16u Diamonds of the North..?

[jag1]

Does anyone have the pool play/ brackets for Diamonds of the North in Portage next week. any help would be appreciated...since ASA is being absolutely no help..!

[Justathought1]

Jag1 normally the brackets will be drawn up and sent out Tuesday or Wednesday before the tournament. Hope that helps.

Michael

[softball]

Indiana Pride pool schedule:
Friday June 12 12:30 PM CST vs. Midwest Sluggers @ Imagination Glen field 1
Friday June 12 2:00 PM CST vs. Indiana Velocity @ Imagination Glen field 4

Bracket Schedule
Saturday June 13 Game 19 12:30 PM CST @ Imagination Glen field 1 vs. Winner between Indiana Magic and E.I. Cruisers 93

[fastpitch fool]

Does anyone else find it incredible that ASA allowed a large majority of out of state teams in this tournament, while having a maximum number of teams and locking out Indiana ASA teams from playing in this tournament?

Gary and Cyndi - You blew it AGAIN!

[gunshy]

The whole qualifying system for ASA should throw up a huge red flag for everyone in Indiana. As I am told, there are 5 bids for 16u ASA Nationals for Indiana and they will be distributed to winners of Diamonds of the Central, Diamonds of the North, Diamonds of the South, ASA State Games and ASA State Championship. Problem #1 is that the first qualifier, Diamonds of the Central, was this past weekend; Conflicting with the Regional round of the HS State Tournament. Most teams could not/would not commit to that event for fear of not having enough players available to play; that event awarded the first National bid to the winner of a
7 team tournament. SEVEN total teams.........winner received a berth. Problem #2 is that Diamonds of the North conflicts with the state HS finals; I decided to gamble 3 weeks ago and enter it anyway, only to find out that it was full. When I inquired further, I found out that there were 36 teams in the event, which also was sold as a college exposure/Indiana ASA qualifier, but 23 teams were from outside of Indiana???? So, eligible Indiana teams are told "no, thank you" at a qualifying event where only Indiana teams can win the ASA bid because out of state teams were allowed to fill the event. I am still trying to figure out how you can have a college exposure event ALSO be a National qualifier; those two events are entirely different animals.
What happens to the Diamonds of the North bid if an out of state team wins? I was told directly that the BID WOULD NOT pass down to the highest finishing Indiana team; Indiana teams have to win it or the bid is retained. My question is where, then, does this bid get retained to? I have so many questions/issues about this process that there is not room enough to print them all. Can't wait to see how many out of state teams are allowed into Diamonds of the south, the first qualifier where all of Indiana's 16u kids will actually be eligible to play.

[Justathought1]

Gunshy- I do understand your frustration with your listed (problem 2). I can understand fully how you feel about the out of state teams, and where the birth goes if out of state team wins? Good point but the point you made about diamond of the central? This problem has been around for some time. Last year the 6/6/08 thru 6/8/08 the diamonds of the south was going on the same time IHSAA was trying to finish with their tournament. It is nice that Indiana now receives 6 births (due to registration) in the state, the problem is only very limited week-ends after the IHSAA finals, to get these ASA qualifier tournaments in.
They did have a 7 team tournament. SEVEN total teams.........winner received a berth, at the Diamonds of the Central but all of the teams battled hard to earn that birth and even though their wasn't 25 teams there, does not mean it meant any less to any of the teams that participated. And I only say that because after reading your post it came across to me that you felt it wasn't worthy because there was only seven teams, and I know you dont mean it wasn't worthy but came across like that to me. I know both Dream teams were missing high school players that would of helped them out tremendously. Team Akadema were also missing players and Indiana Gators were missing 2 high school players Saturday and 2 due to SAT on Saturday. The other teams I am not familiar enough to comment on their rosters but the point being is we all didn't know who we would or would not have but had to improvise to play that week-end. You or any of the teams there would have had their team fight hard to earn that birth and took it if you had won it.
I wish there was a good way for ASA to keep the tournaments that are for Indiana teams only, open for the Indiana teams and keep the birth in the state instead of giving the extra births to a border state that is in our region.

Nice job to all the teams that participated at the Diamonds of the Central. It was good to see everybody that I didn't get to see during school ball, and to ASA and the host Northwestern high school thanks for a nice tournament. You all worked hard on the fields before every game and the hospitality was superior.

Thanks,

Michael

[jag1]

I agree, the whole process is messed up. If Indiana teams are allotted 5 bids, then five different Indiana teams should get them. ASA (Indiana) is doing themselves a huge disfavor by not doling out those five bids to the winners or NBQ to Indiana teams at these qualifying tournaments. Alot of teams are just choosing not to play in them when there is one or two two dominant teams to sew up ALL five berths...! ( I'm thinking there is one team that could potentaily win all of those qualifiers, if they elected to play in each one.., one team for all five berths..?!) It's possible....!

[Stratos]

The Gators won the Diamonds of Central Indiana. I think they are more than capable of representing our state in SD. Yes, everyone was missing players, I know we didnt get into the tournament till Tuesday of last week. And to the girls that played in the tournament, it meant no less to them, the parents, or the coaches. I still saw coaches kicking dirt, arguing calls, encouraging players, and getting sunburnt.

[gunshy]

JT1, my comments were definitely not meant to demean anyone who participated in the Central, and thankfully a deserving team like the Gators won the bid. My problem is with the system and the potential that is created for a team to get qualified early that IS NOT one of the best 5 in the State. I realize that a seven team tournament meant plenty to the teams that played and I am quite sure they played hard, but my point is that it is ridiculous to schedule a tournament that awards something as coveted as an ASA National bid when such a large number of Indiana's best players in that age group are not eligible to play. Diamonds of the South WAS played last year on the same weekend as the HS State finals and I know a few kids were missing then, BUT there were obviously WAY more kids missing on Regional weekend. Speaking of last year's Diamonds of the South, our team was put in the loser's bracket by the winning team......................A TEAM FROM OHIO????
JT1, you make the point that most of the Central participants were missing key players; again, this is an event to decide who goes to ASA Nationals, why are we scheduling events when most cannot play at all and those that can play are doing so short-handed? Does it not make infinitely more sense to award bids to the 1st AND 2nd place teams at an event scheduled when all Indiana players are eligible and the teams are at full strength? This would solve the issue of limited weekends available to hold the qualifiers, too.
Again, my issue is solely related to the ASA National qualifiers; hold 16u tournaments in April if you want, just don't award National bids when so many of the kids you are suppose to represent cannot play.
ON a side note, I understand that the Central started on Friday night and played well into the afteroon on Sunday. Times are pretty challenging economically for all teams right now; it boggles the mind that a seven team tournament has to start on Friday.

[Stratos]

Gunshy, I agree with you are saying. Not an expert, but what is the reason why we dont hold a qualifier or two in the fall for the following year? Is there a bylaw that prohibits that in ASA? That could free up sometime and weekends for the teams that have players playing deep in HS and give more flexiblity to teams that want to play showcases or travel in the summer. Because there simply is not enough weekends in the summer to jam in all the qualifiers. This might sound trivial, but if you win a bid late. You have to jump through hoops logistically for your team to get everything schedule, let alone get the time off.

Also, there were only two fields at Diamonds at Central. I know we played 8 games, 4 games back to back on Saturday from 11a to 7p, and again Sunday 4 games back to back from 9am to 5pm. The last game, we could have played against the team moms, it wouldnt have mattered we were done.

So is going to get the other bids?