Premier for Non California Teams

[93players]

Whether you are the top program in Florida, Georgia, or Texas, you will have a tough time placing your players in the PAC 10 or even D3 California schools. Of course, the top couple of players in the state could go to California but pretty well everyone else is out of luck. Add that Premier favoritism to California teams: (1) a majority of automatic two year bids went to California teams, (2) last years tournament seemed to give California teams many "buys" and favorable brackets. (3) umpires who constantly chatted with California team coaches. Premier claims that we are no giving automatic bids to the teams who finish in the top of the 2010 and 2011 tourneys. Well because those tournaments were based upon automatic bids, given to mostly California teams, the 2012 bids are biased. And, every single year the tournament will be held in California.

So, I believe that it is in the interest of non California teams to play ASA. 2/3 years the tournament will be outside of that state. You are more likely to have college coaches receptive to your programs. ASA has been balanced to bring the best teams from the entire country. Who would have predicted Illinois team top finishes in the Colorado Boulder tournaments?

Of course, if you want to play both, that is an ideal situation. But if you only can play one, if you are an non California team, I would say ASA is the best route in the long run. There is a lot of buzz about Premier but if non California teams turn their back on ASA they are playing right into the hand of the interests of the California teams.

ASA needs to get Versus to televise the final 3 games in the tournament to compete with the Premiere Espn deal.

[YellowBalls]

Who would have predicted Illinois team top finishes in the Colorado Boulder tournaments?

You mean the team stacked with 2012 grads and gold players who barely beat a 2015/2014 14U team 5-4..? Just checking..

[YellowBalls]

Colleges who attended PGF Nationals 2010 - seems a bit more than just Pac 10 and California D3 schools - Nice try though......

Arizona Western College coached by Nicole Bethurum
Auburn University coached by Tina Deese
Ball State University coached by Craig Nicholson
Binghamton University coached by Michelle Burrell
Boise State coached by Erin Thorpe
BYU coached by Gordon Eakin
Cal Poly coached by Jenny Condon
Cal State Bakersfield coached by Kathy Welter
Cal State Univ. San Marcos coached by Dave Williams
Cal State University Monterey Bay coached by Andrea Kenney
Cal-Berkeley coached by Diane Ninemire
California Baptist University coached by Mike Smith
Chapman University coached by Janet Lloyd
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges coached by Betsy Hipple
College Of Southern Nevada coached by Ysidro Jimenez
Columbia University coached by Kayla Noonan
Concordia University coached by Crystal Rosenthal
Florida coached by Tim Walton
Fordham University coached by Bridget Orchard
Fresno State coached by Margie Wright
George Mason University coached by Joe Verbanic
Harvard University coached by Jenny Allard
Houston Baptist University coached by Mary-Ellen Hall
Idaho State University coached by Interim - Shelly Prochaska
Idaho State University coached by Julie Wright
Illinois State University coached by Melinda Fischer
James Madison University coached by Katie Flynn
Kentucky Wesleyan College coached by Miles Mallette
Lehigh University coached by Fran Troyan
Lenoir-Rhyne University coached by Shena Hollar
LONG BEACH STATE UNIVERSITY coached by Kim Sowder
Long Island University coached by Roy Kortmann
Longwood University coached by Kathy Riley
Loyola Chicago coached by Yvette Healy
Loyola Marymount University coached by Gary Ferrin
LSU coached by Yvette Girouard
Menlo College coached by Danielle Stines
Michigan State University coached by Jacquie Joseph
Middle Tennessee State University coached by Sue Nevar
Mississippi State University coached by Jay Miller
Mississippi Valley State University coached by Lee Smith
NC State coached by Lisa Navas
New Mexico coached by Erica Beach
New Mexico State university coached by kathy rodolph
Northern Illinois University coached by Lindsay Chouinard
Northwood University coached by Craig Diamond
Ohio University coached by Jodi Hermanek
Oklahoma State coached by Rich Wieligman
Oklahoma State University coached by Rich Wieligman
OnDeck Softball coached by Derek Allister
Penn State coached by Robin Petrini
Purdue University coached by Kim Maher
Sacramento State coached by Kathy Strahan
San Jose State University coached by Peter Turner
Sonoma State University coached by Jennifer Bridges
South Carolina coached by Beverly Smith
Stanford University coached by John Rittman
Texas A&M University coached by Jo Evans
Texas Southern Univ. coached by Worley Barker
Texas Tech coached by Shanon Hays
UC Davis coached by Karen Yoder
UC Santa Barbara coached by Brie Galicinao
UCLA coached by Kelly Inouye-Perez
UNC Charlotte coached by Aimee DeVos
UNC Greensboro coached by Jennifer Herzig
University at Buffalo coached by Jennifer Teague
University of California, Riverside coached by Connie Miner
University of Central Arkansas coached by David Kuhn
University of Georgia coached by Lu Harris Champer
University of Hawaii coached by Robert Coolen
University of Houston coached by Kim Nesloney
University of Iowa coached by Marla Looper
University of Kansas coached by Megan Smith
University of Kentucky coached by Rachel Lawson
University of Louisville coached by Sandy Pearsall
University of Maryland coached by laura watten
University of Massachusetts coached by Elaine Sortino
University of Memphis coached by Windy Thees
University of Michigan coached by Carol Hutchins
University of Mississippi coached by Missy Dickerson
University of Missouri coached by Ehren Earleywine
University of Nebraska coached by Rhonda Revelle
University of Nevada coached by Matt Meuchel
University of New Mexico coached by Erica Beach
University of North Texas coached by T.J. Hubbard
University of Notre Dame coached by Deanna Gumpf
University of Oklahoma coached by Patty Gasso
University of Oregon coached by Mike White
University of Pittsburgh coached by Holly Aprile
University of San Diego coached by Melissa McElvain
University of Tennessee coached by Ralph and Karen Weekly
University of the Pacific coached by Brian Kolze
University Of Utah coached by Amy Hogue
University of Washington coached by Heather Tarr
UNLV coached by Pete Manarino
Utah State University coached by Carissa Kalaba
Utah Valley University coached by Todd Fairbourne`
Vanguard University coached by Beth Renkoski
Virginia Tech coached by Scot Thomas
Whittier College coached by Shelley Whitaker
Wichita State University coached by Mike Perniciaro
Wisconsin coached by Yvette Healy
Wright State coached by Linda Garza
Yale University coached by Barbara Reinalda

