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Depends on age group.
In our neck of the woods, AAU reigns supreme.
In our area it's LL up until 13 years old. Then AAU is the association of choice. Although USSSA is beginning to take shape in our neck of the woods. AAU teams pretty much cross over between the two.
Jason
Jason
USSSA seems to be very strong in OK, TN, LA, MS, GA, AL, FL. I've been to 3 usssa world series in OK and they seem to have teams from just about every state with over 88 teams in one of them.
Knowledge is Power! Thank you Mavens and HSBBWEB!
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quote:
Originally posted by justbaseball:
Depends on age group.
Younger ages.........11-14 yr olds.
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"Hey dad.......how 'bout a catch?"
Different associations are stronger/weaker in different areas of the country. And, I think the promotor/sponsorship has a part to play in the "best" scenario you describe, not neccessarily the sanctioning body.
My sons' played in USSSA, Super Series, Triple Crown and AAU "WS" or Nat'l Championship over the years, sometimes all of them in 1 year.
One that stands out was AAU 14U 60/90 Nat'l Champ. in Okla City, sponsored/hosted by Optimist Club. Field of 54 teams, some Nat'l ranked. Finals were played @ Okla. University. The field, the stadium, the music, the scoreboard, Their Names being announced when the went to bat, or a position change.. ("Now pitching for the Blackhawks,P___C____"), the OU & USA flags waving, the dugouts, the concessions, the crowds... You'd have thought it was the College WS!! They got to final 4, then knocked out by Chet Lemmon Juice 14U team, who took 3rd that year. Hitmen of Fla won it.
My sons' played in USSSA, Super Series, Triple Crown and AAU "WS" or Nat'l Championship over the years, sometimes all of them in 1 year.
One that stands out was AAU 14U 60/90 Nat'l Champ. in Okla City, sponsored/hosted by Optimist Club. Field of 54 teams, some Nat'l ranked. Finals were played @ Okla. University. The field, the stadium, the music, the scoreboard, Their Names being announced when the went to bat, or a position change.. ("Now pitching for the Blackhawks,P___C____"), the OU & USA flags waving, the dugouts, the concessions, the crowds... You'd have thought it was the College WS!! They got to final 4, then knocked out by Chet Lemmon Juice 14U team, who took 3rd that year. Hitmen of Fla won it.
Question
Does winning tournaments and trophies make the organization the best ???
Any thoughts?
TRhit
Does winning tournaments and trophies make the organization the best ???
Any thoughts?
TRhit
In our area, it depends on age. Up to age 9-10, it's about 70 LL/30 AAU. After that it's about 60 LL/40 AAU. The AAU numbers are growing each year and a good percentage of those teams also play USSSA.
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TR...
No, I don't think trophies make an organization "the best". Hope my story wasn't construed that way.
I really don't believe there is a "best", because "on any given day, any team can win".
My son has been priviledged to have coaches who were willing to put the teams up against some of the top teams out there. When they won a game or an event, the prevailing thought of our kids was "Wow, we can compete here!",or "Wow, we lucked out!". I have to thank the coaches for the way they taught these kids to trust and believe in themselves, and to dig deep for that extra measure of effort. And to aspire!
No, I don't think trophies make an organization "the best". Hope my story wasn't construed that way.
I really don't believe there is a "best", because "on any given day, any team can win".
My son has been priviledged to have coaches who were willing to put the teams up against some of the top teams out there. When they won a game or an event, the prevailing thought of our kids was "Wow, we can compete here!",or "Wow, we lucked out!". I have to thank the coaches for the way they taught these kids to trust and believe in themselves, and to dig deep for that extra measure of effort. And to aspire!
TR,
I always thought about it in terms of which ones were the most competitive. That's where you want to be for improvement. I always felt that USSSA was the most competitive because it had size and different divisions.
For example, AAA was the largest in size with comparable talent on teams and you felt like you had a chance against any team for the most part. In the major division you had to be good thru all nine players or you had no chance.
Knowledge is Power! Thank you Mavens and HSBBWEB!
quote:
Does winning tournaments and trophies make the organization the best ???
I always thought about it in terms of which ones were the most competitive. That's where you want to be for improvement. I always felt that USSSA was the most competitive because it had size and different divisions.
For example, AAA was the largest in size with comparable talent on teams and you felt like you had a chance against any team for the most part. In the major division you had to be good thru all nine players or you had no chance.
Knowledge is Power! Thank you Mavens and HSBBWEB!
Beezer - My perception from having gone through it was that USSSA was stronger at younger ages (10-13), then AAU (14-16), then Connie Mack (I think thats AABC).
This is entirely a function of where you live. Being in Ohio, you might find that CABA meets your needs. In the Ok/Mo/Ks etc area, USSSA is probably the best. In NC, it's probably AAU until the age of 14-15.
It changes by age too.
