14U poll

[Iluvblue]

PGF has done a great job in a very short period of time, but you think they would have that type of infrastructure in a quick 12 month period where they could have all of these regional qualifiers?
That will take some time, thus the invites.

Do i think all teams are "deserving" based upon how good the team is? nope, but it doesnt matter. Bottom line is that the tourney will fill up, good teams will be there, and they wont care what you or I think in regards to invites.

Our 16u was one of the only 16u teams from Norcal to actually "Qualify " for this tourney last year. I have no problem with us not going if we cant qualify again. that doesnt mean I would notgladly do like those other guys though, and take an invite an never look back:)

[notme]

Thank you for stating the obvious jonriv...you need a guaranteed base of teams to actually show up to hold a great national tourney. Until PGF has a guaranteed base of teams, and prove that they hold the best national tourney, this is how it will be handled I'm sure.

It is too bad that so many do not see the obvious.

I do hope that at some point regional qualifiers will be limited to those teams in that area. Too often teams from other areas clog up open slots at qualifiers. Here in the Northeast I would say most organizations are unaware of PGF and those who attend the qualifier are friends of the organizer. I think PGF needs to spread out some more and hit other areas, but that is easy for me to say from behind a keyboard.

Exactly, thanks for some clear thinking here.

[wichita]

You forgot to add, just another So. Cal tourney STILL with the top teams,best weather and very a large number of college coaches. I think these guys have been around a while and know what they are doing?

Apparently you don't read entire posts because as i stated in my first post

Don't get me wrong I like the idea of having 2 national tournaments and definitely like the location and number of colleges attending at the PGF

All I'm trying to say is if you want to give invites to other states to get a core group of teams dedicated to the PGF I don't have a problem... what i'm saying is there are only (and this is just 14U) 7 berths in California but 90% of the teams that are getting invites are from So Cal so how is that getting the rest of the country to buy in to the PGF? Sounds to me the PGF is just hedging there bets in case some of the top So Cal ORG's cant qualify on there own. Having said that don't get me wrong ..... if you want to play the best teams you need to go to So Cal but that doesn't mean you shouldn't have to qualify to play.

[Iluvblue]

7 berths in California but 90% of the teams that are getting invites are from So Cal so how is that getting the rest of the country to buy in to the PGF?


Put yourself as one of the power people running PGF. Right now, this second, do you really need the rest of the country to buy into PGF?? Is PGF off and running in year 2? Have enough teams (Just in CA) decided that they want to go the PGF route? Will PGF have enough quality teams attending that the colleges will also come? In order for PGF to be succesful they need 3 things going forward IMO.

1) they need the college coaches to attend...... that is already done deal.

2) They need the customers to believe in their product...... done deal IMO

3) They just need to continue to SLOWLY expand their base to ensure PGF is the desire nationals for teams in the future.

These guys arent stupid, they are on the pulse of the people that matter the most, and that is the teams. They will fix problems as they go, and in the end, they have what MANY teams are going to always want. Locations other than places like SD.

[jonriv]

#3 reminds me of what some micobrewers in VT told me(Long Trail) They were expanding slowly so that they could maintain quality and not be over-leveraged. That was 20 years ago and they are still around and growing(and the beer is still great!)

[wichita]

Put yourself as one of the power people running PGF. Right now, this second, do you really need the rest of the country to buy into PGF??

If you don't need the rest of the country why not call the PGF nationals the So Cal Nationals.

[jonriv]

Put yourself as one of the power people running PGF. Right now, this second, do you really need the rest of the country to buy into PGF??

If you don't need the rest of the country why not call the PGF nationals the So Cal Nationals.

ouch

[Iluvblue]

First off, this is strictly MY opinion, nothing else.

i didnt say they dont want the rest of the country to come, Im just saying that in year 2 it makes no difference if they have got the rest of the country to buy in. They are generating enough interest to make PGF viable and solvent, so they will be around for a while, and as they continue to grow, THEN they can worry about the rest of the country.

But for today, whether teams in Florida, or Ny come makes no difference.

I would guess in 5 years from now, we wont be having a discussion about teams from back East not coming to PGF. But do yuo really think in 1 year the folks at PGF could build the infrastructure that it has taken ASA decades to build?

[ssarge]

Last year at Premier 14U, I saw members of 6 of the 9 Pac12 coaching staffs watching games at 14U. On one day. Including in some cases head coaches. And the coaches were pretty pleased with what they were seeing.

Many coaches from other conferences as well.

Does anyone realistically think that is going to change?

Say what you will about SoCal programs - they wouldn't be interested in playing in Premier UNNLESS it met their objectives. Namely, putting kids into college.

I do think Premier is interested in attracting teams from around the country. And they have invited some, and some have accepted. And there are a lot of qualifiers,and I think they'll attract significant interest.


Like Corey, I'm just stating my opinion. But I think the race for supremecy is over between Premer and ASA in 18U and 16U, and very nearly over in 14U. My $.02.

But who cares? Pursue the tournament that meets the needs of your team. Kids in the LL Big League World series (16-18 YOs) end up playing in college, some in D-I. I happen to believe your best chance of getting seen in 14U will happen at Premier. And I KNOW your experience at that tournament will be first rate, considering all aspects of the time invested. Hard for me to conceive of anyone turning down an invite to Premier, unless the team was pre-committed elsewhere, or just couldn't make the schedule work. But there are other viable options out there too.

Best regards,

Scott

[wichita]

This will be my last reply on this topic I'm not into beating dead horses. Blue and sarge as well as everyone on this board have a right to their opinion. not trying to take that away from anyone here. All I'm stating is that instead of having all these invites in So Cal why not either:

1. Have more qualifiers in So Cal or

2. Just have one and have more berths available at the qualifier (15 or 20)

From my vantage point (and this is just opinion) it just seems to me that all the invites are doing is guaranteeing teams and ORG's an out if they cant earn a berth. so give more berths so teams can earn their spots. The way it looks (not saying it is happening) is that premier is keeping invites to give to the big name ORG's and teams to guarantee they are in the tourney. if you make them earn their spot then there's no debate on how they got in the tourney.