Iluvblue wrote:Having one big elimination tournament will cause the weak teams to play max 4 games a tournament.
So... thats the way it has ALWAYS been. Only this year they have seemed to start doing two Sunday brackets. I find it amusing seeing peole talk of winning the "Championship" of th "Bronze" bracket. Isnt that something like being in 40th place or something?
Iluvblue wrote:The strong teams play 6-7. Over 10 tournaments that's 20 more games a summer/30 more if you add fall ball. That's anywhere from 70-120 more games from 1st year 12's through last year of 14's. Even for the team who goes 1-1 on Sunday that's 60 more games.
So? What is wrong with that. Tourneys are 4 game promises, not 6 or 7.
Kids should be able to celebrate their success. You need to celebrate when you do something right! The split brackets gets kids more games. If the objective is to learn how are you going to do that at 9:30am on Sunday as you're headed home? 40th place is worth a good job! Why do we have to tell the kids...but you can't beat the Grapettes??? Who cares. They played, had a good time, they won some games as well. Not everyone can be an elite A team, and those teams we're talking about are some of the best in the nation. I don't think trying to be them is a goal for most. You're simply not going to have a 24 team tournament the level of TC Smash 98 because it's possible 24 teams in the country aren't that good.
Iluvblue wrote:Why don't orgs build "B" teams? This isn't to be confused with A, B ball. Some coaches will get extremely high numbers for a tryout even though there is maybe one or two roster spots. Why not make a 2nd team out of that? There are quite a few athletes that are coming into comp softball somewhere in the above age range that could benefit from a program like that.
Organizations already do this. Smash has 3 or so 14u teams with a clear distinct number 1. Grapettes have 3 or more 14u teams with a clear distinct number 1. Now dont say that to the parents, because their kid surely doesnt play on the number 4 team in the organization. This is exactly the reason you have the "B" teams you are talking about and we have SO MANY teams now. There used to be like 5 or so teams in all of Stockton and Modesto area in 12u... now there must be 30 or more.
MSD or Acuna's team aren't B teams. The grapes carry three A teams. Nobody likes to give credit to a team out of the Foothills or East County...Join the wine barrel. They have room...people are leaving there and starting their own orgs.
The objective for a person playing B ball is to make an A team, or just be in the right place for their talent level. On the teams you just spoke of you probably won't see player's moving up and down or guest playing for one another. These teams are acting completely independent of each other. A true B team supports the A team. You're calling a bad A team a B team, which it's not. It's just a bad A team. There will always be bad A teams unless there is an alternative.
Some coaches get that and play NSA or DF exclusively. That really is a good thing for them!! Understanding where your kid/team fits in is a huge part of this.
