Then why was it the same at 14u?
You're missing my point. No one knows why ASA makes
any of these loopy decisions. There is no communication, and that is what is frustrating.
But, as I said in my post, the distance - and the reasons that caused it - is NOT MY issue.
Again:
The issue - for me - with the 220' fence at Gold Nationals is not the distance.
My issue isn't even that the fence distance at Gold Nationals was determined not by any judgment of what is appropriate for the level of play, but rather because it was a lot of work - and cost some money - to move the fences in after the World Cup, and ASA didn't want to go to the trouble / expense.
My issue IS that it changes the game from what was played all summer in qualifying.
No one qualifies for Nationals by swimming the 100 meter butterfly, then arrives at Nationals to find the distance is now 110 meters.
You aren't getting this Wade. It's not about fence distances, or whether college freshman play, or any other single issue. It is an aggregation of things which create a synergy that for many, has become intolerable.
You've gone from rejecting the viable possibility of an alternative to ASA, something you ridiculed repeatedly a week ago, even as people who are fully aware of the alternative being offered - and fully involved in making decisions on whether their team will participate - told you it was real. As it became absolutely obvious that those people were right - and you were wrong - you have reluctantly accepted reality, but began to ridicule or criticize the REASONS for their actions. Fine, we all have a learning curve, and I don't mean that pejoratively. But the point you are missing is that the reasons almost don't matter from anyone's perspective other than those coaching or participating on Gold teams. To many within THAT set of people, these are real issues. Marginalizing the issues, or telling people they are unimportant (or shouldn't be issues important to them) is absolutely what has caused the schism in the first place. They may be unimportant to you and others, they obviously are unimportant from the perspective of ASA (or they just don't care). But they AREN'T unimportant to the people who now have a choice. They are not unimportant to ASA's constituency, and so I would submit they SHOULDN'T be unimportant to ASA.
If you spoke privately to the people who are considering (and will continue to) where to play next August, about the first thing out of their mouth would be that the arrogance of ASA is just galling. That is not a universal indictment of everyone in ASA leadership. But it is reflective of how many people view ASA
as a whole. I don't think it is an overstatement to say that the way you have reluctantly come up to speed on this issue is relective of that. I am sure you don't view yourself as an arrogant person, and frankly, I concur - you're not. But an antecedent opinion that ASA has it right and there can not possibly be a viable alternative - so shut up and quit whining - is EXACTLY what many in the Gold community find irritating. And feel they have received as an answer far too often.
They set those fences up just for nats..
