As far as 14’s – it will go something in this neighborhood
Bloomington/Normal area around 10 teams which is far more teams per capita than the QC area.
Champaign/Urbana will have around 3 teams which is not many but that area has very limited softball desire
Mattoon area will have 3 to 4 teams which is a ton of players/capita
Danville area will have perhaps 2 teams – not enough income in the area to support more
Springfield area will likely have 6-7 teams
Decatur will have 1 or 2 – not enough income in the area to support more
But I’ve never understood why the number of teams mattered to so many? You simply pick the tournaments that match your teams desired level of competition. Every good team has to travel unless you’re in So. Cal, Houston, Dallas, etc….
If you want good competition in the QC area, follow the Firebird teams around. They should have at least 3 solid to very good teams in that age bracket. Midwest Sluggers usually puts a solid team together. Sterling Steam will still be able to beat a lot of teams at 14u. Eastern Iowa Barracudas will be very good and they play in the QC area often. QC area also hosts an ASA National qualifier, sign up for that tournament. If needed, sign up for a few 16u U-trip tournaments in the QC area, there will be some good teams in that age bracket.
If there are a few more teams at the lower levels – great for them. They will have a marginal effects on the top teams. Typically those teams avoid A tournaments like the plague so they aren’t completely clueless as they seem.
Bloomington/Normal area around 10 teams which is far more teams per capita than the QC area.
Champaign/Urbana will have around 3 teams which is not many but that area has very limited softball desire
Mattoon area will have 3 to 4 teams which is a ton of players/capita
Danville area will have perhaps 2 teams – not enough income in the area to support more
Springfield area will likely have 6-7 teams
Decatur will have 1 or 2 – not enough income in the area to support more
But I’ve never understood why the number of teams mattered to so many? You simply pick the tournaments that match your teams desired level of competition. Every good team has to travel unless you’re in So. Cal, Houston, Dallas, etc….
If you want good competition in the QC area, follow the Firebird teams around. They should have at least 3 solid to very good teams in that age bracket. Midwest Sluggers usually puts a solid team together. Sterling Steam will still be able to beat a lot of teams at 14u. Eastern Iowa Barracudas will be very good and they play in the QC area often. QC area also hosts an ASA National qualifier, sign up for that tournament. If needed, sign up for a few 16u U-trip tournaments in the QC area, there will be some good teams in that age bracket.
If there are a few more teams at the lower levels – great for them. They will have a marginal effects on the top teams. Typically those teams avoid A tournaments like the plague so they aren’t completely clueless as they seem.