suggestions

Go back to the old est bats

Look at other states that are growing. Like TX they don't have backwoods tournaments. Every one is sanctioned as a ISA USSSA ASA NSA. They test every bat that enters the park and they provide the balls. If we started doing this and get rid of these backwoods or made them sanction them and they have to be approved through the director. Then I know it will cut down or even stop illegal bats and balls. Look at other states talk to their directors. Texas has sections and every section has a director and then a state director. I think if we organized the state then restructure the classification.

Bats are not the answer

Just my opinion

Backwoods Events.. While they are good to give teams a place to play and even teams to raise money there bad for the game here is how

An example for this week and its been like this every week for the past few weeks

There are 4 events going on in north Ms with about 28 teams entered in all 4 total
There is a state tourney with only about 12
There is a tourney in Appling TN with 11 teams also about 1 hour from north ms

There are 3 or 4 events in central or south MS with teams in all of them

I am by no way calling anyone out most people throwin the events are friends of mine but we have to start here


Teams say that can't afford a $250 entry fee I agree it's hard on them but the $250 entry is not what worries them it's the thought of going to pay that amount getting beat and getting nothing there scared to compete

The week of my make up date of Isa state Tbird and brewer fields decide to throw a tourney with X amount of teams j know for a fact if that event wasn't listed 3 of them would have been at the state event.. I am by no means bashing tbird or brewer in this.. So my 18 team state event dropped to 9 ASA state was the same and now usssa

This week with UTrip state it could have been ok until last night Ben Barnes decided to throw a tourney in Mobile,AL that got teams that would have attended that state event.. Again ben is a good friend of mine and no way bashing what he is doing

Also in UTrip this year what killed it was that damn WSS series.. U had team
Play all year for then split now most o them will not play state on the face they don't wanna get bumped so they can play it again next year.. Very good logic on yalls part.. But on the state directors part he should bump all yalls asses.. Again just my opinion.. And those who know me know I am not a larry green fan or even a fan of there so called WSS it was catered to certain teams those teams didn't win so now they don't play state..


Here is what has to happen to start with all the backwoods events as we call them
Can keep on at select weekends when a large format tourney comes up they be removed from posting.. Secondly all E class only events be done with if u have a event it's open to all let everyone compete yes teams will go 0-2 but they can try and compete with bigger teams or pick up teams!! I know this is a source of most teams incomes but u need to find other ways it is killing the game.. U can say softball will not die but yes it will I have seen and so have Alot of u an u Just didn't relize it.. Memphis, TN used to have around 20 to 30 teams 3 years ago I can think of 3 now this same thing happened in there area and it's dead! It will happen here also if it keeps track!!


After all that is done then u can classify teams!! And yes I mean teams not players u claSsify them on a yearly bassis, I myself though player classification was the way to go
But there are simply way to many people 100 people coudnt get the classification right less more 5 or 6 so u leave it open at the from of the year come April your 5 or 6 people class teams then again in July then again after states for
The worlds!

Again before I gett cussed called a fat a$$ or anything else I am by no means bashing u guys that throw these tourneys for your teams income but we do have to learn a moderation as a state in whole..

Will any of this ever happen I have no clue and it's only one mans opinion I am sure some of u can add to it some of u will bash me for just posting and some had just assume not to answer... Either way something must be done and if it's not right in front of u to see now then something is wrong if u add all the teams together from all the backwoods events this conning weekend it would probally equal close to 80+ teams that should be wanting to compete for a state title!! Who gives a dang about a bat or money for something!! U start polls week in and week out so u can say your team is the best.. Who is the top E team who is the top D team.. Who has the best Eh, SS or what ever!! If u wanna know whothe best is play your dang state events and find out!! Then for 1 year your team is the state champion you are the best those da mn pools don't mean crap!! That's how u get to be #1 bot because u post under guest and rank your team because u bet them in brewer,Sherman, petal,Brandon, sunrise or any other place but because u r the fans State champions!!


