Follow
Donate to HeyBucket.com - Amount:

Welcome Anonymous !

Your Fastpitch Softball Bible
 

TX

PGF vs ASA

by Opposite Field » Mon Jun 29, 2015 8:22 am

If you believe that California has the most depth of great teams and they seem to prove that year in and year out, then PGF is probably the answer to your question at 14's through 18's. Not as many of the top West Coast teams will be at ASA. ASA will still be an extremely competitive tournament although the best teams will have some easy games until they advance further. That doesn't seem to happen at PGF.

For TCS, I agree with another comment that some of the traditional showcases that they have bought out have made it tougher for coaches to view players. I think their nationals will be a fun and competitive tournament.
Opposite Field
 
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri Jan 16, 2015 7:46 am

by RexinTex » Tue Jul 07, 2015 1:09 pm

In my opinion, ASA has the better talent across the board but PGF gets the strong West Coast teams. (Several of the best in the country are from SoCal)

ASA has coaches there and so does PGF. To me its a question of price for travel. Huntington Beach is a great place to play ball and the weather is unbelievable! Its also in one of the worst areas for traffic in the country and its very expensive to stay there. ASA moves their Nationals every year and some years you get the heat of Florida or Oklahoma or Georgia. Some of the East Coast teams don't travel to the West Coast and there are a lot of colleges over there!

Triple Crown is a different animal entirely. They truly are messing up the "recruiting" tournaments. (Ronald McDonald, Fireworks) Requiring lineups to be turned in and actually playing a bracket? Its difficult for a coach to plan to watch bracket games because you really don't know what time a team plays until they win or lose the previous game. In Colorado this year, I saw a lot of coaches for the pool and scheduled bracket games but once the teams couldn't play a fixed schedule, the coaches thinned out quite a bit. Triple Crown is EXPENSIVE.

As far as seeing the head coaches from the WCWS, realistically there aren't that many kids that are going to those schools, so I am all about quantity over quality.
RexinTex
 
Posts: 30
Joined: Mon Feb 04, 2008 2:23 pm

by fastpitchdad05 » Tue Jul 07, 2015 4:03 pm

RexinTex wrote:In my opinion, ASA has the better talent across the board but PGF gets the strong West Coast teams. (Several of the best in the country are from SoCal)

ASA has coaches there and so does PGF. To me its a question of price for travel. Huntington Beach is a great place to play ball and the weather is unbelievable! Its also in one of the worst areas for traffic in the country and its very expensive to stay there. ASA moves their Nationals every year and some years you get the heat of Florida or Oklahoma or Georgia. Some of the East Coast teams don't travel to the West Coast and there are a lot of colleges over there!

Triple Crown is a different animal entirely. They truly are messing up the "recruiting" tournaments. (Ronald McDonald, Fireworks) Requiring lineups to be turned in and actually playing a bracket? Its difficult for a coach to plan to watch bracket games because you really don't know what time a team plays until they win or lose the previous game. In Colorado this year, I saw a lot of coaches for the pool and scheduled bracket games but once the teams couldn't play a fixed schedule, the coaches thinned out quite a bit. Triple Crown is EXPENSIVE.

As far as seeing the head coaches from the WCWS, realistically there aren't that many kids that are going to those schools, so I am all about quantity over quality.


By "across the board" I'm assuming you mean including all age groups and not zeroing in on any one particular group?

I ask because a strong almost irrefutable argument can be made that PGF attracts the best of the best by far at 18U, perhaps 16U and 14U as well.
User avatar
fastpitchdad05
Premium Member
Premium Member
 
Posts: 2115
Joined: Fri Aug 13, 2010 1:43 pm

by RexinTex » Wed Jul 08, 2015 11:47 am

By across the board I am saying that I'm not from SoCal so I believe that there are great teams from all over the US, not just SoCal. :lol: :lol: :lol:

I think PGF draws the BEST from SoCal and SOME of the best from the rest of the nation. I believe that ASA draws all the rest of the best. In 14u and 16u too.
RexinTex
 
Posts: 30
Joined: Mon Feb 04, 2008 2:23 pm

by fastpitchdad05 » Wed Jul 08, 2015 1:11 pm

RexinTex wrote:By across the board I am saying that I'm not from SoCal so I believe that there are great teams from all over the US, not just SoCal. :lol: :lol: :lol:

I think PGF draws the BEST from SoCal and SOME of the best from the rest of the nation. I believe that ASA draws all the rest of the best. In 14u and 16u too.


Doesn't matter where you're from, just whether or not you're willing to look at things objectively. I have always been objective about the talent throughout the country and been a proponent and critic of both PGF and ASA.