[brewtusplease]

College coaches will be at both events. If your gifted kid is doing their 'job', it doesn't matter which one they go to or frankly, if they go at all. The attempted qualification route for both national tournaments will be based on scheduling, travel and preference.

Scheduling - When the schedule for Qualifiers and Nationals collide, choices will have to be made. As seen here in the Texas area, many teams have attempted/still attempting to be in both tournaments because the schedule allows it.

Travel - Speaking from Texas, Oklahoma City is great for me. Not so much from Florida. This year in Gold, the travel doesn't matter as California it is. Next year, I can guarantee that teams from the south won't attempt to qualify for PGF based on 'nice weather'. Given ASA's change of venue yearly, this will have an impact on which way some teams will focus in that year.

Preference - A portion of the original teams invited to PGF will stick with it, whether they qualify in the future or not. I guess their faithfulness will be tested when it is wide open and there are no guarantees. That will be a thread for next year.

"Surely you can't be serious"
"I am serious and don't call me Shirley"

[Joe]

Whether you are the top program in Florida, Georgia, or Texas, you will have a tough time placing your players in the PAC 10 or even D3 California schools. Of course, the top couple of players in the state could go to California but pretty well everyone else is out of luck. Add that Premier favoritism to California teams: (1) a majority of automatic two year bids went to California teams, (2) last years tournament seemed to give California teams many "buys" and favorable brackets. (3) umpires who constantly chatted with California team coaches. Premier claims that we are no giving automatic bids to the teams who finish in the top of the 2010 and 2011 tourneys. Well because those tournaments were based upon automatic bids, given to mostly California teams, the 2012 bids are biased. And, every single year the tournament will be held in California.

So, I believe that it is in the interest of non California teams to play ASA. 2/3 years the tournament will be outside of that state. You are more likely to have college coaches receptive to your programs. ASA has been balanced to bring the best teams from the entire country. Who would have predicted Illinois team top finishes in the Colorado Boulder tournaments?