Just my opinion anyways
Dustin M. Roberts
Big D

Great post Dustin... I agree but with that being said you shut down backwoods all together the weekends of sanctioned events you might pickup 1 or 2 teams the rest just won't play at all. It has to start with stop listening to people cry every year at classification time and do what's right.

dustin has some really good points

well said post dustin. Tj is gonna have to realize the scum of north ms throwing tournament after tournament every weekend has gotta stop its killing sanctioned events I've known for the past 2 years this was gonna happen. They use the board for their own advantage to make money every week, when the associations are hurting.

Great points Dustin. All tournaments need to be sanctioned regardless of nothing else but for the insurance. I had no intentions to host this wkn but teams started seeing how bad State was looking and they approached me about throwing a WSL event. USSSA has always been a great association and I think it will be ok. However, there does need to be changes made where someone is in charge of doing what's best for the entire state and those teams that wanna rep or State at Worlds.

Meant OUR not or.



Also turns out that I tried to be respectful and host this wkn in another State. There is only 2 teams in Mobile that would have came up to Jackson. Gamblers and Bonding

Do away with tournaments you consider "backwoods"? Who the hell do some of y'all think y'all are? I don't, but IF I wanted to fence off my cow pasture and host a 6 team tournament every weekend, its none of your business.
Different people play softball for different reasons, not everyone gives a crap about sanctions or states or worlds.

I agree with some of your points Dustin, but some teams don't care about state. They simply play the game as a hobby. Most don't take it as serious ad you and I.

My only issue with backwoods is this. A lot of people seem to not realize that let's say you throw a backwoods event and it's not sanctioned or you have not purchased event insurance. If a pitcher gets hit or another player gets hurt than they can turn around and sue you, the city, and any other party that has anything to do with the park.


I think there should just be some mutual respect for tourmament directors where there isn't one hosted an hour apart (right down the road from one another). Also, it would be good if different parts of the State used the same park to host a lot of events. Say coaches needed money to run their teams for the year, well if a different team each week uses say the VA fields in Jackson, or another park wherever you're located then you would have a decent sized tournament each weekend (instead of 5 different teams throwing tournaments at 5 different complexes within a certain radius of your area). I know in LA they used the Satsuma fields one year and this year it seems like they used Slidell park and they had a good sized tournaments almost each time out.


IDK what the answer is truthfully, but even if we narrowed it down to where there was one big tournament a month in the central part of the State. No backwoods, no small sanctioned events, not anything other than that big tournament on that specific weekend. That would be nice.

The problem utrip is running into is simple. No team wants to travel to Jackson to pay another big tournament fee. A lot of teams don't have the funds to play isa, Asa, and utrip back to back to back weekends! It has nothing to do with backwoods and everything else ppl are blaming. Not to mention NSA was the same weekend as isa.

Dustin u did make some good points but killing backwoods would kill softball altogether. Most teams can't afford the entry fees for sanctioned events. Gas is almost $4.00 a gallon then eats and entry fee and ur looking at $60.00 - $80.00 a weekend. I can remember when umpires made $10 behind the plate and $12.50 for the field and sanctioned tournaments had 25-30 teams every weekend because they were $150.00 entry fees. My belief is maybe y'all need to sit down with them and get them to change their charges so that people could afford to play sanctioned events. That would solve all problems because it'd kill backwoods events except for the occasional benefit tourney and the major associations would thrive.

the biggest problem with mississippi softball is peoples attitudes.

(most) teams are scared of competition. the best teams in this state didn't start that way, they took their lumps.

you bitch about shaved bats when you lose, yet you have no problem swinging glass yourself. yeah, i feel like people should be called out for it, but for every finger you point at someone else, there are three more pointing back at you.

the umpire did not cost you the game. they aren't perfect, cut them some slack. sometimes, yes, they need to be questioned, but some of you complain about every ball, every play at first, etc. you make a few plays, you win the game. point the finger at yourself.


look, i understand that no one wants to pay 300 for entry fee/balls on top of travel costs to play two games and pack it up, but that is going to happen to someone at the tournament. that is the risk.




just one man's opinion.


also, et needs to get someone south of 20 to throw ASA tournaments. i haven't played but in 4 tournaments this year, but they have all been utrip/modified. it's not that i hate utrip, but i do like a little variety.

