Information about Premier Fastpitch Girls Softball

[wadeintothem]

Well i've been at the last 11 gold nationals. And for being the premiere event the officiating is not what it should have been. Lets face it a the best or good official in some part of the country that has officiated 100 games a year due to weather or whatever may and probably wont be as good as decent official in Cali that has 1000 under their belt. And the truth is to someone like me who has had issues with umpires mainly who dont know the rule book, even at nationals, we have learned to live with the good and bad and play anyways that it wont matter. As a matter of fact sometimes when the umpire is told or thinks they are among the best their attitude is horrible and abuse their power and have a bigger effect on the game when ejecting coaches. those who take pride in ejections should realize that either you have a chip on your shoulder or you are so bad everyone is always yelling at you and you have to throw them out. All that being said there are some great people umpiring men and women in Cali. that could do this if they dont go outside cali. If the officiating were an issue than the other tournaments that Gary host and run would not draw all the teams they do from around the country. This tourn gives us an option and the list has just about every past gold national Champion coming to it. that in itself tells you something and That will always leave any other tournament champion wondering where they stand against the best.....the truth is that most teams will decide where to go based on needs and wants. Be it money, recruiting, or the beloved national title. Both will be good tournaments and now we have a choice to decide what best fits our team needs.

Tommy

There are a lot of good umpires in So Cal. To find 40 +/- good umps in So cal would not be difficult. I bet he personnally knows quite a few that work for him all the time and do a great job for him. I hightly doubt that finding umps in socal will be hard.

[Gary Haning]

Please all, it is not "Gary's Tournament"

It is all of us seeking change, I am the the "voice" for now because I was the one that imagined it could be done and asked all of the others to join in, without the teams and without the efforts of many others it would not/will not work.

We will have good umpires, we ae paying twice what they receive at ASA Nationals from my information. We have access to many collegiate umps in Cal and other states. We do not have the rotational plan in place ASA has to pay for travel but we will put them up while they are here.

Umpires are hugely important to a good tournament. Anyone who tells me that the all of umpiring at most Gold Nationals is brilliant has not been there, is drunk or blind or both.

Part of the reason Salem, OR. was such a great Nationals is that we had superior umpires in every game we played and I saw the same in every game I watched. We will strive to match that standard.

I will freely admit that all of the umpiring in the Surf City events is not first rate. When you have 700 games in three days and some guys/girls are doing 6 to 8 games a day with little rest, the performance has to suffer. We don't like this but at least it is a situation where no championship is on the line.

[wadeintothem]

Just spoke with actually a well placed person (usually) on the phone who said they already knew this was happening (doesnt read these boards) and this was going to be an IFA Championship, which also advertises "elite" divisions.

That sounded different than what has been posted here and I'm guessing thats false, but has that been bantered around? ARe you guys simply going to another org?

[wadeintothem]

$50 a game is a real good rate too. Thats good on you Gary.

[Gary Haning]

No, there is no organization involved in this tournament, we have had inquiries from a number of them but this simply a group of teams.

Maybe someday this will itself be an organization but that is a good ways off if it ever happens.

[Gary Haning]

We want good umps, we want this to be something they look forward to as well as the teams.

I have had my share of battles with umpires over the years but I have always respected and appreciated the efforts of the men and women who run the game professionally, hustle and make sure they are in the best possible position to make their calls.

[TexasYellowBall]

What percent of these teams are going to play both tournaments.One teams goes to premier, and one to Gold.

[Iluvblue]

Gary can be as humble as he wants to be, but without his backing and pushing of this event, it would likely not happen. And that is by no means a knock... I think it is a good thing.

I got in involved in our local association up here because I felt the people making the decisions that impacted our area were not doing things with the teams in mind. It is definitely time to start having people that run teams be heavily involved in the decision making process that impacts what is important, our teams, coaches, and parents. Being in 14u, we try to prepare our parents as best we can about what they can expect when they get to Gold. And for the most part that is travel, time, and lots and lots of money. If Premiere softball can help soften the financial impact of playing gold for teams and parents, I am all for it.

As someone else stated, this is going to be fun to watch and see how this all unfolds.

[NumeroUno]

What percent of these teams are going to play both tournaments.One teams goes to premier, and one to Gold.

Not if they are on the same weekend

[anonlooker]

What percent of these teams are going to play both tournaments.One teams goes to premier, and one to Gold.

Maybe you should read both "premier" threads again. You will find that one of the main greivances the elite orgs have tried to address with ASA is the cost and time of playing in the Gold OKC tournament.

Given that, why would they attend both? With the elite programs playing Premier, the ASA tourney will be nothing more than a Gold "B" event anyway.