Where are the hot spots of softball in Florida?

[FastpitchFan]

Last week, I was in Florida and saw a nice game at Florida Atlantic vs. Michigan. I know Florida is one of the good softball state.

However, I was wondering, where are the hot sports or the hottest spots for softball in Florida?

More precisely, where are the strongest pockets of elite softball teams in Florida? Which city? Which area?

If a young softball player was to move to Florida and his family would pick their new home based on the area where the best softball is, what would be the top 3?

Thank you!

Marc

 

[Bucketrider]

I am from the South west coast of FL and the I-4 corridor from Tampa to Orlando seem to be the largest amount of team concentration according to the local fastpitch forums by teams looking for players. There are a few teams in Naples, but south of Tampa I would place the Ft Lauderdale area as another strong softball influential area.

 

[starsnuffer]

USSSA is huge in Florida and especially the Orlando area. Might be worth checking out the schedule and NPF Pride events to see where their action usually is.

There are tons of good fields and facilities built around the I4 corridor as mentioned above to support MLB's spring training programs that happen in that general area, so I wouldn't be surprised if softball was able to take advantage of some of that infrastructure.

-W

 

[jacketsfan]

The best are sporadic, and change from time to time. In general, the bigger metro areas, though, have the most good teams. There are some real good ones in the West Palm area, some in Miami, some in Tampa, and some in Jax. Orlando teams seem to come and go, but we have played some good ones there as well.

So, that probably doesn't help too much, but it's hard to say. We had a team from Ft Lauderdale win Gold Nationals (with players from all over the country), and a team full of local kids from Tampa won ASA 18 Nationals and the Hall of Fame tourney.

My team finished third at FAST Nationals 2 years ago (Tampa area), and the team that won was the Bartow/Lakeland area. The 2nd place team was from Miami. There were 85 teams from all over the country at that one, and we ended with 2 other teams we had played several times over the summer at the end.

A Gold Team from Clearwater was really good last year (2nd I think at Nat's), and they will be again this summer.

So, I think in about any metro area, you'll find teams at all levels - beginner, intermediate, and elite.

If you want something more specific, ask away.

NSA holds the largest tourneys in Central FL. USSSA is bigger down south.

 

[joemcq51]

Having been involved in competetive softball in Fl for the past 20 years, I can give you this advice. Don't move to a city based on its softball talent levels. With that said, here are my observations.
Tampa/Orlando and Ft Lauderdale/Miami areas are extremely loaded with talented teams. I mean hundreds of teams. Could be the reason they don't compete so well at ASA Nationals.
Jacksonville has come on in recent years, producing some very nice D1 players.
Areas like Palm Beach and Naples have some traditionally strong programs. There are just fewer teams in those areas. I have no doubt, that a team with enough sponsor money and quality coaching could be put together to compete with the SoCal top teams. You are seeing that now with the GCH and TNF.

 

[BLB]

Any elite fastpitch games or tournaments going on in the Tampa/Orlando area during the last 10 days of March?

 

[jacketsfan]

It's still HS season here, so HS age kids are not playing TB until May. Tourneys going on are for 14U and younger.

I agree with Joe as well - if we ever had the gumption to put together a travel ball all-star team, it would be fantastic. There are just so many players and teams around, that it probably does hold back at nationals. On the other hand, week in and week our, you play some pretty good teams (usually).