USSSA starting a Nationals to compete with ASA and PGF....

[Elk Grove Hurricane]

Close is relative I guess, Reno is 130 miles from Sac. and 200+ from the East Bay. But I have heard a couple of teams talking about Reno, many of the teams that I know of are interested in Triple Crown.
I have seen that the top teams try to play PGF, and a few make the trek to Southern CA once or twice. But, where they play most of the time is in a Nor cal tournament, and more and more are migrating to the USA Elite tournaments. One that they have in early Feb. is a who's who list of the best of Northern CA. It's remarkable how quickly USSSA has become a force. ASA
I haven't really followed who qualified for each tournament, I did see during tryout season most teams had multiple national tournaments listed on their schedules. Here is one example: 14U Bryson | All American Mizuno The location of the 14U tournament might cause a few teams to skip ASA this year

 

[inthunder]

If the top CA teams don't come then so be it. There is a power shift in softball happening as you see it in college softball already. SEC is dominating where once the PAC12 teams did. If players from CA want to be seen by more SEC coaches they will eventually need to come play East.

 

[SoCal_Dad]

This only conflicts with TC/USA Nats, which is in NYC again this year and therefore very expensive - unless your team is getting free hotel rooms from TCS...

 

[grcsftbll]

It appears USSSA sent out invites and some big name teams accepted berths - USA Elite Select.

I just found out a few minutes ago our team will be playing in the 9U division in Clermont.

 

[SoCal_Dad]

Close is relative I guess, Reno is 130 miles from Sac. and 200+ from the East Bay. But I have heard a couple of teams talking about Reno, many of the teams that I know of are interested in Triple Crown.
I have seen that the top teams try to play PGF, and a few make the trek to Southern CA once or twice. But, where they play most of the time is in a Nor cal tournament, and more and more are migrating to the USA Elite tournaments. One that they have in early Feb. is a who's who list of the best of Northern CA. It's remarkable how quickly USSSA has become a force.

This thread is about USA ES championship competing with ASA and PGF Nationals, not local tournaments.

The TCS events in Reno I brought up are similarly major ones that draw teams from all over (e.g. SoCal, TX, AL and further), so they are "local" for NorCal since they are within 2-3 hours drive. You often drive that much - AFTER FLYING TO THE CLOSEST MAJOR AIRPORT - to attend most ASA Nationals.

The location of the 14U tournament might cause a few teams to skip ASA this year

ASA/USA 14U Nats in Sioux Falls, SD is a prime example of ASA's remote sites. It's the old "You can't get there from here - you have to start someplace else." ASA Western Nats in Roseville is likely your closest option.

 

[Elk Grove Hurricane]

Not arguing about ASA's choice of locales, or that anyone is happy with their decision-making in general. But, before you build interest in a national tournament, you have to have interest locally, and USSSA is achieving the first goal. Not saying they are taking over tomorrow, but they will become a player soon IMO. PGF is very attractive to everyone, lots of teams locally that know about Triple Crown are interested, but they haven't cornered the market yet. And as for Reno being local, again, it's all relative.

 

[JAD]

Definitely some big names from GA on there. I don't know any of those particular teams since 12U isn't even on my radar yet but I know a lot of the organizations.

Some organizations are expanding in order to send a team to each national - ASA, ASA Gold, PGF and now USSSA. The expansion teams are not always as strong as the established teams, so it pays to know which team is which. I think some teams who may have attended ASA this year will go to USSSA, especially if USSSA is handing out organizational berths that do not require teams to play qualifiers.

 

[OlatheDad]

Hope to see some of you at the Nationals in KC. We live here and the Top Gun group, along with MSP one of the local organizers, run good tournaments. A lot of things to do in the KC area outside of playing (Worlds of Fun, Schlitterbahn Water Park, great BBQ, Royals Baseball, Negro League Baseball Museum, etc.) MSP has several tournaments for baseball and softball that pull in over 400 teams for a weekend tournament (Monster Bash, Hawaiian Hitfest, Cowtown). The Nationals qualifier in the fall had teams form Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois. Arkansas, Oklahoma and Colorado. There are multiple large complexes around the city and most are within a half hour of each other so it is easy for coaches to move around and see multiple teams and age groups.

Both my DD's played in the fall regional qualifier and the competition was very good. For the first year I do not expect that we will see many from the west coast or even the east cost with the exception of the teams that win their qualifier and get travel money and paid entry. If the tournament goes well then of over the next couple of years I would expect to see more teams from those areas from word of mouth recommendations from the teams and college coaches that attend.

Also, it is cheaper for some teams that travel to stay and play in KC than it is to go to Denver, Southern California, or Orlando.

 

[JAD]

Not arguing about ASA's choice of locales, or that anyone is happy with their decision-making in general. But, before you build interest in a national tournament, you have to have interest locally, and USSSA is achieving the first goal. Not saying they are taking over tomorrow, but they will become a player soon IMO. PGF is very attractive to everyone, lots of teams locally that know about Triple Crown are interested, but they haven't cornered the market yet. And as for Reno being local, again, it's all relative.

I think that all of the competition that has popped up lately is going to force ASA to rethink some of the EBF locations they use to host their events. ASA will be able to fill their events, but the competition is SEVERELY watered down compared to years past. PGF, TC and JO Cup have skimmed the top 16U and 18U teams and ASA is left giving out a lot of "at large" berths....when my DD's team was coming up through the ranks our goal was to qualify for ASA Nationals. Now I do not think we would go to ASA Nationals if they gave us a berth....

 

[SoCal_Dad]

USA ES is an attempt to upgrade/rebrand USSSA akin to Acura/Honda and Lexus/Toyota. Their presence understandably varies by area according to whomever is organizing their events. The NorCal director, Kappmeyer, isn't new to running tourneys there - he's just doing it under a different brand and would still be running local tourneys there without USA ES.

FWIW, I find it odd Kappmeyer has chosen to hide the teams entered in many of his events. Hmm...

USA ES is definitely handing out berths. First, the teams listed without a link (e.g. Thunderbolts, OC Batbusters, Tulsa Elite, Impact Gold, TX Bombers). Second, click on teams where multiple are listed for a region and you'll find ones that haven't played in a qualifier (e.g. 16U EC Bullets, 14U AZ Suncats).

Note: The 18U list is currently a mess - it's showing 12U teams. Something happened to it in the last 24 hours.