Hello all. I’m new to this forum but not new to the game however, I have been out of the loop for about 20 years. I used to coach High School and U18 in the summer. We primarily played within the A.S.A. back then but I remember other associations (N.S.A., A.F.A., U.S.S.S.A.) making appearances in the fastpitch world when I was transitioning out of the game. Back then, the A.S.A. was the association the play for the elite teams, while the other associations gave teams at a lower level chances to play at a national level. I have absolutely no idea if this is still the case in today’s fastpitch world. Perhaps some of you can enlighten me.
That said, I’m back at it only this time, I’m starting at the U11 level. In addition to the stresses of complete organized chaos teaching kids this young opposed to high school athletes, this team is far from an “A” team. After watching a full season last year, I would put this team in a lower “B” class or perhaps even “C”. Which brings me to the reason of my post today.
Trying to find tournaments that fit our class is nowhere near as seamless as it was 20 years ago. It seems that most tournament hosts prefer an open class, which is just not productive for this group of kids I have. The A class of the softball world must be completely amazing these days too because even some of the B tournaments we attended had teams in it that I feel shouldn’t be but that’s a whole other topic. I’ve looked through the USSSA and ASA sites and the selections are very thin and of course, they will only display tournaments that are sanctioned. Are there any clubs/teams that host non-sanctioned tournaments anymore? If so, where would I find these? Is there a forum/group out there that is specific for B and C programs? Are there any weekday leagues out there anymore or is it just a free for all?
Back in the early 90’s there were weekday leagues in the Chicago suburbs. Anyone remember the West Suburban League? If memory serves me right, there were a few gentleman from Glen Ellyn that got that started (Pat, Scott were a couple) Am I bringing back any memories for anyone out there?
Any help anyone can provide with finding
That said, I’m back at it only this time, I’m starting at the U11 level. In addition to the stresses of complete organized chaos teaching kids this young opposed to high school athletes, this team is far from an “A” team. After watching a full season last year, I would put this team in a lower “B” class or perhaps even “C”. Which brings me to the reason of my post today.
Trying to find tournaments that fit our class is nowhere near as seamless as it was 20 years ago. It seems that most tournament hosts prefer an open class, which is just not productive for this group of kids I have. The A class of the softball world must be completely amazing these days too because even some of the B tournaments we attended had teams in it that I feel shouldn’t be but that’s a whole other topic. I’ve looked through the USSSA and ASA sites and the selections are very thin and of course, they will only display tournaments that are sanctioned. Are there any clubs/teams that host non-sanctioned tournaments anymore? If so, where would I find these? Is there a forum/group out there that is specific for B and C programs? Are there any weekday leagues out there anymore or is it just a free for all?
Back in the early 90’s there were weekday leagues in the Chicago suburbs. Anyone remember the West Suburban League? If memory serves me right, there were a few gentleman from Glen Ellyn that got that started (Pat, Scott were a couple) Am I bringing back any memories for anyone out there?
Any help anyone can provide with finding