What was your favorite tournament(s) in 2007

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Have always loved Stingrays . Have never been to the best of the best in Massillon but plan on making the trip this year.

Aunt Rosie and Valley Extreme seem to bring out very good team at every tournament I have been to there .

John Newsome
16U Ohio Ice

 

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chico - playing in mud, rain, or any adverse conditions will not enhance your physical skills. However, coaches are looking beyond just the physical ability. For instance, it starts raining, the ball gets slippery, and there's an 8" mud hole where the pitcher's stride foot lands. Coaches look VERY closely at how a pitcher handles this MENTALLY. Is she slumping her shoulders with every "slipped" pitch? Is she losing her composure and giving off poor mental vibes, which adversely affects her team?

College teams almost always play on very well groomed fields. A lot of teams are equally matched - either could win on any given day. So sometimes the deciding factor is more of a mental focus thing rather than a physical ability thing. That was the point I was heading towards.

Stingrays gets my vote for best all around
Compuware, because of exposure and competition
GAPSS is getting better every year
Best of the Best has had great competition
Sluggerfest - good competition, but getting to those far flung fields was a nightmare...

 

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Compuware hands down, can't beat the exposure, resturant is nice, fields are so so, competiion is excellant
TNT in Philadelphia is excellant exposure if you want to be seen by east coast schools, nice fields ,some don't have fences, beautiful area to visit , lots to do, very strong competion, 43' pitching
Best of the Best - good competion, nice fields as long as it doesn't rain, too many games, this tourney is a meat grinder and this past year, got worse sun burn of my life, by Saturday afternoon most coaches were gone....but if you want lots of games this is the one...by end the girls didn't want to be there..
If you can do it there is nothing better for exposure that Rising Stars in Florida in the fall when you get scheduled on the main fields, awesome exposure, sweet fields , and good food
haven't had the pleasure of Colorado but that is suppose to be great too.

 

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Just stirrin the pot a little Sammy. I've seen plenty of players lose it because of poor conditions small wide or low strike zones etc. I agree that the mental side should be looked at closely when choosing a player.

 

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I think the Music City Hits was the BEST! Great fields, locations ,etc. Lost of college coaches around but the drive is not that great!! (8 hours each way) Lots to do in the area in your downtime and wonderful competition.

Also really liked the Loudonville and Kidron tourneys - great rural area with good competition!

DD just likes anywhere that she can play!!

 

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This thread is similar to one a while back which asked for reasons why people attended a given tournament. The concensus then was either you are looking for the toughest challenge competition wise, or you are basically going on a "softball vacation".

From a parent's perspective, I always liked the beach trips, but I can honestly say that we never found a happy medium. If the vacation spot was great, the competition was terrible. If the competition was great with lots of college coaches, there was no fun 'n sun vacation. Panama City Beach was a neat USSSA "vacation" trip a few years back, but it was like rec. competition until the last couple days when the rec. teams had been eliminated. NSA pretty much does the same thing in Columbus - drag it out over a week. But at least Florida has a beach nearby...

 

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The "Farley 8" in Toledo is a great tournament and one of my favorites. Excellent fields & facilities and very well run & organized. Lots of great competition each year as well. This is one tournament we don't want to miss.

 

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Agree with those above who said it's almost two different questions, one for 10-U through 14-U and then one for 16-U and 18-U. In the poll, I think competition and exposure are pretty much one in the same for the older age groups.

My favorite tournament from 2007 (forgetting for the moment about Colorado, Rising Stars, etc.) was probably Loudonville. You have everything there; the competition, fields drug, watered and lined each game, college coaches, good concessions, good parking, very nice and attentive staff, a little bit of a local crowd for the games, things to do while not playing, etc.