NC ASA State Tournament

Smokey Moutain Flames 14u

 

I like the nsa tournaments pretty good as their is always one close to home no matter where you live in NC. Tournaments are well run and the umps are as good there as any of the other sanctions
USSSA is still alive and for my money is the best bang for the buck. Unlike nsa all the usssa games are hour and half and most games go a full 7 innings.
In nsa you are lucky to get in 5 innings per game and even less in pool play. If nsa would extend their game times it would really help them.
ASA don't have enough tournaments around to be worth the trouble. If you want to play ASA be prepared to travel.
I think alot of people want to play ASA only because it is so big with the west coast bunch. We need to support the organizations that work hard to have tournaments every weekend around here (NSA and USSSA) and help them grow. They work hard for us we should support them

 

NSA, USSSA, and AAU are fine if you want local exposure. They are good organizations and have good people running them. They do lack two things, the majority of college coaches do not attend the tournaments and they do not have the Olympic Team.

ASA is the top program because of these two groups. If you do not care about playing at the next level or you want to attend local colleges, these are great tournaments to play in. However, if you have the talent and want to play at a highest level, then you have to play in the ASA to be seen. Don't get me wrong. Tournaments like the NSA World Series will get scouted, but not like the ASA Nationals. This tournament will have over 300 colleges represented. It is a much better precentage for success.

The ASA tournaments that are heavily recruited will also have 50+ teams and some will have 100+ teams. The NCAA only allows so many days for recruiting and limits the number of coaches that can attend at a given time. These big tournaments give the college coaches more bang for the buck so to speak.

P.S. Like your tag line sftblgrl2008. If you follow it you will go very far!

 

With 50 to 100 teams at these tournaments what are the chances of a girl getting seen by a coach who doesn't already know about them? 000! Some of us are putting way to much on college schlorships and not just playing ball. Even the very best in NC who get money get only 2 or 3 thousand dollars. Athletic money is not that big a deal and if most of us took the money we spend to get a schlorship we would break about even

 

There is more $$ out there than you think

A few years ago I suspect your statement was true. Now, however, more coaches recognize that NC talent is close to that of all but the very best west coast kids. Local kids are less likely to get homesick and head home. My daughter got several "full ride" offers without ever playing ASA Gold. She did play well, though, in a number of well attended showcases (in South Carolina) her junior year. That, plus the fact she's a good student and not afraid of work paid off. You also have to be smart about choosing the right schools and be willing to do the 'leg work'.. . . attending camps and clinics. Don't waste your $$ on so-called 'recruiting services'. For many coaches these mailings are the first to go in the 'round file'.

 

Dukedog4 is right in his comments. If you play well when the stage is set you will get noticed. There are plenty of full and near full scholarships given to NC girls each year. You must work hard enough to earn one!

 

yea there are plenty of near full schlorships given to NC girls but I promise you the money they recieve for softball is very small. Most of the money they get is for acedemics and grants

 

central- i would say your comment is partially true, however if it wasn't for softball, these young ladies would not have these opportunities. Plus, what difference does it make if some of the money comes from academic and/or grants?

 

central-d: You are not seeing all the girls recruited in the state, just ones around you. Playing USSSA and NSA tournaments is part of the reason. Nothing against USSSA and NSA, they just don't have the interest from the college coaches. If you were playing ASA you would see the talent difference and the college interest difference.

 

USSSA, NSA, AAU, PONY, USFA and others are great organizations for teams and players to learn the game and improve skills. However, for the serious players (ones who would like to play in college) ASA is where these players should play. With that said, there are quite a few young ladies from NC now playing ASA that without the experience gained from NSA, AAU and others while they were younger, would not have the skills that allow them to compete in ASA today.

Presently, playing ASA requires cosiderably more travel and expense as compared to the other organizations and that is another reason something should be done to make ASA Fastpitch more active in NC. SC seems to be on the right track, why can't NC? A travel ball coaches association seems like a great starting point that could help all of the teams and organizations.

Another point along these lines is the fact that out west, much of the better talent does NOT play HS softball, they play travel ball instead. More games are played against better competition and HS ball has become like a rec program if they have a program at all. Maybe the NCHSAA could learn from what has happened out west and make some changes before the same thing occurs in NC, (or do they really care?)