Hi everyone! Anyone here going to the 17U WWBA next week? Looks like we need to keep an eye on the tropics. Looks like Invest 98L could become something! I hope not as I'm looking forward to going to Ft. Myers. I missed last year's tournament and have been looking forward to some sun & sand time!
IF a hurricane does form and looks like it's heading towards the west coast of Florida, how long do you think it will take PG to cancel?
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Living in hurricane country (east coast), things can change daily. Just keep your eye on the PG site, although your coach should be keeping everyone up to date.
My son and I are supposed to be there. I hadn't even considered it being cancelled, lol
PG cancel? LOL! They will cancel as soon as they have met their minimum games played to avoid refunds. Last summer we were in FM for the BCS. We were there 9 days because a tropical storm came and wiped a few days off the schedule. They didn't officially cancel any games until the night before after several inches of rain. Then it was hour by hour.
When we were finally able to get on the fields it was miserable (and I live in S FL). Standing water everywhere and the heat made the humidity way worse than normal.
@TerribleBPthrower posted:PG cancel? LOL! They will cancel as soon as they have met their minimum games played to avoid refunds. Last summer we were in FM for the BCS. We were there 9 days because a tropical storm came and wiped a few days off the schedule. They didn't officially cancel any games until the night before after several inches of rain. Then it was hour by hour.
When we were finally able to get on the fields it was miserable (and I live in S FL). Standing water everywhere and the heat made the humidity way worse than normal.
Yeah - that seems to be the MO with PG!!! It drives me nuts!! I just can't believe how they operate sometimes. I for one, along with probably most of the parents of the 200+ teams that are supposed to be coming in next week, don't want to spend thousands of dollars on hotels, food, gas, gate fees and other stuff just to be told to "wait it out." I know that this potential storm is a ways away, but it is does what they think it might, it will be a hurricane and looks like the Florida west coast could be right in the way - not safe for anyone!!
The storm should actually be gone by the time the tournament starts. You may have some storms in the trailing bands. You might lose a day but I don't think it will impact the entire tournament.
@TerribleBPthrower posted:The storm should actually be gone by the time the tournament starts. You may have some storms in the trailing bands. You might lose a day but I don't think it will impact the entire tournament.
Well that would be good but I also don't want to drive 12 hours down from NC through the rain and storms. Oh well - can't control mother nature! We will just wait and see... Y'all stay safe in S. FL!
From PG:
As of now, we are still fully prepared to host the event this weekend in Fort Myers. Perfect Game is in constant communication with Lee County officials on the status of the weather and effect it will have on the area and event. We will post our next update by Monday (9/26) at 10AM ET with travel, format, and scheduling updates as we should know more information by then.
Of course its past 10am ET.
@Master P - Excatly!! Ugh. I can't see anyway they can have this tournament. Our son's coach keeps saying they will delay it, but if this storm is what they think it will be, there is no way! I've been through many hurricanes (coastal and eastern NC) and I am well aware of the aftermath. I
From PG:
After discussing the approaching weather with Lee County officials, we have decided to cancel games on Thursday September 29th and start play on Friday September 30th. We are currently reformatting the schedule to accommodate this change. Hotels are being notified of this change to accommodate changes to reservations as teams reach out. Our goal, as it has been for the past 20 years as partners with Lee County is to a successful event in a safe environment.
As we receive frequent updates from Lee County officials and as the weather arrives, we will provide updates here. Next update will be today at 3PM ET.
PG has lost their EVERLOVING MINDS!!! Start games on a Friday after a Cat 3 hits the area AND have people try to drive/fly into a Cat 2 storm Thursday. Let's not even talk about the gas shortages, food shortages, power outages - LOL!!!
I get it's a big tournament and they will loose a lot of money, but you have to think of the safety of the teams and the area locals.
@BaseballMOM05 posted:PG has lost their EVERLOVING MINDS!!! Start games on a Friday after a Cat 3 hits the area AND have people try to drive/fly into a Cat 2 storm Thursday. Let's not even talk about the gas shortages, food shortages, power outages - LOL!!!
I get it's a big tournament and they will loose a lot of money, but you have to think of the safety of the teams and the area locals.
This has been the case for years. At least you can talk about this now without getting censored by the PG apologists. That didn’t used to be the case. I will acknowledge that PG had humble beginnings and was started as a noble cause. But it has morphed into a big corporation with profit as it’s primarily incentive. So things like you are describing are not out of the norm.
It would seem PG doesn't buy insurance to reimburse them for a major event cancellation due to weather. I wonder if such insurance is available? If it is, they should try that instead of stringing people along.
