PGF 18U Divisions - Premier and Platinum

[PDad]

MavFan, last summer a lot of teams that tried to qualify PGF but didn't quite make it in ended up not playing at all in August, because the qualifier dates conflicted with ASA. In essence, by opting to play (support) PGF, they eliminated themselves from any ASA year end tournaments. Which, if you asked the girls, totally sucked.

I don't have a lot of sympathy for those 18u teams because they did it to themselves by betting the farm on qualifying PGF. They could have played an ASA qualifier that weekend and chased a PGF berth at other qualifiers. Those teams made a decision to go PGF or bust.

I suspect the regional tournaments are, at least in part, in response to that complaint. While I suspect they didn't initially think through the ramifications of scheduling conflicting qualifier dates, (ie. so many players and teams that were supportive wouldn't be able to play anywhere) they have now addressed that concern ( if they in fact do these regionals). In that regard its a good move that doesn't impact the exclusivity of Nats in HB, but gives supportive teams a season ending venue for the girls to compete. A very good thing, IMO.

PGF also created the 18U Platinum division. Do you think its National should be the next best teams (i.e. ones that failed to qualify for the Premier division) or the best teams that chose not to qualify for the top division?

I've never been shy about expressing concerns when it comes to PGF, or anyone for that matter, so it's only fair to come out in support of this, for the reasons mentioned. While it may mimic the ASA model, there arent really a lot of different ways to expand your precense in other markets. If this move is well received, it will lead lead to more teams playing PGF qualifiers, and in turn strengthen the National tournament, also a good thing.

I'll agree if teams that fail to qualify for Nationals are eligible for a Regional a la SoCal ASA's State. Rumor out of Midwest is they'll have separate qualifiers for their regional which is SOP back there for ASA territorial nats.

[PDad]

PDad I have seen you post great stuff on here before but........

Do you really think the reason they are doing this is just for insurance and registration? Come on

Not solely, but it is an important part of their business - just like ASA. I didn't mean it as a criticism - they are just growing their business and there's nothing wrong with that.

If you think about it team Insurance is cheap. At the low cost it's hard to believe their is any money left on the bone to shell out. I could be wrong and I guess even if you make $10 a team and you eventually get 10,000 20,000 or 50,000 teams nation wide that all adds up. I have no idea and I have no idea if they make a nickel off insurance

I expect they make a lot more on the $13 registration fee per coach/player than on the additional $9 for insurance. I suspect they're making something off the insurance or they wouldn't require teams buy it. Again, not a criticism...

[Trophy Hunter]

MavFan, last summer a lot of teams that tried to qualify PGF but didn't quite make it in ended up not playing at all in August, because the qualifier dates conflicted with ASA. In essence, by opting to play (support) PGF, they eliminated themselves from any ASA year end tournaments. Which, if you asked the girls, totally sucked.

I don't have a lot of sympathy for those 18u teams because they did it to themselves by betting the farm on qualifying PGF. They could have played an ASA qualifier that weekend and chased a PGF berth at other qualifiers. Those teams made a decision to go PGF or bust.

I suspect the regional tournaments are, at least in part, in response to that complaint. While I suspect they didn't initially think through the ramifications of scheduling conflicting qualifier dates, (ie. so many players and teams that were supportive wouldn't be able to play anywhere) they have now addressed that concern ( if they in fact do these regionals). In that regard its a good move that doesn't impact the exclusivity of Nats in HB, but gives supportive teams a season ending venue for the girls to compete. A very good thing, IMO.

PGF also created the 18U Platinum division. Do you think its National should be the next best teams (i.e. ones that failed to qualify for the Premier division) or the best teams that chose not to qualify for the top division?

I've never been shy about expressing concerns when it comes to PGF, or anyone for that matter, so it's only fair to come out in support of this, for the reasons mentioned. While it may mimic the ASA model, there arent really a lot of different ways to expand your precense in other markets. If this move is well received, it will lead lead to more teams playing PGF qualifiers, and in turn strengthen the National tournament, also a good thing.

I'll agree if teams that fail to qualify for Nationals are eligible for a Regional a la SoCal ASA's State. Rumor out of Midwest is they'll have separate qualifiers for their regional which is SOP back there for ASA territorial nats.

No idea how they hope to pull this off, considering around half the teams last year were invited, it may as mentioned be a bit too much too fast. Are they having separate qualifiers for Premier and Platinum? I had assumed they would go down the list from each qualifier and put X number in one then Y number in the other, and now with Regionals for all the Zs that didnt qualify for the others. The number of teams at the regional is kind of important too, as it's not much of a tournament if only 3 or 4 teams show up. But maybe their feedback indicates a much higher level of interest around the country than we've seen previously. I guess we'll have to wait and see, hopefully not at the last minute, as I'm sure coaches ( and players) would appreciate a bit of time to consider the options and figure out a plan for the summer that best benefits the girls.

[PDad]

Hopefully it will all make sense once PGF makes an official announcement.

I did happen to find a map of the PGF regions @ http://indianafastpitch.com/PGF_Region_3.