of year ... but it seems like we've had a huge growth in indoor facilities, and there's seemingly a lot of indoor leagues. We also don't have many highly ranked college programs in any division ... but that's arguably also at least partially due to the weather, and there are seemingly an increasing number of Ohio players at good D1 programs across the country. In travel ball, the Lasers, Outlaws, Doom, Bandits (with a lot of Ohio players) and others have had some great finishes and even wins at some of the top national PGF, ASA and elite showcase tourneys. We have arguably one of the top most popular Forums (thanks, Ricky!), and we even had a radio show. We have some excellent regional tourneys that teams come to from multiple states like Stingrays, Fire in the Sky, etc. We have one of only a half dozen pro teams. We have an outstanding organization like Stay in Softball that's even getting some national press. High school softball is very popular and we many schools with JV and freshman programs. We have hundreds and hundreds of travel programs.
So how far down would we rank after California? After the west coast and SEC states, is Ohio perhaps the top? Of course it's all very subjective, but I thought it would be good to debate. My opinion is probably pretty clear ... I think we're extremely fortunate, and we have a lot of organizations and coaches who deserve a lot of the credit for making Ohio one of the top fastpitch states in the country!