No killing backwoods ball. Would kill a few certain peoples hopes of paying light bills and rent. They wanna say they use the money for their team. I can promise you all that money doesnt go to a team. I say as long as there's a sanctioned event in Mississippi don't let the scum host a tournament and when there is a window to host one TJ needs to charge them $50 a tournament listing.

well every time something comes up about big tournaments is we don't have the funds. Try this coaches...Make every player on your roster pay 100.00 dollars at first of year. That will pay for your uniforms for each player plus a few extra dollars. Throw a couple of tournaments in feb., march, and april. That way you have you bankroll built up and it don't run into big tournaments.There are a lot of people who want to play in feb and march. You people may say that 100.00 isn't enough to buy uniforms well guess what you don't have to dress like the dang new york yankees to play softball. You buy two sets of t-shirts and let the players do shorts or pants and you have about 75 bucks left from each player to get you bankroll started.

You can't stop backwoods softball. All fields are play at your own risk so legally that gets the city out of any trouble. IF you stop everyone from posting their tournament here then they will find another way to get the message out. This isn't the only softball board ever created.

Problem is two people (T-Bird/JB-use to be RAY RAY) are always trying to throw a tournament so when you add two teams trying to throw a tournament then you get in the situation of two many people throwing tournaments in one weekend.

Just play where u want can't help cause states don't make

every State made with solid turnouts other than USSSA. Hmmm not hard to see where the problem lies. No matter what anyone says USSSA needs a new State Director in MS and that has been evident for the last 4 years

I have been playing for 7 years. THere has always been backwoods tournaments, just not as many. Also, now we have 4 associations trying to do tournaments all throughout the year. You have so many states on back to back weekends, it just waters them down. I would suggest the associations get together, start them in mid to late june and space them out. You would get better participation in the states that way.

Yes the wss series hurt utrip state. A lot of teams stayed together until the championship then called it quits. If he has his state before then next year, it won't be a problem. Also, they catered to D and E teams, not specific teams like you(dustin) say. It is funny how you call people out for catering to a group of teams, then get mad at wss and larry green for not catering to you.

The players/coaches are what is killing sofball. It is the players that swing swing the shaved bats. It is the players that don't know what commitment is. Jumping from team to team all throughout the year. It is the coaches picking up players and sitting their regular players or thinking they dont have a chance to win and not playing a specific tournament. You have people wanting to play for all kinds of prizes and pay a $100 entry fee. They play for what they can win, instead of playing for pride. These things are killing the game more than backwoods tournaments.

I don't know if this will be the answer or not, but i have a feeling a lot of big tournaments next year will go to the upper and lower format. Hopefully that will help. We shall see.

Every state had solid turnouts? Really. All the states were down from last year. When they are all on back to back weekends, they will suffer. Looks like with utrip being last, they are getting the worst of it.

No one should have to kill any kind of tournament. It doesn’t matter if it’s sanctioned tournament, State tournament, “backwoods”, or whatever; people should want to play in the bigger ones. If teams would play in every State event just on the off chance they could win a State Championship guys would stop hosting tournaments on those days. I can’t blame guys for hosting tournaments on those days because people will play in them.
These so called backwoods tournaments will be fine because there is not always a major tournament being played. Yes these backwoods will give better prizes because associations have limits on what they can give plus after all their expenses it’s not much left. But after you win a State you can call yourself a true champion, which should be enough.
Gas is very high and we all feel the effects of it but if a team car pools gas really isn’t a big deal. Ride four or five deep might cost you $5 to go three hours. Yes entry fees are high. When I first started it cost 65 bucks to participate in a good tournament. It’s called inflation. Paying $200.00 a tournament and having good umpires rather than a drunken guy is worth the money.
I am not bashing “backwoods” tournament because I am a fan. I throw and play in them. It is the only way some of us can raise a little money for our team. We do ours early or late so not to interfere with States or other big ones. It’s hard for some teams to not play at Sherman, Brewer, Guntown, or where ever with they can give away a bat or cash. Not me I never know or care about a prize I play to win and because I love to play. Winning a tournament is enough for me and winning a State Championship is enough; ok maybe a shirt so I can show off.
But I digress. The problem is there are too many associations. I understand that every association wants their piece of the softball pie but having four or five States is a lot. Yes I plan on playing in every one of them. I wish they could all get together and combine rules to make one maybe two associations. I do realize this will never happen. I do know that ASA is hurting their selves by making too many rules to try and protect us. Small children its ok but grown men or women know what the risks are when they step on the field.
This is only one redneck’s opinion about the issues affecting softball.

