While Sluggerfest was able to assemble 33-16U teams for their tournament, the majority of the top-tier Ohio and Indiana 16U teams were competing in an ASA/USA National Qualifier in Ashland, Ohio or they were at Compuware, a showcase in Canton, MI. Sluggerfest was not an ASA/USA Qualifier for 16U that weekend.
All that it takes for a team to go ASA Gold is to register. That's it, nothing else. Of course, when they do that, they place restrictions on themselves. There is no way to tell if an ASA Gold team is just as good as any other team. But, the playing pool is much smaller and the exposure factor is greater.