Trophy Hunting

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I guess you could say Yeater, Patton and I are from up north. Here is our web page.
http://buckeyeheatfastpitch.org/ Plus one of our newer coaches is from my home town.
We went and watched Joe's teams play in a local tourney and when Jim Clark asked us to join, it was a no brainer for us. There are many great coaches out there that spend more time than parents would ever think. They do it only for the kids and that is what is great about this sport.

 

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Warren:

Are you saying I'm a bit predictable?

Well da lol

 

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why they aren't in certain tournaments, and listening to coaches make excuses. The girls don't pick the tournaments, the coaches do.

Or tournament directors of invitationals that have an over abundance of teams wanting to get in an elite tournament.

 

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North - South, doesn't really matter, once you are tagged as a Trophy Hunter, you will NOT be considered for some of the better invitational tournaments. This can start at 10u but a organization can carry the "Trophy Hunter" name all the way though. And it only hurts the girls that are out there busting their butts every weekend and wondering why they aren't in certain tournaments, and listening to coaches make excuses. The girls don't pick the tournaments, the coaches do.

Have to agree Gopher........often times, girls are through the system and graduated before stigmas like that are forgotten. Almost better to get off that ship before your daughter suffers.

 

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As a coach, I base my schedule on what I feel I have after tryouts. Then after fall practices I think about where we can COMPETE. There are several levels of ''good teams" out there. The categorey "Elite" should be designated for just that. If you are "Elite" you have college prospects all over the field and down the lineup and you should be scheduling or atleast applying for Stingrays, Lazers, ASA States, NSA states, INDY, ASA/USA, Best of the Best etc..., Now that being said, if im not Elite, your not going to see me putting my team through that grinder, nor claiming to be Elite. Nor will you see me showing up at rec/all star tournies in Po dung, OH. The question I ask is where are teams on the same level going on any given weekend? Some tournies may be loaded more than others, ASA ENQ's particularly have a wide variety of talent pools. You may face a team "playing down" and you may face a team "playing up" the next game, but overrall those tournies generally provide competition at our level. My strategy is whatever is best to get the most out of our talent, and I dont worry what anybody else thinks. I wouldn't want to win all of our tournaments, and I wouldn't want to get smeared every weekend because either way, your not getting better.

 

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They do it only for the kids and that is what is great about this sport.

Great quote!

Unfortunately, Allot of people on the OFC have lost site of that.

 

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My idea of trophy hunting is telling your girls to stay down and play down to win a lot of local tournaments. I think its ridiculous if you are a high end team with girls that just finished out their 9th grade year to be playing 14's. What is the purpose of this? There is none, why as a junior are you still playing 16's and winning all the local tournaments, and that's to feed the coaches ego for the most part. Ok, lol I got that off my chest, once a kid is a true varsity level player they should be playing 18's no questions asked. They should go back to the old days of 18U, and 15U, and do away with 14 and 16 U.

 

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My idea of trophy hunting is telling your girls to stay down and play down to win a lot of local tournaments. I think its ridiculous if you are a high end team with girls that just finished out their 9th grade year to be playing 14's. What is the purpose of this? There is none, why as a junior are you still playing 16's and winning all the local tournaments, and that's to feed the coaches ego for the most part. Ok, lol I got that off my chest, once a kid is a true varsity level player they should be playing 18's no questions asked. They should go back to the old days of 18U, and 15U, and do away with 14 and 16 U.

Very true. I also think that if you truly have a shot at playing varsity HS ball as a freshman, then the summer before your freshman year you should be playing 16u and not 14u. JMO

 

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If teams want to go to ASA/USA Nationals, that is a good reason to play at their age. If they are not doing ASA qualifiers, then I agree that Varsity level players should not play 14U.

 

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I have to respectfully disagree with the argument that players should jump to 18U. That was perhaps true years ago when our DD was playing, but the recruiting focus has really shifted to the 16U level in recent years.

If you are going to play the top, deep field ASA tournaments and college showcases, I don't see an advantage to jumping to 18U and skipping the 16U years. There will of course be individual anecdotes that argue for the jump, but I think I am correct on the general situation.

