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Define "GOLD TEAM" ????

Discussion in 'Softball Forum' started by ThatsRight, Sep 7, 2007.

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  1. Sep 7, 2007 at 4:45 PM #11
    bubba hut

    bubba hut Bubba Hut

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    Gold

    It's one thing to be classified as a Gold team. You can only play Gold ASA
    sanctioned tournaments. Not to say you can't play a showcase which does not care what you are sanctioned. To say you have beaten a Gold team only means that you have beaten a team that strives to compete at a higher level.
    Not all Gold teams are great..No one said you can't have a great team and not play Gold , you can !
    It was most likely a showcase. The Gold level IS the highest level of play available for for these young ladies. Only 64 teams in the USA can qualify to play the Gold Nationals via playing your way in. That is why College coaches are at these tournaments in droves. As a first time Gold dad , I would tell anyone interested in getting your daughter the best opportunity to play college ball to play Gold...I'm not saying you can't play if you don't, only that it gives you the very best chance to get that scholarship....That's the TRUTH of it... No one said it was easy to get in the group of 64...But, if you are lucky enough to make it , it opens doors
    that you might not imagine...Gold is where it is at for getting seen by coaches....
     
    Last edited: Sep 7, 2007
  2. Sep 7, 2007 at 10:38 PM #12
    Dawgswood

    Dawgswood Full Access Member

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    You need to keep those blinking eyes a little more open and reread softball nuts post. Think you missed it the first time.
     
  3. Sep 7, 2007 at 11:55 PM #13
    marlinfan1

    marlinfan1 Full Access Member

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    Key point by softballnut...

    ....is that you don't have to play GOLD in order to be seen by the college that you are interested in if you make the college of your interest AWARE you ARE interested. E-mail, camps, ....videos if the school is way out of your area. Softballnut has reason to know what I'm saying here. He also knows that if GOLD, what ever the definition, is best for your DD, or TB in the NC, SC, GA, VA, FL will place your DD in a coaches EYES for less $ then thats your call. Good luck ALL. No disrespect, this ? of GOLD, and its value should be addressed. I know softballnut, I trust his experience. Can we hear from others in TBR?
     
  4. Sep 8, 2007 at 6:39 AM #14
    cheeze105

    cheeze105 Moderator Staff Member

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    I agree that playing on a gold team would be an experience of a life time, but let me ask this: how many of the lady blues gold team were already committed to a college before they went to the tournaments? i know some were, but dont know how many. if the majority of the girls were already committed to a college, then the "getting seen concept" doesnt make sense. if only a few were not committed, then the few spent a large amount of $$$ to be seen with some of the best. If only one or two were committed, then it makes sense to play with some of the best and the $$$ arent so much of a factor if you're successful at getting recruited.

    the point has been made that you dont have to play gold to go to college, and thats a valid point. but the experience of playing with 10 or 11 awesome players beside yourself, and playing against some of the best teams in the nation can truely be a once in a lifetime experience, but at what cost?

    a tbr member estimated that their family spent over $7000.00 total to play gold this summer. My question is did they recover this much in scholarship or is it a non factor as the experience is priceless???????

    Did any of the players get recruited because of exposure given by playing on the gold team??? Were they being looked at by this college before the gold tournaments???

    And if so, how much scholarship money did they attain because of this?

    i'm not against the gold team concept, i think the team was awesome and the concept is great, but these are just questions on my mind and the mind of others through pm's.
     
  5. Sep 9, 2007 at 8:32 PM #15
    wildmanone

    wildmanone Full Access Member

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    Gold Team

    Good post Cheeze. my question is does the gold teams play in front of west coaches and big northern schools and how many girls are willing to go that far from home and seems like it would be hard on parents to attend games. I would think the best college years of playing would for the girls to have her parents watching her play. seems to me no matter where a girl plays chances are that is as far as she will go in softball
     
  6. Sep 9, 2007 at 10:04 PM #16
    cfastpitch44

    cfastpitch44 Full Access Member

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    18-U Blues Gold, I don,t think this teams goal was to be seen by coaches on the west coast. Most of the seniors on this team wanted to play at the highest level possible to prepare for college ball. Most of them had played against the same teams for several years and wanted to play against different teams from across the country. My DD will never forget the times she had this summer. She said it was the best time she has ever had playing ball. The money spent will be well worth it in the long run. She has memories of a Life Time. She got to go places that alot of small town girls don,t get the oppurtunity to do. Thanks to the 18-U Lady Blues Gold.
     
  7. Sep 9, 2007 at 11:13 PM #17
    CFBall

    CFBall Senior Member

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    exactly.......preparation and their college coaches love u and this level of play! :hurray:

    i know she did.....Wonderful job Mo and enjoy the upcoming years!!
     
  8. Sep 10, 2007 at 6:38 AM #18
    cheeze105

    cheeze105 Moderator Staff Member

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    cfastpitch44, i know the Mo was already committed to USC-Upstate, but what of the other girls? were they all previously committed to a college? I also agree, the experiences she had will last a life time.
     
  9. Sep 10, 2007 at 10:58 AM #19
    Purple Haze

    Purple Haze Full Access Member

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    Gold Team

    I believe all of the 2007 kids were committed before this summer, but none of the 2008's or the 2009 were. Now all of the 08's are committed and the 09 player could be if she chose to be. Playing out West isn't about getting seen by Northern or West Coast coaches. Almost every D-1 and alot of D-11 schools from NC, SC, VA, TN, and GA were in Colorado and California recruiting NC players. I think thats what most folks around here don't understand. Coaches want to see players they are interested in from wherever, play against the "perceived" best in the country. I say "perceived" because they're are without a doubt 3 or 4 teams right now in NC that could play and do well in Gold softball. Gold is where most coaches want to see their recruits or even there signed players play. Some of these player were told by their college coaches to find a gold team to play Summer ball on. A "Gold Player" doesn't necessarily mean that she is better than another player. But without a doubt she is the most visible or exposed.
     
  10. Sep 10, 2007 at 11:23 AM #20
    cheeze105

    cheeze105 Moderator Staff Member

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    were the 2008 girls recruited as a direct effect of playing on the gold team, or were they being looked at previously by the schools that offered them scholarships???

    i understand the coaches telling players to find a good team to play on before they enter college, experience and things like that, but i also know of some college coaches who prefer that their recruits not play ball due to the risk of injury.

    all in all, i see the benefit of a gold team, just, in one aspect, to tell the rest of the softball community that nc girls can stand with the best, but many here are wondering if its worth the expense or was this the ultimate recruiting plan for those unsigned????? if they were signed by nc colleges, it answers the questions for most, but seems excessive to travel to colorado or other places to recruit a player in your own back yard, especially if the team they play on is as good as the teams in the gold tournaments. this is just a point of curiousity (sp) and in no way is it meant to dub any gold team or college coach.
     
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