@Tres Elakes 24 posted:It would seem PG doesn't buy insurance to reimburse them for a major event cancellation due to weather. I wonder if such insurance is available? If it is, they should try that instead of stringing people along.
Good question. I own a small business (side gig) and have insurance and my GL policy does have a provision for "damages due to natural causes" but I'm not sure what all that involves as I've never had to use it. But, I would only assume that the PG legal/insurance people would have to have some sort of foresight into covering losses.
I'm really surprised PG hasn't pushed their major tournaments to a city/region with less volatile weather. Every time I've been down to GA/FL there was always a weather issue. I know it's out of their control but damn.
I don't want to get too cynical but maybe that is part of the model. Plan on games being cancelled means no umpires to pay, no balls to use, etc.
@PABaseball posted:I'm really surprised PG hasn't pushed their major tournaments to a city/region with less volatile weather. Every time I've been down to GA/FL there was always a weather issue. I know it's out of their control but damn.
I don't want to get too cynical but maybe that is part of the model. Plan on games being cancelled means no umpires to pay, no balls to use, etc.
LOL!! I agree. We lost a whole day and 2 games this past July for WWBA in Atlanta. I'm sure the team didn't get reimbursed.
So far since this morning, 29 teams have dropped out. I told my son that I wasn't driving in hurricane force winds and rains just to get to Ft. Myers to sit in a hotel room for days and maybe play 1-2 games!
Just heard from a friend that our ‘24 team canceled attending. (I wonder if they will get their $ back?) There’s no way that they will be able to fly in from the Midwest. And once there, will there even be any college coaches? This team does only one national tourney, and this was it. Now those boys have even less exposure opportunities in a saturated market. PG should re-schedule and not string teams along.
@IKETBD posted:Just heard from a friend that our ‘24 team canceled attending. (I wonder if they will get their $ back?) There’s no way that they will be able to fly in from the Midwest. And once there, will there even be any college coaches? This team does only one national tourney, and this was it. Now those boys have even less exposure opportunities in a saturated market. PG should re-schedule and not string teams along.
100% agree that they just need to reschedule! It is a very big recruiting event and a lot of kids are counting on this as a last chance to be seen before the quiet period and spring ball. My 2024 is uncommitted and we know of at least 10 coaches that were coming to see him pitch. It's just a mess! Sorry for your friend's son.
There is no way to reschedule a tournament like this. They need to work around the quiet/dead periods and other events they have scheduled.
They will have games there this weekend. Has your son checked in with the coaches coming to watch him to see what they are doing? Does your son hit and play other positions or were you just going for him to pitch one game?
@TerribleBPthrower posted:There is no way to reschedule a tournament like this. They need to work around the quiet/dead periods and other events they have scheduled.
They will have games there this weekend. Has your son checked in with the coaches coming to watch him to see what they are doing? Does your son hit and play other positions or were you just going for him to pitch one game?
I know it's a massive tournament but they need to have a back up plan. Irresponsible of an organization like PG to not have a back up plan for a 200+ team during hurricane season on the Florida coast. No sympathy for them on that!!
I can not see how in the world there will be games in the Ft. Myers area this weekend with all the rain they already have had and are about to get. But then again, I don't live in the area so I have no idea how well the area can absorb the water.
My son is a PO on his showcase team. He hits and plays infield for his HS. He has several camps he is attending over the rest of the fall, so he'll be seen by the schools he is really interested in, but he can't get to all the camps he'd like too.
I am not sticking up for anyone, but this is Florida folks.
It's pretty amazing that we have actually not had bad weather this summer, but we natives knew with the waters being exceptionally warm things were going to heat up. Look at what happened with Fiona. FWIW this is peak hurricane time.
Once the storm hits the path is to hit the panhandle perhaps go up through GA or cross the state and hit Jacksonville.
But hurricanes are umpredictable.
My suggestion is that you have been given fair warning. There are 3 more days until landfall. Use your best judgment. Many are now being forced to evacuate in the Tampa area including tourists.
PG or any other company will not cancel an event until they absolutely have to.
Use your best judgment!
Having grown up on the NC coast and eastern NC, I am ALL TOO familiar with hurricanes. They are extremely unpredictable and can cause major havoc! I for one don't mess around with them and I am not driving 12 hours through NC, SC, GA and Florida in hurricane/TS winds and rains. No tournament is worth the potential for a serious accident!
Plus, it's just rude to tax the local area when the locals are already having fuel shortages and supply issues! That's just my 2 cents on that! 
As far as I am aware, there hasn't been too many shortages of gas, water, supplies, etc anywhere. And little rain this summer but there is that storm surge.