Ill start by saying that I'm not from Mississippi but by being from west alabama and playin in MS quite a bit throughout the year I think I have the right to chime in. Feel free to bash me if you disagree or simply hate Alabama. IDK

The guy that posted about Texas may know a little about them but was somewhat wrong. Texas is huge that's why they have section directors. A lot more people in Texas equates to more teams. I played in a usssa NIT in Texas this year and none of the bats were tested. Checked by umps yes but not tested.

Big D had some good points and no there is no killing backwoods (pretty sure he never said that) but maybe I can't read. What he did say is cut down on them. One in every Podunk town in Mississippi every weekend is definitely too much. And some of these backwoods directors who have tourneys every weekend should have to pay big $$ for posting rights on this site.

The overall problem lies with the players not the directors or even teams. INDIVIDUAL PLAYERS. You yourself has to choose to swing legal equipment, REGARLESS of what the other team is swinging. You yourself have to choose to compete or cower to play against lesser competition. And You yourself have to choose to support the directors that do what's best for this sport in the state of Mississippi. There's way too much "me me me" Bs and "I can't compete against him" and "they swing shaved bats" and "that director dont like us" and "that umpire screwed me".

Have some pride about yourself! Work hard to be the best! And if you just want to have fun then do it but the problem with that is most would agree that you ain't having fun unless your winning.

The fact is regarless of how you classify teams or players or tournaments, THERE'S ALWAYS GOING TO BE A WINNER AND A LOOSER! Someone who is happy and someone who is pissed! Someone is always gonna be the best and someone is always gonna be the worst on any given day! If you don't like loosing GET BETTER, or if you can't get better GET USED TO LOOSING OR QUIT! Don't create a suckier (sorry i know that isnt a word) class just so you can succeed.

There's way too much catering to the baby's in our generation. Suck it up and better yourself! I think the problems lies with our generation not with the rules, sanctions, media, internet, or directors. All of this may be what has shape our generation into the whiners we are but the only ones who can fix it is YOU!

*** this is only my opinion so if you don't like it I'm sorry you are entitled to your own!***
Thanks for taking the time to read my rant!

Daniel Boyd (Debo)
Alley Cats

The problem is the classification list. End of story!!!! E teams don't want to play in a state that has c players, d teams don't want to play in a state that has teams that could compete in conference.. That meaning true e teams and true d teams. I play upper so it does not effect me. Classify teams as a whole twice a year. If you get bumped enjoy it and step up. If a player leaves or gets cut after the second classification he is stuck there for that year. Larry green needs to go. What he did to sc three years ago was because of a personal vendetta tward bubba and he needs to be fired from his position. Again I'm comfortable with my letter so I have no fuss with him.

So many times i here Larry Green is the problem. Well i was at tatum park in Hattiesburg and Ben had a WSL State open tourament with i thank 12 teams and Larry had not $hit to do with that. Now we have all made mistake in your time and i do agree that the WSS just had to many tourament. I thank Mike and Lance learnt from that and Larry did also. USSSA is a thing of the past maybe but i still love playing it. Went the BCS that Tj had that didn't make what did Larry have to do with that. Guys there no quick fix. If we replace Larry Green, TJay, or he!! all of them it not going to fix softball in Mississippi. As for as state tourament in Ms. they all was down this year.