Only way to find out is talk to experienced coaches IN YOUR AREA. Anyone else is just guessing.
It changes by age too.
Only way to find out is talk to experienced coaches IN YOUR AREA. Anyone else is just guessing.
It's truly a matter of geography. AAU has never taken hold here...we played some AAU tourneys a couple of years ago but no one runs them now.
Former MLBer Eric Bell runs most of the USSSA tournaments here now. These are top notch in terms of competitiveness, but I have a problem with how USSSA polices teams. We have too many mercenaries bouncing around from team to team between tournaments.
Personally, I think Super Series is the best run organization. Tournaments are well organized and their roster mandates prevent too much player movement.
We also have a USTOC group and Triple Crown and CABA.
Former MLBer Eric Bell runs most of the USSSA tournaments here now. These are top notch in terms of competitiveness, but I have a problem with how USSSA polices teams. We have too many mercenaries bouncing around from team to team between tournaments.
Personally, I think Super Series is the best run organization. Tournaments are well organized and their roster mandates prevent too much player movement.
We also have a USTOC group and Triple Crown and CABA.
U-Trip Majors was by far the toughest competition my son ever faced, followed with a close second by CABA Majors (Gotta love that Brazillian team made up of 25 kids of oriental background, most of them over 5' 10" at 13 years old.)
Best vacation spot still has to be Triple Crown, gotta love Springboat in the summer.
Super Series always put on a good show, but never seemed to have very many teams in the major division....more reigional than national I guess.
Best vacation spot still has to be Triple Crown, gotta love Springboat in the summer.
Super Series always put on a good show, but never seemed to have very many teams in the major division....more reigional than national I guess.
I think TR was asking a good question...in order to answer the question by Breezer, you need to ask another question. What do you want to accomplish with your son. How many games do you want to play, at what level do you what to play each game. LL is a two to three times a week program with tournaments at the end. So is AABC and many others not mentioned. If you are a traveling team only, then you look forward to mainly the weekends. We did both, traveled and league play. If your going all the way...it is not out of the question to end up at several "WS" or national championship and play 50 to 100 games. LL is probably less competitive than the traveling teams, however, you have an opportunity to really go to a World Series and play international at the end. From 9-12, that is a big goal for few US players. I think all national tournaments have very good to great competition, but I think weekend traveling tournaments vary from site to site no matter what the organization.
USSSA is the most organized as far as tracking teams, players history, games and rankings on state and national level.
And don't forget AAYBA. Have played at USSSA and AAYBA World Series and they are both good in different ways.
USSSA had 107 teams from around the country which was exciting. Problem is some teams sandbag to play AAA.
AAYBA had 50 or so teams, and had a tier system where you eventually play a team on your level once the seeding is done.
And don't forget AAYBA. Have played at USSSA and AAYBA World Series and they are both good in different ways.
USSSA had 107 teams from around the country which was exciting. Problem is some teams sandbag to play AAA.
AAYBA had 50 or so teams, and had a tier system where you eventually play a team on your level once the seeding is done.
Thanks for all the comments so far everbody and please keep them up. To give you some background on why I asked the question; My son is starting out in the world of travel baseball this year and I'm helping with the team. Sitting down with the other coaches, we were discussing the goals for the year. We'll be playing in a league (that is sanctioned by USSSA) and we plan on playing in several tournaments as well. The question we had was which tournaments should we play in because if we were to qualify for a WS birth, which one would be best for the kids.
Obviously, at the WS level, I would imagine the competition is very good regardless of the association. But it kind of put the thought in my mind of "which one is the best". If they win a AAU national championship, is that as good/hard as winning a USSSA national championship? How would a CABA or AABC national championship team do against a SS or USTOC national championship team?
Maybe the question is does it really matter? Since there seems to be a regionality and differentiation among age groups, I guess it's hard to really say. I do know that if they're fortunate enough to qualify, not to mention win it all, my son would be grinning from ear to ear while walking on air with a puffed out chest!
I guess another point that contributed to my question was that my daughter's cheerleading squad won a national championship last year and since there are so many national cheerleading organizations (like baseball) I was wondering what it really meant.
*****************************
"Hey dad.......how 'bout a catch?"
Obviously, at the WS level, I would imagine the competition is very good regardless of the association. But it kind of put the thought in my mind of "which one is the best". If they win a AAU national championship, is that as good/hard as winning a USSSA national championship? How would a CABA or AABC national championship team do against a SS or USTOC national championship team?
Maybe the question is does it really matter? Since there seems to be a regionality and differentiation among age groups, I guess it's hard to really say. I do know that if they're fortunate enough to qualify, not to mention win it all, my son would be grinning from ear to ear while walking on air with a puffed out chest!
I guess another point that contributed to my question was that my daughter's cheerleading squad won a national championship last year and since there are so many national cheerleading organizations (like baseball) I was wondering what it really meant.
