No College players at Nationals in 2009

[smovie]

Heard a rumor that ASA will no longer allow college players at Nationals next year ,
any truth to this ?

[TulsaEliteGold]

JUST RUMOR AT THIS POINT. If they were going to make that change, it would not be decided during the middle of Summer anyway. I doubt it will ever happen. There are just as many people against it changing as there are for it.

Every year some people complain about it and try to get them to change the rules, but they will probably never do that. I actually hope they do not make a change. Our college kids, especially our Juco kids, look forward to coming back next summer to help them develop for their Soph years.

[smovie]

This rumor came from the ASA reps at 18 Nationals this year, could be because 1 team had 9 college players on it. This could even out the playing field. The college players would just play 23 U, a division more suited for them.

[MTR]

Heard a rumor that ASA will no longer allow college players at Nationals next year ,
any truth to this ?

As TEG noted, this is not a popular change and, IMO, rightly so.

As the NGB, part of ASA's mission is to develop a format to support the advancement of the sport of softball and a format in which to crown a national champion. Even though these nationals are not meant be a showcase for college coaches, they provide some of the toughest competition some of these teams will ever see at the youth level. Because of that, many of the tournament hosts go out of their way to accommodate college coaches/scouts. However,the primary purpose of the NC is to crown a champion.

ASA's entire program is based upon the player's birth date. The last couple of years this topic has been discussed to death at the national convention. Where do you draw the line? Just NCAA or NAIA or NJCAA or a college team on foreign soil, Div I, II or III? Just the players who have actually played in a college game, a player with a verbal commitment, one with a letter of intent or any player who is enrolled in college? And how about all the collegiate club teams?

The national championship is about competition among the best teams with the best players of a certain age bracket.