To Play In So Cal Or Not?

[Sftball Junkie]

If your coach is hesitant of going down south then u should find another coach.

This quote on another thread makes me ask the question. When and at what age should teams travel south to play. I see 10u teams with So Cal trips on the schedule and often wonder why.

I would tend to say if all your coach wants to do is play in So Cal tell him to move there or cover the cost for everyone. If you dominate everyone locally then yes you should travel a bit, other than that why would you travel at 10s and 12s even 1st year 14s?? A trip or 2 a year is one thing to get an idea of where you are at and prepare for later but other than that why???

I watched the 12u teams this year travel with very limited success. Trust me I get it is not about winning and losing but if you are not winning everything here then you are competing where you should. As a parent if you have a coach boasting that you will play in So Cal multiple times in the fall or spring of 12s ask them why???

12u Nor Cal Teams went to St Patties Day in Vegas, MDC, Best of the West and PGF

LTG Never won a Tourney in Nor Cal. Never won a game in So Cal until they played a duck 1st round of PGF they smacked the older sister. So they finished 2 wins 10 losses or so in So Cal

Magic Finally won a Grapes tourney with nobody in it at the end of the year. Never won a game in So Cal until they slipped past 1 on Tuesday at PGF ended up something like 1 win 8 loss and 1 tie in So Cal.

Rapids Never won tourney in Nor Cal. Never won a game in So Cal until they beat LTG on Tuesday at PGF, ended up like 1 win 8 losses in So Cal

Lady Spartans Never won a tourney here. Traveled to So Cal never won a game

CV Synergy Beat Hype at PGF could have stayed home for that win, never won another game in So Cal

Team California Never won a Tourney in Nor Cal a few Championship games in tourneys that didn't matter. Won 2 games at MDC never won a game at PGF ended up 2 wins and 5 losses or so in So Cal.

KG Hitters won a few games at MDC with a cpl of 14u players still age eligible playing down to help.

Hype, Grapes K and Storm all competed pretty good in most So Cal trips after winning Tourneys in Nor Cal but at the same time it wasn't like the So Cal teams said Oh Crap we have to play_____________

If you can't win in Nor Cal why rush to So Cal.

[Iluvblue]

they should be down there at least 7-8 times......per fall season at 12u. Then by 14 they should be playing there every weekend.... then by the time they are Freshman, they should just be getting on a socal gold team.

[99NorCal]

they should be down there at least 7-8 times......per fall season at 12u. Then by 14 they should be playing there every weekend.... then by the time they are Freshman, they should just be getting on a socal gold team.

Love it, ILB. Of course, I'm afraid your sarcasm could be lost on some, so I'll try to help them out before they start peppering you!

[realtalk]

Reason: exposure to big games, big pitching, big hitting and big time coaching. If you can make some noise against the top 5 in SoCal then ur on the right path.
My opinion- you save ur team budget and have friendlies against top 5 NorCal teams somewhat of what the 12u group did this past spring/summer. Than take a trip down south. (Fall 1-2) (Spring/Summer 2-3)
I would expose these NorCal players to the highest level of softball as possible.
SoCal is just as watered down as NorCal. But they are smart. The friendly against each other and see good pitching every week.
NorCal play every other week and run into good pitching at a tournament the last 1-2 games on Sunday.

[ICMTM]

KG Hitters won a few games at MDC with a cpl of 14u players still age eligible playing down to help.

Just imagine if kids stayed in their age group? There are probably about 10 or so ELITE kids that are 2000's that played 14U this past spring. I am not sure that SoCal has kids playing up like we do? The entire team may play up, but I get the feeling finding the elite kids their age is what they do.

[Gut]

Wow, Junkie. U nailed it Couldn't have said it better myself.
Let me answer one of your questions, even though it may have been rhetorical. The reason teams advertise their intent to travel down South multiple times before even knowing how good their team will be is to attract players. Personally, those are the teams I stay away from until 14U at the earliest.

Realtalk also had a great point about more friendlies in SoCal. I STILL have no idea why teams don't play more friendlies, other than the coaches are not on speaking terms and can't just swallow their pride and call each other on the phone and set something up. Ditch the egos, and think about what is best for the girls and parents instead of paying $450 for a watered-down tournament.

[Saywhat44]

One on forum there getting blasted for not winning tournaments and going to so cal without winning up here but you tell them to play in friendlies. When they play in friendlies and win, you knock them saying the wins aren't legit. Seems like coaches here can't win with you guys.

[ICMTM]

I am not judging any of these teams, kids.

What I am saying is if teams 1-10 played each other all the time they would be better. When you go to a Grapette event you draw team 30, 40, and maybe 15. If you're team ranked 42 it's a great schedule. If you're team comes in at 7...ehhh...you're getting a 1 seed and an easy game on Sunday.

My point is we here in NorCal are more interested in that Sunday bracket than building better teams.