2011 PONY Nationals / Cary, NC

PONY Rocks

I have had two daughters rise through the softball ranks to go on to play DI and DII college ball. During that time our daughters have played in ASA regionals and nationals, USSA regionals and nationals, PONY, FAST, and I think one other. We have also been to Colorado, OH, NC, SC, PA, FL, WV, KY, IN,TN, MI, and I am sure some others I have forgotten.

Of all the national tournaments, PONY is by far the most-enjoyable all around for players and family in our experiences. I hated ASA Nationals the most--especially at the 18U level. And at the 18U level, there were only a handful of college coaches at nationals.

I have to say my most favorite summer of all was when my daughter was playing on her last 18U team before aging out and going to college. The team played PONY and ASA tournaments the majority of the summer and finished first in most of the tournaments they played. The summer ended at PONY nationals where the team took third place.

At that tournament, the top two teams were far and above the caliber of any team that my daughter had played all summer--including those whose teams went on to finish high in the ASA nationals. These two teams chose to play in the PONY nationals because Texas was just too far for them to travel. I remember one team was from New York.

We absolutely enjoyed every bit of PONY nationals that year. Half of the team had either already played college ball at the DI or DII level, and all but a couple younger players had already signed to play at DI and DII. These players have been top players for their colleges since that summer.

I think what made that summer so special was that there was no pressure on the girls. They were already going to play in college, and they didn't have to impress anyone or try to compete with anyone for playing time. They were all good, and they supported each other in the most awesome way.

We saw more college coaches at that PONY national tournament than we saw at the 18U tournament two years earlier, and they were there watching many of our games. But it didn't matter because our girls had already done their homework ahead of time in contacting college coaches, attending showcases, playing fall ball against college teams, setting up their player profile on berecruited.com and other websites, creating and distributing their skills videos, and other things that allowed them to be seen by college coaches.

When my husband coached 16U travel ball, I contacted every college coach close to the tournament our girls would be playing in and invited them to see our team play. In addition I followed up with a schedule of game times. We then had our girls to contact the coaches as well and invite the coaches to see them play.There were a couple smaller tournaments that we entered just to be closer to home, and these coaches showed up at those tournaments because they were contacted and invited.

I guess this is getting long, so I will stop. I miss the travel scene very much, and I will always cherish those wonderful memories we had.

 

A lot of things are better, left unsaid

 

BINGO!!!

Many people go to "showcases" hoping coaches will be there and see them whether the player is interested in those coaches' schools or not. I hear questions like "who is she looking at?" all the time.

My question would be are you interested in that school? Do they offer what you're interested in? Have you contacted that school? Do they know you're here?

Many, I suspect, attend showcases like they are playing tournaments. Many probably don't know the difference between the two. Many are having fun believing they are competing instead of showcasing. (I know, someone is going to say they are competing. But there's a difference.)

PONY doesn't make the tournament competitive; the teams make the tournament competitive. If you don't enter you can't compete. So you can't say for certain how you would have done.