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Summer Softball-One Man’s Opinion

What's on your mind?

by Mr Bucket » Mon Apr 20, 2020 2:58 pm

So, what is going to happen this Summer in regards to youth softball. I know one thing that should happen is Stay Safe! Of course, that is one of the deterrents to playing this Summer as we have to stay indoors 6ft away from everybody. We really don’t know what the government is going to do and when it will allow softball to happen.

That being said I have been in contact with most of the major softball entities that run our tournaments. PGF, Triple Crown, USSSA, etc.. Where are they on the all important ‘We want to play’. Know this, they are all businesses who make a living doing these tournaments. They do not want to cancel as it will hit them in the pocketbook. But also know this, they must protect all of us so they know they must study the landscape and see what is safe. Otherwise they are putting themselves in a precarious situation.

One very important part of this whole very strange situation we are all in is our older Travel Ball players. They need this Summer. They need to be seen by the colleges! If no games, no coaches scouting them. It will be much harder for the colleges to recruit with no games and no camps. Recruiting can still happen and will. And the key words here are, Videos, Videos, Videos! Get your videos to your colleges of choice now no matter what the Summer holds for us. Talked to one prominent D-1 coach recently and she said all she does is watch videos of prospective recruits. She said, all I have is time, so send in the videos. Some colleges are offering scholarships off of only videos now. I sure hope we can play so our older travel girls get a better chance to be seen.

Now, where are we with the different softball entities that run our tournaments. Most are going to hold on as long as they can to make any decision. Can you imagine one company that runs tournaments who charges over $2000 for entry fees how much they will lose if they cancel. Literally millions of dollars just on entry fees. Forget vendors, food concessions, t-shirts, game entry fees, as that is much more money they will lose. They will not make a decision until it is absolutely clear what is going on.

If they decide to run their tournaments there will be necessary changes. For teams that have to fly to get to a big tournament many will at this time not fly. We have all been scared to death by the noise about how dangerous flying in a tight space can be in regards to Coivid-19. So many teams will not attend a far away National. Even staying in hotels can be risky so that is another large group that may not attend. And very sadly many who have had their jobs stop due to the virus may not be able to afford going to a National.

How about delaying and moving back a big tournament? This probably won’t work. Most big national tournaments are 5-7 days long. So moving back these tournament to the Fall will not work as all the players are in school and cannot miss a week of schooling.

Most likely if we can have our big national tournaments they will be more regional based. You don’t have to fly and maybe not even use hotels. Local teams who would not have qualified for a big national tournament will now be welcomed and will fill the tournaments. These really won’t be true Nationals but at this point I think we all want to play. And, the college coaches will attend. These tournaments will be much more spread out all over the country. But college coaches will want to see prospective recruits no matter where they are playing.

Lets hope very soon someone finds a vaccine or drug that allows us to play tomorrow. We need and want to play our game! Stay safe all and we will see you in the dirt, hopefully sooner than later.
Mr Bucket
 
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by NumeroUno » Mon Apr 20, 2020 5:56 pm

Awesome !!!
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