Questions about 18U Premier and 18U Platinum

[Daddylawman]

When will the invites for Platinum be posted?

They are going to have invites to play to be the 65th best team in PGF?

[PDad]

When will the invites for Platinum be posted?

They are going to have invites to play to be the 65th best team in PGF?

jmo said on Dec 14 that 18U Platinum invites would be posted "in the near future" (viewtopic.php?p=310745#p310745). Just curious to see which teams are signing up to play in this new division...

[rdelawder12]

Maybe I'm slow, but this is starting to get confusing. We have Qualifiers to Premier Nationals, then we have Regional Tournaments to qualify for the Regional National. What is the Premium division? Winners of all the Regional Qualifers?
Why unlike ASA, the PGF National Qualifers allow for out of state entries outside of the selected Region? I know ASA has instate berths, and berths for each regional, then travel to Oklahoma for a final opportunity to qualify. Why is PGF allowing teams outside of a given region to go to another region to obtain berths? I thought this was to get every region involved and the best from that given region to play at Premier?
I remember last year where I seen teams west of the Miss playing in Minnesota to get a berth, that seems like a lot of money for alot of teams to spend to get a berth East of the Miss, which in turn keeps teams East of the Miss. out of the tournament as they are typically a month behind most of the teams West of the Miss due to HS Ball. Which is why teams East of the Miss play in a touranment every weekend of the summer season and West of the Miss generally plays in 6 to 7 tournies over the summer.
I guess it would make more sense to me that teams could travel within thier region to obtain a berth outside thier state Qualifer, but really dont understand why the expense for a lot teams that go East of the Miss. and then the teams East of the Miss dont attend or spend the tournament entry fee because of all the teams outside of their region fighting for 2 to 3 berths. Sure would like to see everyone stay within thier region so the variety of state representation increases at PGF. JMO

[Battle]

Sure would like to see everyone stay within thier region so the variety of state representation increases at PGF. JMO

First you have to understand the basis of PGF. It's not like ASA where diversity is really a priority.

[PDad]

Maybe I'm slow, but this is starting to get confusing. We have Qualifiers to Premier Nationals, then we have Regional Tournaments to qualify for the Regional National.
Correct so far...

What is the Premium division? Winners of all the Regional Qualifers?
The Premium division is the one where teams pay extra to get an invite. Just kidding, there's no such thing as Premium - you just made it up by combining Premier and Platinum...
18U Platinum is a new additional division for PGF Nationals for the teams that couldn't make it into the top division that is now called Premier. It has nothing to do with the Regionals.

Why unlike ASA, the PGF National Qualifers allow for out of state entries outside of the selected Region? I know ASA has instate berths, and berths for each regional, then travel to Oklahoma for a final opportunity to qualify.
Except for 18G, ASA regions are also allowed to hold a National Qualifier that is open to any team in the country. ASA names it qualifiers (i.e. National, Territorial and Regional) by the scope of teams that are allowed to enter.

Why is PGF allowing teams outside of a given region to go to another region to obtain berths? I thought this was to get every region involved and the best from that given region to play at Premier? ...
The various qualifier sites are to encourage the best teams in those areas to try to qualify. However, there are a limited number of berths and PGF's vision is for the best teams to get them. Consequently, teams are allowed to enter any qualifier and teams in some nearby states like AZ end up traveling to qualifiers in CO and TX to get a berth. It's an imperfect system.

I remember last year where I seen teams west of the Miss playing in Minnesota to get a berth, that seems like a lot of money for alot of teams to spend to get a berth East of the Miss, ...
Very few SoCal teams traveled that far - almost all of them stayed in the West. It costs a lot less to travel to a weekend qualifier than it does a weeklong National.

As Spazsdad posted, prior to ASA's huge expansion of Association berths in 2009 and the subsequent formation of PGF, SoCal teams used to travel all over the country chasing berths.

[Battle]

Sure would like to see everyone stay within thier region so the variety of state representation increases at PGF. JMO

First you have to understand the basis of PGF. It's not like ASA where diversity is really a priority.

How was ASA Gold ever about diversity, it was about the best teams competeing for a championship.....And it still is. What's the point?
In the younger ages it was about getting the largest number of teams possible. If that is the basis for diversity than ok.

ASA is about diversity. That was their original plan. Chasing berths across the nation really wasn't supposed to happen. ASA let it happen for some unknown reason. ASA gold 2008 (pre-PGF) had approximately 20% of Cali teams. PGF 18s on their 3rd year had approximately 46% of Cali teams. That's giving you year one and year two to prove otherwise. If diversity wasn't an issue with ASA, why so few Cali teams in ASA 2008? PGF is going to take care of their backyard first and the rest will follow. It is what it is but don't try to call it something else.

As for the younger ages, it should be more than 64 teams. I agree that 160+ is a bit much but they will have 18s to cut to 64+. If it takes a bigger field to get more teams from different areas then so be it.

[AlwaysImprove]

Sure would like to see everyone stay within thier region so the variety of state representation increases at PGF. JMO

First you have to understand the basis of PGF. It's not like ASA where diversity is really a priority.

How was ASA Gold ever about diversity, it was about the best teams competeing for a championship.....And it still is. What's the point?
In the younger ages it was about getting the largest number of teams possible. If that is the basis for diversity than ok.

ASA is about diversity. That was their original plan. Chasing berths across the nation really wasn't supposed to happen. ASA let it happen for some unknown reason. ASA gold 2008 (pre-PGF) had approximately 20% of Cali teams. PGF 18s on their 3rd year had approximately 46% of Cali teams. That's giving you year one and year two to prove otherwise. If diversity wasn't an issue with ASA, why so few Cali teams in ASA 2008? PGF is going to take care of their backyard first and the rest will follow. It is what it is but don't try to call it something else.

As for the younger ages, it should be more than 64 teams. I agree that 160+ is a bit much but they will have 18s to cut to 64+. If it takes a bigger field to get more teams from different areas then so be it.

I guess everyone got confused. They thought ASA was about going to Midland.

[arkansassoftball]

This Dance aint for everybody... No one is forcing any team to travel anywhere to Qualify for PGF, ASA or any other Nationals. Those who choose to spend whatever it costs to travel, will spend whatever it costs.

64 is large enough. Again, the Top Division should be made up only for the best teams in the nation, not a balance of teams from everywhere. Unfortunately, due to finances, there will never be a National tournament truely made up of the best 64 teams in the nation. So, we have to settle for the best 64 teams who have the financial ability to travel to Nationals and Qualifiers. Im sure, at minimum, the Top 50-75%+ of those teams would be in the best of anywhere.

There are teams every year in some areas that Qualify for USA/ASA "A" Nationals in State or Regional protected Qualifiers, that wouldn't qualify if outside teams were allowed to come there. That doesn't mean those teams that qualify are really the best in the Nation. In fact, they usually go 2-and-BBQ at Nationals.

I've been to many USA/ASA "A" Nationals and Gold Nationals over the years and Premier Nationals the past two years; what PGF is doing helps our sport and is also encouraging other Organizations, including ASA and other Major Tournament Directors, to take notice and try to improve their Events. For that alone, I applaud them.