^^^Larry is the problem in USSSA!! he does Alot of stuff as a vendetta which has finally caught up to him and probally his boss as well!! I know there have been letters sent about Larry to
His boss and his boss ignored them so now they have went over his head to the national board and Don Deonattis and let's just say there not to happy with what there finding out that Larry and Bodreux has been apart in!

I think it's ridiculous that (look at this weekend) have 5 or 6 tournaments going on within 1 to 2 hours of each other. That's stupid! The backwoods should work together as a group and say ok we are gonna have a tourney here in Brewer this Saturday you can have one next weekend in Sherman. They should pay a fee to post a tournament and should have a guy on site to test bats and supply the balls. I understand backwoods is a big deal. I mean shoot most of us got our start in a brewer or Sherman. I can't knock them for doing it but I think we can as a state organize them and if we want to play south and north meet in a neutral place. Some teams are scared to jump in these big state tournaments they are scared to go 2andQ but let them play the same teams over and over and never get better and never win nothing more than a bat or shirts. Another thing wrong is we have too many Chiefs and not enough Indians.

Do you really think sending a letter to the national office, to complain that a state director did something that you don't agree with, will accomplish anything. Do you not think they get those letters all of the time. Give me a break. It not a state directors job to be liked by everybody. They have to make decsions. Not everybody is going to like those decisions. Get over it and play the GAME of softball.

You dont know crap man, he made a great point about larry g. He thinks his is the Almighty, he does one thing for one team and another for another team. If he gets mad at your coach over a disagreement then your team gets bumped. He lets people he likes drop down to play and other people he screws. If no one ever wrote a letter or called the national board how would they ever know to look in on a situation. Im glad usssa state is sucking for one reason only. Larry green needs to go and maybe this will get the attention of the powers to be to investigate amd when they do they will find alot of dirty under the table deals. Larry has screwed and screwed people and guys in ms are sick and tired of it.

The problem is you guys take it like the world series. It's just softball. You play for fun. You pay to play this game as a blobby not a job. Backwoods,front woods, Disney world, wherever. Stop trying to live your childhood dreams. This isn't baseball its softball. You die-hards are ruining softball. Watch some kids play on the weekends and you will appreciate the game more.

If you go watch kids play, it makes you disgusted at what softball has become and you probably would not miss playing as much as you thought you would.

I think there are 3 things that's killing the sport.
1) there were only 1 or 2 tournaments in the north every weekend and they were either open or upper and lower. The C,D,and E only started from the bcs. That's killed the game!
2) player classification hasn't helped anything. I play maybe once every 6 weeks and I am not allowed to play with friends because of my ranking. That's in the hands of the people doing the player classification though. The player classification has caused more players to quit the game this year alone than many years in the past. THE DRAMA STARTS HERE!
3)Prizes are what people want these days! Its got to the point to Where people shoot for 3rd place prize more than 1st. I actually though of hosting a tournament in 2013 giving every team that entered a prize. Prizes such as bat,balls,t-shirts, and giftcards for each place. Its sad but players want t-shirts these days
Hell they just want SOMETHING!

I know I will get bashed over this but its just an opinion. Go back to the early 2000's because that's what works! As many of y'all know, its like work....the more rules they enforce, the more you hate going. Same applies in MS softball

Bmar7

Does Tennessee and Arkansas not have a "main" association they use? It seems like TN uses NSA as its main format while Arkansas uses USSSA. I could be wrong about that, but MS needs to find one main association to use and stick with them. It's difficult to keep up with 5 different rules from 5 different associations and changes week by week. Use one association and stick by their rules, that way everybody knows the rules and can play by them.

It's the people closet to the tournament directors and Larry green that's hurts softball

Please list some of these under the table deals that are going on. I am sure the softball public would love to know.

Delete this website

Cause the website has so much to do with the condition of the game. Dumbest statement on this post.