Of course, if you want to play both, that is an ideal situation. But if you only can play one, if you are an non California team, I would say ASA is the best route in the long run. There is a lot of buzz about Premier but if non California teams turn their back on ASA they are playing right into the hand of the interests of the California teams.

ASA needs to get Versus to televise the final 3 games in the tournament to compete with the Premiere Espn deal.

93...this is a good teaching moment...

Lesson 1: An opinion means a lot more if you know your facts, otherwise it's worthless. Kudos to Yellowballs for bringing the facts to the forefront.

Lesson 2: Your geography argument is weak. ASA has been hosting their tournaments in hell holes all over the states, yet you say we should support them because Premier is biased towards their California location? Can you say that the OKC location favored Oklahoma teams?

Lesson 3: ASA has had a nice run. They deserve credit for laying a nice foundation for our sport. However, like any business, ASA is subject to a business cycle. There was a period of growth, followed by a plateau, and now...a period of diminishing returns. Simply stated, the customers are not satisfied which allows for new products (Premier) to enter the market.

Lesson 4: Blind allegiance sometimes leads to blindness...

[Crazy888]

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that if you want more non-CA players to go to Pac-10 schools ( or even CA d-3 schools), then you better be playing the teams Pac-10 coaches are watching.

[jmo]

Add that Premier favoritism to California teams: (1) a majority of automatic two year bids went to California teams, (2) last years tournament seemed to give California teams many "buys" and favorable brackets. (3) umpires who constantly chatted with California team coaches. Premier claims that we are no giving automatic bids to the teams who finish in the top of the 2010 and 2011 tourneys. Well because those tournaments were based upon automatic bids, given to mostly California teams, the 2012 bids are biased.

(1) a majority of automatic two year bids went to California teams

So Cal Athletics, Texas Impact, OC Batbusters, Corona Angels, Sorcerer, Georgia Elite, Teamsmith, AZ Killer Bees, So Cal Pumas, Combat Panthers, Texas Glory, Explosion, So Cal Choppers, Cal Cruisers, Wichita Mustangs,
All got their berths for finishing 13th or better.

NJ Inferno, NJ Intensity, Worth Firecrackers, So Cal Breakers, Illinois Chill, Beverly Bandits, Texas Magic, Cal Grapettes, AZ Hotshots, CA Lady Magic, Texas Storm, Texas Eclipse, NW Bullets, Victory USA, TC Stars
Got their berths - via 2 year invite - 10 of the 15 teams that received berths are from out of state.

Irvine Sting, Minors Gold
Got their berths via hosts

Gold Coast Hurricanes, Team Florida, Miami Stingrays, East Cobb Bullets
Got their invitations via their finish at ASA Gold. TNF originally accepted but has now decided not to attend.

(2) last years tournament seemed to give California teams many "buys" and favorable brackets.
It was a blind draw!! Please do not say the draw was fixed. You make yourself look like an idiot. This year will be a little different in that their will be no protection. That is because they listen to their constituents

(3) umpires who constantly chatted with California team coaches.
Umpires were brought in from all over the country. You have no idea what you are talking about.

(4) Premier claims that we are no giving automatic bids to the teams who finish in the top of the 2010 and 2011 tourneys. Well because those tournaments were based upon automatic bids, given to mostly California teams, the 2012 bids are biased.
??? Please reread what you wrote. You make no sense. And by the way, if you would read the website, you would know that to get an automatic bid for next year, you have to finish 9th place or better. 36 out of the 69 teams were out of state.

[PDad]

I suspect 93players post was based on 16u last year where 60% of the teams were from California and most of the non-Cal teams had to play into the bracket. As jmo posted, PGF acknowledged this and pledged not to do it again.

[Crazy888]

I suspect that 93 players is a bitter, west coast hater whose team wasn't good enough to earn a PGF spot on its own merit.

[jackjack]

so ive had this on-going argument for about 3 years that the sport of softball is growing and its only a matter of time until the rest of the country catches up with california... to date, i have been wrong. sorry, but there is a reason why the pac10 (soon to be pac12) wins the college world series every year, and it's because the best players still come from california. even look at florida and asu last year, a good portion of their best players were from california. if you are upset with all the california teams getting automatic births, play better softball and beat them. if you get a top finish like the texas glory or witchita mustangs did in the 16u then you will get an automatic birth. california has more girls playing the sport, and thus will have more good ones.