Premier vs. Platinum

[AnotherDad]

Can someone explain to me the difference between 18U Premier and Platinum?

Is one better or more competitive than the other?

Sorry if its been covered already.

[DunninLA]

what he said.

Plus, in terms of practicality, the Platinum division gives less elite teams the chance to spend their late July/early Augusty in SoCal with excellent Blues and TD's who get the job done, vs....Johnson City TN (not picking on that in particular, just the first that came to mind), or any other place that averages over 90 degrees and high humidity in summer, and an organization that has lost touch with what teams and families want.

[AnotherDad]

is platinum a different qualifier than premier?

[PDad]

Think of Premier as 18G and Platinum as 18A

True as far as ranking the divisions within each sanction.

I think Platinum further depleted 18G and many of the Platinum teams would have done well in Clearwater. Hard to imagine what 18A was like this year...

[PDad]

is platinum a different qualifier than premier?

The qualifiers are usually combined with the top finisher(s) getting a Premier berth and the next finisher(s) getting Platinum. If a team qualifies for Platinum, they can still try to qualify for Premier without giving up their Platinum berth.

[AnotherDad]

is platinum a different qualifier than premier?

The qualifiers are usually combined with the top finisher(s) getting a Premier berth and the next finisher(s) getting Platinum. If a team qualifies for Platinum, they can still try to qualify for Premier without giving up their Platinum berth.

Ah. OK. SO if you place 2nd, you get a platinum berth?

[aojr03]

Think of Premier as 18G and Platinum as 18A

True as far as ranking the divisions within each sanction.

I think Platinum further depleted 18G and many of the Platinum teams would have done well in Clearwater. Hard to imagine what 18A was like this year...

Actually 18A was decent. I wasn't there but was told by my friend who was. And 18 Gold was not as deep as Premier, but the top finishers would have competed there, not win, but competed.
Once Gold got down to the final 5 or 6 it took on more of that better team feel. Just my opinion.

[PDad]

I think Platinum further depleted 18G and many of the Platinum teams would have done well in Clearwater. Hard to imagine what 18A was like this year...

Actually 18A was decent. I wasn't there but was told by my friend who was. And 18 Gold was not as deep as Premier, but the top finishers would have competed there, not win, but competed.
Once Gold got down to the final 5 or 6 it took on more of that better team feel. Just my opinion.

Was your friend at 18A in previous years to make a comparison? I expect some teams/orgs stayed at 18A and some others moved up.

There is overlap between each of them. IMO, Platinum overlapped 18G more than 18G overlapped Premier.

[aojr03]

I think Platinum further depleted 18G and many of the Platinum teams would have done well in Clearwater. Hard to imagine what 18A was like this year...

Actually 18A was decent. I wasn't there but was told by my friend who was. And 18 Gold was not as deep as Premier, but the top finishers would have competed there, not win, but competed.
Once Gold got down to the final 5 or 6 it took on more of that better team feel. Just my opinion.

Was your friend at 18A in previous years to make a comparison? I expect some teams/orgs stayed at 18A and some others moved up.

There is overlap between each of them. IMO, Platinum overlapped 18G more than 18G overlapped Premier.

You could be right.

[americandad]

The hardest thing about 18a nationals is trying to compete without bringing in college players.We went with my 18a team last year.when you play a team with 7 players that just graduated high school and 6 more that just got done with their freshman year of college, it can be difficult with a team of 16 year old juniors.Not an excuse, you just need to plan your team a little different