Delete this website? really get real man

Larry green is why ms softball is the way it is their a many of time I tried callin textin about something then have to call someone else to call him for me.... If you a state director then answer ya phone talk to different coaches and associate wot people and ms softball will be a lot better and even if their ya buddy if they need to be playin d make them play d

what gets me is that umpires will umpire for $12 a game in backwoods tournaments then want $25 a game at big sanctioned events. A buddy of mine that umpires said 'If they dumb enough to pay it, I'm smart enough to take it!'

Most of you guys are right on your observations. However the root of the problem is not umpires, coaches, players, tournament directors, or even the associations. The problem lies deep down in the core of who we are now as a society. Bear with me thru my essay! lol

Kids are being raised that if you dont win and you dont win now then something is wrong with you. This year i have been away from softball and have been spending time on the baseball travel team circuit.

6 and 7 year old kids are doing the exact same thing as softball teams.These teams are spending in excess of $250-$300 on entry fees plus travel money for 3 day weekends plus uniforms and equipment. Sound Familiar???

Parents, coaches, and kids duck and dodge tournaments just like softball players. I was amazed at how many teams i do uniforms for were waiting until wed or thurs to see what teams were in tournaments so they would know where to take their kids for the weekend!! lol Does that sound familiar????????

Not only that, these travel baseball teams are cutting kids and picking up kids left and right from all over the state. Most of them never finish with the same kids they start the year with. Sound familiar again?????

So that tells me its not softball players or the sport of softball its just the way it is in the world right now. Sponsors want wins, players want to win, and coaches try to scheme to make it happen. Every team is trying to win every tournanment they THINK they can win. Ive heard team after team in both sports tell me "If we cant guarnatee a top finish in a tournament, what is the point of going?"

So no matter how many divisions, rule changes, HR limits, or what have you the teams wanting to Win at all cost will keep trying to figure out ways around it. Yes doing some things above will help but until we change what we are teaching our kids and ourselves then the same things will continue to happen.

I agree with Collins..



But also, Its Obama's fault!

Tbird and Collins that is great post.


I think next year my WSL events will be something like:


Lower (0 homeruns with an inning ending out)

Upper (2 homeruns than an out)


wish I could do Lower Middle Upper but I don't think we would get enough teams. I am going to host a good sized money/uniforms tournament to kick the year off and I am going to try the Upper and Lower scenario.

TBird... You are KILLING ME!!! Gotta delete your post bud, not because you are wrong, but you know why....

LTG,

TJay Busin
601.506.4931

alot of people have great points and I would like to hear TJAY's point of view on the state of the game. I'm serious TJAY had some great points when we talked on the phone. He should share them with the public.. I like the idea of the points system he wants to put in place no matter where you play.

Back in late 90s in c class we had 1 hr next out the third was player ejection you could put sub in that guys place there was 147 teams in Asa national c class that year seemed like way to go. We showed up first game batted 11 two subs other team batted 10 had 5 subs we learn lesson fast we had two ejected they had 5 ejected rest tourn we batted 10 for safety of having enough players. But long story short I say three divisions upper 3 hr out then ejection, med 1 hr out then ejection on the third and then lowest I say 0 hr and ejection on the 2nd hr. this way stronger e teams play d stronger d would play c also players/ teams need to learn play for pride not prizes just do away all prizes and lower the entry fee.

I know who you are as well... LOL!!! I appreciate the faith. I have a HUGE meeting tomorrow, Sat and Sunday... I will be posting my plans for next year within the next few weeks...

It is a COMPLETE and total 180. Please have patience, I have talked to anyone that would give me time and come up with (what i believe) is the best possible scenario for 2013.

