Region 14 to limit number of Gold Teams?

[sftball1]

So does anyone know what was discussed/determined at the meeting that was supposed to happen last night?

[ssarge]

An excellent observation that can be generalized to just about anything. Quit trying to manage outcomes, and let the market (i.e., free choice) work.

Or prepare to get beaten down by the law of unintended consequences.

Exactly. Well put.

I think ASA should be ECSTATIC that a fairly large number of teams see the value in competing at the Gold level. Unlike baseball, where the fog of sanctioning bodies, levels, and classifications obfuscate any chance of meaningful comparison as to which teams are "best," there is no mystery in FP. The best teams in the country are ASA 18Gold teams, and this is so indisputable as to be argued by very few.

And recognized by so many that several hundred teams nationally want to test their mettle and compete against the best.

And this is a problem HOW, exactly? This is cause for CELEBRATION.


Those Gold teams which don't compete well in qualifiers, which don't earn good fields, times, and opponents at showcases, and which fail to matriculate players into meaningful college opportunities pretty much go away. NOTHING makes a more eloquent statement to a team's parents than paying thousands of dollars (and a total of about 10 days of time commitment) to attend three qualifiers and being 2 and Q in all three. Free market conditions permit teams to try, and react to drive those which are unsuccessful into extinction. Others make it, attain a measure of success, and prove that possibilities abound. America is a grand place. . . . .


But the part about unintended consequences is just spot on. It seems to me that Region 14 is talking about implementing grandiose and complicated policy to control entry into ONE tournament - the Region 14 qualifier. Not sure what the unintended consequences of such a move would be - that is why they are "unintended." But there WILL be some.