Dropping the ball on the Pony Nationals

A National title, is a National title...

You would not be playing any rec team in the final.....
and what National Championship are you at right now??

as info...
The 14U Shamrock team I watched today can beat 75% of the 18U
teams I have seen in NC this summer...

 

ASA is Only "National Championship"...

The only true National Championship is the USA/ASA Championships taking place this week in various locations. There are many World Series (such as PONY, NSA, USFA, etc.), but all of these have loopholes to allow teams that didn't win a "national qualifier" to get in. PONY allows tournament hosts to get a bid, NSA allows teams that play in a few tournaments to get a bid, USFA does the same.

There is a chance you will play a rec-quality team at any of these events!

PONY puts on a very good national tournament, but unfortunately its hard to add another sanctioning organization to a state that already runs tournaments under ASA, NSA, and USFA sanctions on each and every weekend. I think you would see more NC participation if there were PONY qualifiers sprinkled in here and there over the course of the Spring season.

 

Ok....I'm going to be cynical here and say that there is money to be made at tournaments for the organizers. Loopholes to allow a team in as you call it is money in their pocket. But aside from the financial gain of the orgainzers, I would be willing to bet you veggies from The Pages farm that there are teams that do want to go and participate with no intentions of winning...A) because the know they do not have the talent but LOVE to play up to get better and get championship tournament experience, and B) maybe they are building for next year, or the year after. REC ball or not. CD is right. A National Championship is a National Championship. A 14U that can beat 75% of the 18U's from NC? If anyone would know CD would. Maybe these teams don't play as much ASA, NSA, USFA or whatever in the North East, but I would not let that fool you. We went last year and my DD did not get to play because of her injury, but we saw some phenomenal teams. I may not know as much about coaching as the rest of you, but I know a good team when I see one, especially one that can hit. My DD would have given anything to have played in a National Tournament this Summer, and many had the chance and blew it off. A National Championship in your own back yard and no one goes.

 

Unless my memory is playing tricks on me I believe the Cape Fear Storm 14U won the PONY Nationals a year or so ago at Thomas Brooks in Cary.

I saw some players from a team called Cary Crush at Grand Slam today; along with a couple teams from Pennsylvania.

 

It appears someone knows how to put on a national tournament:

http://pony.raleighjaycees.org/pages/schedule.html

 

only in a travel ball coaches mind

ASA is the "ONLY TRUE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP" because most travel ball coaches support that view.. What about the girls....and this thing called FUN....

The view means 99% of the girls that play softball will never experience the excitement of playing in a tournament with 80-100 teams, representing many different states and Canada. If you have never been to one, your missing a great experience.

I think Pony has to do a better job in NC. They used to be strong here, with tons of local tournaments back in 2001 - 2004. Not sure what happened, but if an area is gonna host the organizations " National Championship", you might want to make sure that there is some "local" representation..

 

I remember when the 16U Challengers competed in the 16U PONY Nationals when the Nationals were held here in the Raleigh area. We faced some tough teams then. Remember that Fire and Ice team, Charlie? Hell, we even played regulation games! That was before the "showcase" craze.

It makes no sense to me that this PONY National is not loaded with NC teams. The only thing I can figure is it must be the lack of effort on the part of PONY representatives.