@IKETBD posted:Just heard from a friend that our ‘24 team canceled attending. (I wonder if they will get their $ back?) There’s no way that they will be able to fly in from the Midwest. And once there, will there even be any college coaches? This team does only one national tourney, and this was it. Now those boys have even less exposure opportunities in a saturated market. PG should re-schedule and not string teams along.
I enjoyed the PG events in FL and GA when my son played. But you don't need to do PG for college recruiting. Do the right regional showcases and/or tournaments. The player is more likely to shine regionally without the distraction of the top national studs. Besides, with the D1 world the way it is now unless a kid is a top shelf stud coming out of high school there probably isn't the need to do PG FL and GA.
Looks pretty bad here in FL. Folks have had to evacuate according to zones, and airports closing. Students at Flagler in St Augustine sent home. UF, FSU as well as Jacksonville on hold.
Ian possibly headed to Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina next.
@TPM posted:Looks pretty bad here in FL. Folks have had to evacuate according to zones, and airports closing. Students at Flagler in St Augustine sent home. UF, FSU as well as Jacksonville on hold.
Ian possibly headed to Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina next.
Stay safe!!!
My son's coach just told him that they were canceling the event. But I have not seen anything on their page yet is on their page.
Officially cancelled. What’s next for all the kids who had coaches lined up to watch them play? Scramble to get to as many camps as possible?
It says something about relocating the event to Jupiter/West Palm. While that area won't have the wind damage the Gulf Coast is going to get, the rain will last longer in that area.
Our team canceled yesterday too. A bit ago, just received an email from PG canceling the event. It seems that the PG is working on alternative ways as below.
9/27 10AM EST Update:
After our morning discussions with Lee County officials, we have both decided that it is in everyone’s best interest to cancel the event in Fort Myers. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we continued to monitor the weather over the last few days. We are working on a few alternative events:
October 1st-3rd - WWBA Underclass Championship relocated to Jupiter/West Palm, FL
October 7th-10th – WWBA Underclass Fall Nationals in Fort Pierce, FL
@Baseballdad2024 posted:Our team canceled yesterday too. A bit ago, just received an email from PG canceling the event. It seems that the PG is working on alternative ways as below.
9/27 10AM EST Update:
After our morning discussions with Lee County officials, we have both decided that it is in everyone’s best interest to cancel the event in Fort Myers. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we continued to monitor the weather over the last few days. We are working on a few alternative events:
October 1st-3rd - WWBA Underclass Championship relocated to Jupiter/West Palm, FL
October 7th-10th – WWBA Underclass Fall Nationals in Fort Pierce, FL
In my personal opinion, I can't see the 10/1 - 10/3 dates working. That would still mean that people would have to travel into Florida this Thursday/Friday. With the widespread effect of this storm on Florida, I can't see that being a viable option.
@BaseballMOM05 posted:In my personal opinion, I can't see the 10/1 - 10/3 dates working. That would still mean that people would have to travel into Florida this Thursday/Friday. With the widespread effect of this storm on Florida, I can't see that being a viable option.
I'm sure they'd be able to scrape together 30-40 teams willing to drive to Jupiter. The weather won't be as bad driving down the east coast. I'm not saying it won't be tough driving, but it won't be as bad as driving through the middle of a hurricane. There also won't be much damage on the east coast and the flood waters should recede by the weekend.
@DroppedStrikeThree posted:Officially cancelled. What’s next for all the kids who had coaches lined up to watch them play? Scramble to get to as many camps as possible?
No coaches will be going with this weather unless they are local. Since it was cancelled my son is going to a camp this weekend instead which those coaches are excited about since they weren't sending anyone to WWBA.
Looks like they made the right decision.
I hope all our posters in Florida are safe.
They are moving it to Jupiter and trying to figure out how many teams are playing. There is another small PG tournament already scheduled this weekend for Jupiter. The area got a ton of rain but should be dried out by the weekend
@TerribleBPthrower posted:They are moving it to Jupiter and trying to figure out how many teams are playing. There is another small PG tournament already scheduled this weekend for Jupiter. The area got a ton of rain but should be dried out by the weekend
I just looked and there are 37 teams signed up.
Wow. It was 100 teams this morning. Looks like down to 33 teams now.
It is still going to be very difficult to travel into Florida over the next day or two with the residual affects of Ian. It's coming through GA, SC and NC. Awful storm!
Turface dealers in Jupiter going to make a killing this weekend thanks to PG.
Mostly FL teams. This is a tournament I would typically look forward to. It won’t be anywhere close to what it usually is. If I were coming from out of town I’d be having second thoughts on the time and expenses.
Rain should be gone by tomorrow afternoon and the fields should be ready for play by Friday afternoon. No rain expected this weekend.