That said, from what I can see and despite the inclusion of the ASA Jr Olympic Cup this year, it appears that there are very few "best of the best" teams from anywhere in the country not going to PGF 18U Premier this summer. I could be wrong, but I don't think anyone not attending Premier would be better than a 15-1 or 20-1 longshot to win PGF with the exception possibly of Texas Sudden Impact who just spanked FC-Rico to win the TCS Fireworks.

The Wichita Mustangs and East Cobb Bullets (minus Kelly Barnhill) are not going to PGF and they have been very good in the past, but do not appear as strong this year. Voodoo and the Gold Coast Hurricanes are usually pretty competitive as well, but again not likely to have challenged for the PGF title.

You're from Texas it would seem. Am I leaving out any exceptional Texas teams not going to PGF that had a legitimate shot at winning there? The Bombers, Storm and Blaze are usually pretty darn good, right?
User avatar
fastpitchdad05
Premium Member
Premium Member
 
Posts: 2115
Joined: Fri Aug 13, 2010 1:43 pm

by RexinTex » Thu Jul 09, 2015 2:34 pm

Texas Sudden Impact could very well win it all and they will be at the ASA tournament in Oregon.

All of the teams that you mentioned are solid teams and can play at the PGF level most years. Can they win it? Who's to say? That's why they play the game isn't it?
RexinTex
 
Posts: 30
Joined: Mon Feb 04, 2008 2:23 pm

by fastpitchdad05 » Thu Jul 09, 2015 4:31 pm

RexinTex wrote:Texas Sudden Impact could very well win it all and they will be at the ASA tournament in Oregon.

All of the teams that you mentioned are solid teams and can play at the PGF level most years. Can they win it? Who's to say? That's why they play the game isn't it?


Actually they'll be at the ASA Junior Olympic Cup in Chino Hills, CA (along with those other teams I mentioned) the same week as PGF Premier, unless this is not the Sudden Impact you are talking about:

http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Softball/Pla ... -Cup/Teams
User avatar
fastpitchdad05
Premium Member
Premium Member
 
Posts: 2115
Joined: Fri Aug 13, 2010 1:43 pm

by JustPlayTheGame » Fri Jul 24, 2015 10:01 pm

RexinTex wrote:By across the board I am saying that I'm not from SoCal so I believe that there are great teams from all over the US, not just SoCal. :lol: :lol: :lol:

I think PGF draws the BEST from SoCal and SOME of the best from the rest of the nation. I believe that ASA draws all the rest of the best. In 14u and 16u too.


I was a big fan of ASA for a lot of years, especially in the 12u division. Unfortunately, the softball world has changed, and 14u PGF Premier Nationals is now the top draw for nationwide talent and quality and quantity of college scouts.

Out of the 68 teams in the 14u Premier Division, 23 (1/3) are SoCal teams, including the top SoCal teams (top nationally ranked). The other 2/3 are MOST of the best from the rest of the nation- which includes 12 great Texas teams: Texas Bombers HTX, TX Impact Guy, TX Team Mizuno Impulse 2001, TX Am Freedom Prospects, TX Impact Plocheck, TX Glory Seidel, TX Directv Genie's, TX Glory Naudin, TX Bombers Prospects STX, TX Team Mizuno Impulse, TX Firecrackers HTX and TX Blaze White. Other top nationwide teams include the MN Renegades, IL Beverly Bandits, AL Birmingham Thunderbolts, GA Impact, AZ Suncats, WA NW Explosion, NV Lil Rebels RC, FL Gold Coast Hurricanes and Sorcerer, among others. And this is just the Premier Division; the 14u Platinum Division is loaded with strong teams from all over as well.

Not sure the teams at 14u ASA Nationals this year can compete with the depth of talent at PGF.

Good luck to all teams, wherever your nationals take you!
JustPlayTheGame
 
Posts: 138
Joined: Thu Apr 09, 2009 8:28 am

by Pale Rider » Mon Feb 08, 2016 1:06 pm

PGF by a landslide...
ASA was what it was because of the teams it had who now play PGF...
AKA "Thread Killer"

"Damnation seize my soul if I give you quarters, or take any from you."
Edward "Blackbeard" Teach
User avatar
Pale Rider
Premium Member
Premium Member
 
Posts: 1651
Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2012 8:34 am
Location: Land Down Under

by Battle » Fri Feb 19, 2016 6:37 pm

Pale Rider wrote:PGF by a landslide...
ASA was what it was because of the teams it had who now play PGF...

...and PGF will never be as strong as ASA was because of the same reason when you include the rest of the country. The argument can be made both ways.
We herd sheep, we drive cattle, we lead people. Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way!
User avatar
Battle
 
Posts: 1631
Joined: Sun Apr 25, 2010 10:40 am

Previous

Return to TX

cron