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by Hurricane » Sun Aug 02, 2015 5:51 pm

socalchoppers02 wrote:The tournament in Florida was well worth it. It was an invite only tourney where none of the teams had to pay an entry fee. We had planned to make this trip instead of Colorado since our girls will be there for the next six years. By winning the championship, the girls got to play on ESPN 3, have a ton of interaction with the players from the USSSA Pride and they get genuine championship rings from Jostens. All of the girls flights, Disneyworld tix and majority of the hotel bill was paid for through various fundraisers that we had. In all I think 8 or 9 of the teams we played were in PGF Nationals. Something different and a once in a lifetime experience. Not offended by the inquiry at all as we have become kind of spoiled to not have to travel outside California to face good teams.


Exactly. That is a terrific experience and well worth the trip for the girls. They will never forget that trip.

I was making the point about a different situation.
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by Cereal Kid » Sun Aug 02, 2015 8:42 pm

You know going into a team what they did the past few years so you all ready know what your in for so you must be good with it if that team is a good fit for her and your family there that's a good thing .
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by NumeroUno » Sun Aug 02, 2015 8:49 pm

Hey all u thread killers, derail any trains lately :)

Ok lets get back to the best tourneys n the country
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by as the world turns » Sun Aug 02, 2015 9:08 pm

Cereal Kid wrote:You know going into a team what they did the past few years so you all ready know what your in for so you must be good with it if that team is a good fit for her and your family there that's a good thing .


Dude, have another bowl of sugary cereal. :shock:
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by NumeroUno » Mon Aug 03, 2015 10:13 pm

what are the best tourneys in the country?
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by Pale Rider » Tue Aug 04, 2015 4:53 pm

NumeroUno wrote:what are the best tourneys in the country?



Parameters for 'best'?
Competition or Exposure...some are great for both...
Not necessarily in order
PGF
TCS Colorado, BUT caveat...Gotta be in the right place...
Disney...again in the right spot...

Legacy was not so 'good' last month IMHO...

Not in right spot youre just paying bills
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by fastpitchdad05 » Tue Aug 04, 2015 6:25 pm

For Exposure!
PGF 16U (Premier I guess since there was no Platinum when DD attended)
Boulder Independence Day Tournament - 18U
TCS Fireworks/Sparkler Power Pool (DD did 18U only)
ASA Champions Cup - 18U (just don't piss off the dragon lady that runs the show)
TCS 18U Nationals (DD played in Reno)
PGF Platinum ( (DD did 18U only - shocked at the lack of coaches we saw during our two years of attending)

For Competition!!
PGF Premier
Boulder IDT
TCS Nationals
ASA Champions Cup
PGF Platinum

For Fun!!!
TCS 14U Nationals in Park City - pay to play
Any of the top Colorado Showcase Tourneys


Best of the Best!!!!
Any ASA Rec All-Star tournament. Nothing has ever topped this. If you ran to travel without allowing your DD to experience this at the very least thru 2nd year of 10U then I truly feel sorry for her and you.
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by NumeroUno » Tue Aug 04, 2015 10:50 pm

ya that's what I'm talking about :D
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by jonriv » Wed Aug 05, 2015 5:48 am

Hurricane wrote:good point, Ump.

OK, let me clarify my inquiry: I was referring to cross-country trips to play regular tournaments and/or friendlies - not for National Championships. Of course - if the ASA Nationals are in Florida, then you are planning almost a year in advance for that trip to win a National Championship. I'm sure the Texas and Florida teams plan the same way. However, with all of the competitive TB teams that are out here in the West (California, Arizona, etc.) it's difficult to justify making a trip to Florida for 12-15 year old girls.

I should've prefaced my comment with the caveat that if it's once in a few years type of trip and the only trip of the season, then I'm fine with it. However, in my experience (and my friend's experience) it happens almost every season (once in Fall and once in Spring) where the team schedules many out of state events that are just too much. For example, one team (big name organization) went to Florida (Thursday - Sunday) in the fall and the girls had to miss school, then the next weekend went to Arizona for a tournament. It's a bit much for Fall ball. But, the fear of retaliation against their DD lingers in the minds of parents lest they complain too much. After all, it is ONE OF the MANY teams in a "big name organization" and that "college scholarship" is just around the corner you know.

I don't know if it's the team preying on the dreams of parents or just taking advantage of the constant flow of money into the organization. However, as a counterpoint to TD's constant whining, it is indeed a germane topic for discussion on Hey Bucket.



When I first read TD I thought "Yeah, he's right!" Then I read this and thought "Yeah he's right too!" :D It's all perspective. BTW- Orlando is a lot cheaper to get too than California is from Connecticut :D
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by jonriv » Wed Aug 05, 2015 6:01 am

I'll avoid the obvious top choices(PGF, ASA etc…) because we never attended.

I will Piggy-back on Pale Rider's thoughts that the "best" is determined by what you are looking for(competition, exposure…) but I also think it is by experience too. Going to a tournament and going 0-4 is probably not going to be great. Going to a place with nasty rains, flip-flopped shortened schedules will always leave a bad taste. I will judge by our experience by age group. laugh if you must!

10u-12u Allstars- FCFSL Tournament(Fairfield County Fastpitch Softball League) This was a league made up of town allstar teams(babe Ruth and Little League) and some local travel teams. We used to think this was travel ball!!!!! At the end of the season their would be a playoff tournament that operated like a travel tournament. Competition was fierce and spirited(town pride) and was the first experience in Tournamnets

14-u PONY Nationals(Cary, NC) Not the best run tournamnet and you play too many teams from your own area- but the first exposure to a "National" tournament-opening ceremonies, pin exchange….

16u TCS World Series in Park City- awesome venue, activities, food, condos etc……. First chance to play against teams from the west!!! Low humidity!!!! Team rose to the occasion

16u NSA World Series Rock Hill, SC Awesome facilities, very good competition (Africa HOT) Team did great against a slew of mid western teams



College(All of it was better than TB)

NESCAC Playoffs- double elimination against other teams in conference- exciting games!!
NCAA DIII Playoffs- By far the BEST! DD said it was like being in the olympics

Dot Richardson Spring Games- Annual PIlgrimage to Clermont, FL to get ready for the season by playing other teams from around the country
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