LTG,

TJay Busin
601.506.4931

i have been playing for nearly 20 years and when i started all we won (if we won) was a stupid plastic trophy with no label on it, but that wasnt why we played. i figured i played probably 2or 3 years before i ever won a tourny. i remember SEVERAL years ago there was a team that we seem to play in the "backwoods" tournys every weekend that was far superior to anybody else. We never beat them but we never ducked them either because we held the hope that maybe this time we would beat them. not for a bat or money but becuase we were men and we had pride in ourselves and our team. we repsected the other team which made us want to woop them even more. i agree with TJ, the problem today is the way we think. we can blame whomever, but it is us. you gotta love to compete because if you only want to play in watered down tournys so u can win a bat, then there is no fix. you gotta want it and gotta bring it. but what do i know. i have too old and too short to be palying ball anyway.
curtis

Collins, that is the most insightful post I have ever seen on this board. I agree with you whole-heartedly. And, Curtis, I agree with you as well. Too many people don't know how to lose and lose gracefully. Don't feel like you're alone either. I'm too old and short to be playing, too.

Little Will

bump for more suggestions

thereis only one way to fix mississippi usssa THAT IS TO FIRE LARRY GREENS SORRY A55

Just have two tournaments every weekend. One in the north and one in the south. If you want to play get in those. It could be upper/lower. Then when states come around let that be the only tournament going on. Sounds to easy huh?

You guys must have missed that easy fix thread. The easiest fix is to throw a "backwoods" unsanctioned State tournament. We all should just not play any association just backwoods tournaments & that will fix all the crying. That is what all this has boiled down to bec not 1 single team besides the ones that are already C class would ever man up & move up. Sad to say it but that's the bottom line.

Wood bats and no classifications. Wood bats would fix all the shavers, protect the pitchers and other fielders, and make a home run actually a home run again. No classifications would keep the politics out of the game. And with wood bats, an E team would actually have a chance to beat a C team.

Actually no. A C team would still beat an E team majority of the time. E team would hit no hrs and C team would hit a couple. C team would still out hit and out defend an E team all day every day. I agree scores would be a lot lower for both but a true E team would have trouble scoring any runs against a C team and the C guys would still be able to base hit it. It would just weed out a lot of free swingers. Not even a Decent idea to fix the problem

I have been around longer than most of you have actually longer than I want to admit and it is my honest opinion it will never be fixed as long as most of the players have the mentality that they have now! Me Me Me!

Over all bats are not an issue and let a C class walk into nationals with wood bats and get laughed out the park. Wood bats would have to be a national change not a state. To fix bats have a tester on every site at every tourney. Problem fixed you test the Bats and provide balls. And as far as backwoods tourneys if you did that how would you ever qualify for anything? Therefore killing MS softball on a national level to compete outside the state.

Why worry about what goes on at the National level?? How many teams will actually go to an ASA or U-Trip world anyway?? Fix what’s wrong in the State then worry about maybe some team going to a Worlds! I would venture to guess that a small percentage of teams start the year with the goal of going to a world tourney! The rest couldn’t care less! The way it is now the few good players gravitate to the few good teams (C) and then have nowhere to play except out of State! But just let some of these good players want to play down with some of their friends, well then the crying begins! So the good players are penalized for being too good! Yeah, that makes a lot of sense!

Let the government run it. They are trying to run everything else

Yeah, let obumber fix it!

Enter a tournament, show up at your gametime, and play the team in the other dugout. It's not complicated.

That's to simple!

By the way it worked for years!

it will never be fixed

Ask Fantasyland they got the answer.

The problem is a lack of courage, heart, and competitive nature. Everyone is scared to be the loser, but guess what winning and losing are facts of life. People are scared to even try. I was taught you play hard and leave it on the field and that if you lose as long as you gave it everything you had that was nothing to be ashamed of. I was also taught that if you play better competition that will help you get better. So my question is why wouldn't you want to play the best of the best and try to be the best player you can be. I know it's only softball but so what. Truth be told there should be but an upper and lower. Teams should just show up and play!

Directors should quit accommodating teams and coaches that are scared of competition. How bout just C and D. Bump all E teams to D and bump all the upper tier D teams to C. Then when teams are classified at the beginning of the year that is what they are till the next year. Players should be classified as whatever their team is. Lower entry fees would help and better coordination of tournaments would also help. None of this changes the fact though that teams need to just show up and play!!!!