 

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Agree with ohlove on this ... it depends a lot on what level of team and what kind of schedule that team is playing. If you're playing on one that is playing at most of the premier tournaments against the best teams in the region, there is a lot of reason to play your age especially at 16-U. Generally speaking, I don't think the level of play is that much different at 16-U and 18-U, and college coaches may not even be watching 18-U assuming that most of the players are already committed to schools. Now if you're just playing on a local team that's pretty much playing in all local tournaments, then you should challenge yourself with a higher age group.

 

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I have to respectfully disagree with the argument that players should jump to 18U. That was perhaps true years ago when our DD was playing, but the recruiting focus has really shifted to the 16U level in recent years.

If you are going to play the top, deep field ASA tournaments and college showcases, I don't see an advantage to jumping to 18U and skipping the 16U years. There will of course be individual anecdotes that argue for the jump, but I think I am correct on the general situation.

I agree with CGS. Why limit your exposure by playing 18u, most D1 and large D2 aren't recruiting this age.

Other than that, play whatever tournaments you want. Parents and players are well informed, if they find that they are on the wrong path (i.e. lack of exposure or trophy hunting) they will eventually leave.

 

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Very true. I also think that if you truly have a shot at playing varsity HS ball as a freshman, then the summer before your freshman year you should be playing 16u and not 14u. JMO

What if she's playing varsity because of an overall lack of talent at her high school and not because she is some super stud? Still think she should be up at 16?

 

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In my opinion, pitchers who are looking to play at the next level should make the jump to 43 ft i.e. 16u as soon as they are "capable" as it will give them more time to really work on their movement pitches. If you have an 8th grader throwing mid fifties with breaking pitches, i'd mover her to 16u instead of playing a second year of 14u....jmho

 

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What if she's playing varsity because of an overall lack of talent at her high school and not because she is some super stud? Still think she should be up at 16?

Yup, play 16u. You don't need to be a super stud to play varsity as a freshman.

 

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In my opinion, pitchers who are looking to play at the next level should make the jump to 43 ft i.e. 16u as soon as they are "capable" as it will give them more time to really work on their movement pitches. If you have an 8th grader throwing mid fifties with breaking pitches, i'd mover her to 16u instead of playing a second year of 14u....jmho

I agree with that....... A player will only rise to the level of the best teams and players they see and go against.

 

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Very true. I also think that if you truly have a shot at playing varsity HS ball as a freshman, then the summer before your freshman year you should be playing 16u and not 14u. JMO

I don't agree with this opinion, but that's ok. I believe if your playing against top 14u teams in ASA events and Showcases your facing the right competition. Nothing wrong with playing up at 16u when you can, but I don't feel you have to play a 16u only schedule at 14.
Now, if your playing 16u because your select team isn't playing in the top events, then I understand the logic of playing up at 16u.

The top 14u teams hold there own when playing 16 and 18u teams and I think that if they are playing a high level of Select ball they might have a shot at Varsity HS Ball roster too.

 

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I agree with CGS. Why limit your exposure by playing 18u, most D1 and large D2 aren't recruiting this age.

Other than that, play whatever tournaments you want. Parents and players are well informed, if they find that they are on the wrong path (i.e. lack of exposure or trophy hunting) they will eventually leave.

Actually alot of D2 schools are recruiting 18U players per conversations with them as well as some D1 schools.

 

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Actually alot of D2 schools are recruiting 18U players per conversations with them as well as some D1 schools.

The only formula to success with regard to exposure is the need for a lot of communication, player to college coach, to see what everyone's demands are and timing. Coaches will tell you what they are looking for in a certain class and which events they plan on attending. Then you can maximize your efficiency of being looked at by being in the right place at the right time.

The only constants with recruiting seem to be that things are always changing and that players need to be in the right place at the right time. Players need to engage themselves by doing their homework and by communicating.

 

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Actually alot of D2 schools are recruiting 18U players per conversations with them as well as some D1 schools.

I said "MOST" not "All".
It's just a known fact that colleges are recruiting by class, and by the time you get to 18u, the big schools are onto recruiting younger classes.