Anderson Express Invitational - Coming in May

[AE_Y2K]

We just posted the tournament on the VTD website two days ago. Hopefully that will help get the wheels turning, esp with the 14U. That is the age group we'll need the most outside help with.

And as far as the 12Us go, we will split it into two age groups. You can play 11U or 12U, we want the the best possible experience for all the girls participating. I understand both sides, and I expect there to be enough teams to do both.

We are still putting together a contact list, and have already been in contact with several coaches/teams. Several more should hear from either Chance or myself soon. Due to a new addition in the family things have progressly slowed this week, lol.

[twinsmom]

Bill is right. I wasn't suggesting that the 99's are afraid to play the 98's. In fact in our area, our 99 team plays mostly 97's as those teams won't move up until January 1st. Effectively we are playing the 14U teams... !. We don't mind. We would be happy to play either way. It was just a suggestion and I do agree that many of the better 98 teams are playing 14U and aren't really interested in playing 99's, but if we are invited we will take on all comers. We might get beat, but we will give most any team some grief... . It will be interesting to see who comes. Again, good luck and hope we get to see you guys there.

[AE_Y2K]

Format has been set...

there will be 5 different, 20 team age divisions.

9U ('01s)
10U
11U ('99s)
12U
14U

Teams in both the 9U and 11U will be required to have birth certs at sign-in. We want 99s to play 99s and 01s to play 01s. If you want to play up, or have older players, you will have the opportunity to sign up for the next age group.

Each age group will be divided into 4 five team pools, each team will play a 4 game pool schedule within their pool. Pool games will decide your seeding in a single elim bracket. All teams will qualify for bracket play with each division winner getting a first round bye. This will be a 5GG.

We will do our best to divide the pools along regional lines, we don't want Dallas teams playing Dallas teams in pool play. We hope to have enough out of towners to allow you to see unfamiliar opponents.

We have 20 fields reserved for this tournament and are looking for 100 teams overall.

[LETHAL WEAPON 25]

Are you going to put together a "Who's Coming" list?
We will be working on scheduling right after the holidays and would like to have an
idea of who is planning on attending.
Also, please confirm that in 14's the pitchers WILL throw from 43'. We would not
be interested if it is a 40' tourney.
Thanks,

[runrule00]

Lethal Weapon I think pitching at 43 feet would be a good ideal if the tournment were in April. With the Hall of fame qualifier the following week most teams are not going to play or pitch at 43 feet.(Texas qualifier). Playing and pitching at 43 will throw the girls off.

[mstree323]

[quote="AE_Y2K"]
We will do our best to divide the pools along regional lines, we don't want Dallas teams playing Dallas teams in pool play.


drawing that mizuno tournament i had 4 pools and 4 hats. dfw, houston, ctx, and other in a hat. dfw hat us, kruzers, black sox,rriders, etc. houston had cobras phantomz tps, etc.. ctx had bombers, slam, blaze, etc. other was ae, cenla, ok force, ar thunder, etc.. draw one from each hat and throw em in a pool.

[Joe]

So...ummmm, why would we drive to Longview when there will be 2-3 tournaments close by to play in DFW, Houston, Austin/SA? Right now you have a whopping 4 teams signed up for this and you're talking format, trophy distribution, pools, and who's pissed off who?

Let me help you with this one...

First, you're competing with the big boys on this one...so you'll need to figure out a way to motivate teams to load up and make the 2-4 hour drive in mid-May... right about when everyone else is running a tournament AND families are busy with end of school year activities.

Second, you stand a much better chance to make this thing work during the "off season"...as in early spring or late summer, after Nats.

Third and most importantly...your tournament ends on May 8th...MOTHER'S DAY! Some teams will play on Mother's Day, but many won't. By keeping the May 8th date, you've probably eliminated half of your potential customers...who are already having trouble justifying the trip because of obstacles #1 and #2 above.

Finally, finally...move on to plan B. Your facilities are nice, but you're located in the boondocks. Make it easier for teams to make the trip... pull out your calendar and look for conflicts, and get creative.

[LETHAL WEAPON 25]

Lethal Weapon I think pitching at 43 feet would be a good ideal if the tournment were in April. With the Hall of fame qualifier the following week most teams are not going to play or pitch at 43 feet.(Texas qualifier). Playing and pitching at 43 will throw the girls off.

No problem. We've just made the decision not to play anything but 43'. All of our girls are in school ball now and are throwing from 43' and we see no reason to go backwards. I know ASA is supposedly the "Big Dog" but IMHO the big dog made a poor decision by not going to 43'. The 3 other primary sanctioning bodies did (USFA, USSSA, IFA,). Why cant they?

[51sDad]

Third and most importantly...your tournament ends on May 8th...MOTHER'S DAY! Some teams will play on Mother's Day, but many won't. By keeping the May 8th date, you've probably eliminated half of your potential customers...who are already having trouble justifying the trip because of obstacles #1 and #2 above.

I don't think they are looking for teams that are worried about playing on holidays, birthday parties, sleepovers, or play dates. Nothing wrong with celebrating Mother's Day of course.

The 3 other primary sanctioning bodies did (USFA, USSSA, IFA,). Why cant they?

Just to note- Premier, ASA, and VTD are all at 40.

[Joe]

I don't think they are looking for teams that are worried about playing on....sleepovers, or play dates.

Come late April...that's exactly who they'll be looking for...

...mark it down.