*****************************
"Hey dad.......how 'bout a catch?"
Beezer,
Noone can answer that question. It is too competitve everywhere really. For example, a team that doesn't make it to the final in any of these competitions, could in effect beat the team that ends of winning the whole shooting match. It's kinda like pro ball in a way.
I suggest the largest charter in your area whom has a world series in a location that would be attractive to your team.
Knowledge is Power! Thank you Mavens and HSBBWEB!
quote:
If they win a AAU national championship, is that as good/hard as winning a USSSA national championship?
Noone can answer that question. It is too competitve everywhere really. For example, a team that doesn't make it to the final in any of these competitions, could in effect beat the team that ends of winning the whole shooting match. It's kinda like pro ball in a way.
I suggest the largest charter in your area whom has a world series in a location that would be attractive to your team.
Knowledge is Power! Thank you Mavens and HSBBWEB!
quote:
Originally posted by ChicksDigTheLongBall:Noone can answer that question. It is too competitve everywhere really.
Sorry but I wasn't looking for an answer in that reagard, more of a rhetorical question there.
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"Hey dad.......how 'bout a catch?"
It is a fairly easy thing to qualify for Nationals in most places. Super Series you have to finish in the top 4 of a tournament; USSSA you have to be the top un-qualified team (by June that could be 7th place); AAU it depends where you live. It's very easy in Northern California because very few teams play AAU Qualifiers.
I would suggest that your team identify where you'd like to play and then set out to make it happen. Chances are you can do it.
I would suggest that your team identify where you'd like to play and then set out to make it happen. Chances are you can do it.
quote:
Originally posted by XtremeBB:
I would suggest that your team identify where you'd like to play and then set out to make it happen. Chances are you can do it.
That's kind of the approach we took. We figured we'd try to qualify for a WS that's closer to home.
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"Hey dad.......how 'bout a catch?"
USSSA is very popular around here in KC, although I can't say I always agree with the way they handle things here. I have to say though, my boys team attended the CABA 9U Ultimate World Series in Charles City, IA last summer and it was one of the most fun experiences we have ever had as a team and a family. It was a "major" event for the whole town, and the people of Charles City went out of the way making it a fun week. Including block parties for the teams, huge picnic and parade thru the town. It was a great experience that includes International teams as well. This summer, Charles City is hosting the 9U and 10U age groups. I highly recommend it!
Oh yea, almost forgot...we won
Check it out
Oh yea, almost forgot...we won
Check it out
AAYBA has an "open" World Series that you should check out.
This makes for easy planning, and they play all week win or lose so most everyone stays for the awards ceremony.
Seeding takes place during the pool games. Then you are put in a division (plat., gold, silver, bronze, etc.).
If you are winning you play better and better teams all the way to the 'ship. And if you are losing you still keep playing and eventually will play someone you have a chance of beating.
This makes for easy planning, and they play all week win or lose so most everyone stays for the awards ceremony.
Seeding takes place during the pool games. Then you are put in a division (plat., gold, silver, bronze, etc.).
If you are winning you play better and better teams all the way to the 'ship. And if you are losing you still keep playing and eventually will play someone you have a chance of beating.
I think the most 'true' national championships are won in the AABC National Tournaments. That is the only one in which you have to earn your way from one level to the next. In the other national tournaments you can pay your fees early in the summer then just plan to be there in August. Earning your way to a national tournament----then winning it----seems to be a more rewarding way to go.
grateful,
SO true!!
I know of cases where teams have "BOUGHT & SOLD" a spot for a World Seies/ Nat'l Championship from a qualifying team that didn't want to go... like SCALPINg!!!
SO true!!
I know of cases where teams have "BOUGHT & SOLD" a spot for a World Seies/ Nat'l Championship from a qualifying team that didn't want to go... like SCALPINg!!!
That's why I like CABA, you have to earn your spot and put your deposit down immediately after earning it. (you have to finish 1-2 in a tourney)
If you don't show up for CABA, you get fined $500 or suspended for a year.
Any of the other big tournaments, yes, all you need is a contact with a local tournament promoter, he can get in anybody to the big dance.
If you don't show up for CABA, you get fined $500 or suspended for a year.
Any of the other big tournaments, yes, all you need is a contact with a local tournament promoter, he can get in anybody to the big dance.
My response would most closely mirror "rbinaz" in that not much AAU around here...mostly USSSA and Super Series. Been to two of each of their major nationals. Quality teams and well run tourneys in both, but the depth of the quality teams seemed to run much deeper with USSSA. It's hard for me to imagine that there would be 10 teams better overall than the top 10 in 13-yr old USSSA natls last year in North Carolina.
There might be but that would speak greatly to the quality of youth baseball nationwide.
Talent is never enough!
There might be but that would speak greatly to the quality of youth baseball nationwide.
Talent is never enough!