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Jun 20, 2015
848
93
the worst ones IMO. are when you are a legit b level team, and just smoking teams that are 'claiming' to be B level and in reality are barely C or Rec level. And then the parents start chirping....


OR the open classification tourney, and the C level team gets in and they start chirping when they are getting beating like a drum.

And in neither case is it the players fault, i'm sure they are trying and giving max effort, but at some point the coach's need to remove pink sunglasses and truly evaluate their talent level. AND inform parents of it.
 
Nov 20, 2020
995
93
SW Missouri
the worst ones IMO. are when you are a legit b level team, and just smoking teams that are 'claiming' to be B level and in reality are barely C or Rec level. And then the parents start chirping....


OR the open classification tourney, and the C level team gets in and they start chirping when they are getting beating like a drum.

And in neither case is it the players fault, i'm sure they are trying and giving max effort, but at some point the coach's need to remove pink sunglasses and truly evaluate their talent level. AND inform parents of it.

Saw a lot of this over the weekend. But, it’s Fall and the area had a lot of coach/team shifting between organizations. So there was a lot of feeling out where team skill levels were really at.

I think answers were provided to some teams in the open divisions based on scores
 
Apr 1, 2017
535
93
the worst ones IMO. are when you are a legit b level team, and just smoking teams that are 'claiming' to be B level and in reality are barely C or Rec level. And then the parents start chirping....


OR the open classification tourney, and the C level team gets in and they start chirping when they are getting beating like a drum.

And in neither case is it the players fault, i'm sure they are trying and giving max effort, but at some point the coach's need to remove pink sunglasses and truly evaluate their talent level. AND inform parents of it.
One issue though is just how wide the skill level is for "B". Even if we could wave a magic wand and every single team was ranked/classified exactly where they should be, the difference in skill level between the top of B and the bottom would be run-rule games all day long. In my "magic wand" world, there might be A thru F teams, to keep things relatively balanced.

In the real world though, supply chain problems have us all out of magic wands, so we all need to do the best we can in being realistic and finding tournaments that work.
 
Dec 2, 2013
3,410
113
Texas
One issue though is just how wide the skill level is for "B". Even if we could wave a magic wand and every single team was ranked/classified exactly where they should be, the difference in skill level between the top of B and the bottom would be run-rule games all day long. In my "magic wand" world, there might be A thru F teams, to keep things relatively balanced.

In the real world though, supply chain problems have us all out of magic wands, so we all need to do the best we can in being realistic and finding tournaments that work.
This is true in ages 10u-14U. 16u/18u lines between A, B, Gold are more clearly defined.
 
Aug 27, 2019
640
93
Lakewood CA.
This is true in ages 10u-14U. 16u/18u lines between A, B, Gold are more clearly defined.

Agreed. One thing that can skew things when it comes to this kind of stuff is one stud pitcher on (or guesting with) a team that is otherwise in the right flight/bracket.
That can open a big’ol can of worms.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Feb 1, 2021
273
43
the worst ones IMO. are when you are a legit b level team, and just smoking teams that are 'claiming' to be B level and in reality are barely C or Rec level. And then the parents start chirping....
One thing that is easy for me to ignore is parents barking because the game was one sided. Rarely is it because your team played flawlessly and the other team was just flat unstoppable. Clean up those 4 errors in the 3rd inning and the 15-4 final score gets a LOT closer.

As a parent on the OTHER team, I promise I won't cheer your mistakes, but I can't fix them. Don't bark, but regardless, I'm not listening anyway.
 
Jan 31, 2011
453
43
I coach high school now so classes are set by student population. However, "iron sharpens iron." Play the best whenever you can. Seek out the best!
Quite a few years ago I coached a 12u TB team that was pretty good. In the fall we were OK. Not great by any means! I classified us as an "A" level team because who wants to strive to be the top "B" team in the state? Kids need to get better by playing at a high level. We played only "A" or "Open" tournaments and got beat. We routinely played up an age group too. 12U playing 14U. The game is faster, the kids are bigger/stronger, and you have work harder for it. By the end of the year our little team won the 12U ASA "A" state in Iowa and we went to Bloomington, IN to play the best in the country. It was a great experience. Never take that opportunity away from your players by playing down. Be a better coach!
 
Oct 9, 2018
396
63
Texas
I coach high school now so classes are set by student population. However, "iron sharpens iron." Play the best whenever you can. Seek out the best!
Quite a few years ago I coached a 12u TB team that was pretty good. In the fall we were OK. Not great by any means! I classified us as an "A" level team because who wants to strive to be the top "B" team in the state? Kids need to get better by playing at a high level. We played only "A" or "Open" tournaments and got beat. We routinely played up an age group too. 12U playing 14U. The game is faster, the kids are bigger/stronger, and you have work harder for it. By the end of the year our little team won the 12U ASA "A" state in Iowa and we went to Bloomington, IN to play the best in the country. It was a great experience. Never take that opportunity away from your players by playing down. Be a better coach!
What is wrong with the idea of "win then move up"? I see so many coaches in the 10u to 14u that want to classify as something they are not with the mantra of "iron sharpens iron" or "play the best to be the best". How about a coach that gets the best out of his team at whatever level that is.
 
Aug 27, 2019
640
93
Lakewood CA.
What is wrong with the idea of "win then move up"? I see so many coaches in the 10u to 14u that want to classify as something they are not with the mantra of "iron sharpens iron" or "play the best to be the best". How about a coach that gets the best out of his team at whatever level that is.
+1
This summer I was at a tournament with my DD and her team was playing in the HS division which is pretty much 16/18u. There were a couple 14u teams “playing up” (even though there was a 14u division).
It did not go well for them. I think between the two teams they scored 2-3 runs combined in four games. Everything is a learning opportunity and these two teams learned that they were indeed 14u teams.

i felt bad because it was clear they were not having fun getting their teeth kicked in every game.
 
Jan 31, 2011
453
43
+1
This summer I was at a tournament with my DD and her team was playing in the HS division which is pretty much 16/18u. There were a couple 14u teams “playing up” (even though there was a 14u division).
It did not go well for them. I think between the two teams they scored 2-3 runs combined in four games. Everything is a learning opportunity and these two teams learned that they were indeed 14u teams.

i felt bad because it was clear they were not having fun getting their teeth kicked in every game.
I guess I should clarify my post. Yes, you have to consider the caliber of your team. How well are they developed? What level can they compete? However, if a team goes 6-0 in a tourney, scores 75 runs and gives up 2 clearly isn't playing the proper level of competition. It feels good winning a tourney like that, but are the kids really getting better in that setting? Player development should be the goal at every level. Last weekend I watched a 12U team that played up to 14U and did OK. They competed with older teams. The competition showed the areas that need improvement & what to work on in practice. However, it does a lot for confidence when a 11 year old gets a base hit off a 14U pitcher. Or when a 11 year old strikes out a big kid. To me, that is worth it. Kids need to know they can compete & are not intimidated by older kids.
 

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