Topic: Pre season top 3 LI travel softball teams in each age group

Express 18 Elite. Shocked the hell out of me. That's a class team.

Where are most of the 18's playing this 4th of july weekend?

Are there any Long Island tournaments 14, 16 this weekend?  

15 LONG ISLAND 18U TEAMS ARE PLAYING AT TNT SHOWCASE IN ALLENTOWN, PA AND 3 16U TEAMS ARE ALSO PLAYING THERE, TOTAL OF 18 TEAMS REPRESENTING LONG ISLAND.

Triple Crown Firecracker Frenzy. good teams in 14's and 16's. Should be fun to watch.

 And of those teams the tournament director has 7 of them in the top 6 brackets. Anyone who knows that tournament director knows he knows his stuff. I think it's a compliment to "watered down" LI softball that these teams are garnering that kind of respect.

I also think it's great that people don't think it's necessary to fly out all the way to Colorado. There are going to be a lot of college coaches at all levels at TNT this weekend. 

Good luck to everyone!

True, but it doesn't really matter how they do as a team. Winning is nice and great and obviously very important to the girls as a group, but these events are about getting the girls in front of college coaches and those teams being in those brackets ensures them some looks, especially if their players are doing their homework and getting in contact with the college coaches.

Besides, I think all of those teams have seen that level of compeition before and they've done just fine in the past.

Excellent point. That is part of the reason almost all 18u teams are getting girls into colleges. Some people just don't get it.

Winning does matter in some of the showcases and tournaments. If you show poorly and don't win, there is a good chance you won't get invited back the next year

Safeathome and Infieldfly I agree with your points. I was assuming we were referring to LI teams. Except for a few tournaments most LI teams seem to be getting into the same core tournaments in different brackets as mentioned. These teams are all placing girls in college, so they're receiving coaches' attention. That's the reason I don't think it's all about winning every game, but I do agree teams need to be competitive, which seem to be the case with most LI teams.  But things in general definitely seem to be changing. It seems many teams are getting into most tournaments and more less-competitive teams are getting time on the main fields which was not always the case. For some teams it will prove good but for some others it may not if they don't show well. I'm sure it has to do with money. I can't believe the number of tournaments starting midweek.

Yes, Long Island teams. You are right they don't need to win every game. Most of the winning is just for the coaches ego, vendetta, bragging rights, other coaches embarrassment. The list goes on. Gives a coach a reason to say "yeah we beat them 2-0". Big deal. Does that mean they have a better team. Absolutely not. It means they beat them that day 2-0. But the winning coach says they have the better team. The losing coach, blames an ump, or we didn't have our top players, again the list goes on. But the parent whose kid didn't get in the game with a college coach present is the only one that loses. Unfortunately there are two sides. The coaches that need to win every game and the parents that want to get there kid into college. If you look at the 'core' tournaments for the east the same teams are there and each one is capable of beating the other on any given day. If you are looking to stay on the east D1 or D2 then these are teams the kids should play for, e.g., LI Chargers or Sudden Impact, LI ...., etc. But, be careful only the teams with reputations will get field advantages of the main complex where the coaches are. If you want to 'widen the strike zone' then kids should play on teams that travel to CO, CA, FL, and other high profile tournaments. That is where the coaches are, from UCLA on the west to BU on the east. It is also where the level of competition steps up. One point on your 'less competitive teams' statement. Remember, the quality of the tournament will bring the coaches, which brings the team. Don't think that a TD is going to risk the integrity and quality of his/her tournament to let less competitive teams play on 'field 1' 

paaaleeeze  Team L.I.  at Team NJ tournament: 1 Win 4 Losses 2 Ties

all scores on Team New Jersey web site. 

Which brings it back to my point about the LI teams getting nice bracket placement at TNT this weekend. That TD has been around a long time. He would not let inferior teams on to his main fields. Running a big showcase is all about reputation TDs know it.

Like it or not, you need to win at these top level showcases to gain a good reputation to get on the main fields.  You can be a very good organization that plays all your kids equally, however, if you win some lose some you will be on the off fields and not get your girls the exposure they need.  As a coach, it's always a tough balance.  For comparison of our long island travel teams, most of them are very close that attend these showcase tournaments.  At a recent tournament, one of the coaches said, another long island team, what is long island the hot bed of softball?  That was a great comment.  We are forming a good reputation and we must continue.  In the fall we must all align together and try to have some more local showcases.  Team Long Island is doing it in August, which is good, however, we need to have one or two more local showcases in September and October that will attract good college coaches.  By doing this we will save all of our families a lot of money and continue to improve our reputation.  We need to develop our repuation just like Lacrosse did.  A college that wants to find lacrosse players has to come to Long Island to recruit, we want it to be the same way with softball.  Let's make it happen.  Good job to the coaches, families, and especially the kids for all their hard work, lessons, and determination to reach their goals.

I have to disagree with you on this one.  I think one of the most important things for a travel coach is to play showcases tailored to meet the needs of the girls on the team.   If they are not interested or not talented enough to play at the top D1 programs then going to those showcases is a waste of everyone's time.  If the majority of girls are looking for schools in the mid Atlantic and Northeast then tournaments like TNT, Pennsbury, Stop DWI, Newtown rocks, etc are exactly where the teams should be.

I can't disagree with paaaleeeze. I think what he is referring to is team talent. Many of the local teams have a couple of good hitters and 57-61 mph pitching. They  convert weak right hand hitters to slappers because they can run from home to 1b in 3.2 seconds. They are not true "Gold" teams.  They are 18 A teams that call themselves "Gold". Any team can do it for $20. Most teams in CO have 7 to 9 good hitters and 60-68 mph pitching. The slappers know how to chop the ball, hit with power on drawn in outfields and go from home to 1b in under 2.75 seconds. That's what  the differences are. The better competition is in the  Colorado tournament. Top teams from California, Arizona, Texas, Florida, etc. As far as being a waste of time. If they are not interested in playing top D1, they can still better their game playing with or against True Gold. If they don't want to get better then they should tell the coach that signs them to excuse them from practice because they don't want to get better. If the are not talented enough to play D1 and want to. They are not going to get better by playing with or against D2 competition.