West Tenn - Where are you?

[TOUCHTHEPLATE]

All I was saying is that year in and year out that those two teams seek out the best competition they can find as opposed to most teams in the west, not just when they have an all stater. I have yet to see either play this year and seen where both have been beaten. Lions4ever is proving my point. Camden has a good team this year and St. Benedict has asked to play them. Neither of the teams I have mentioned are not worried about their record at this point, they want to be playing their best at the end of the season. I also understand that budget has alot to do with where you play, but if you are going to only travel once or twice why not go play those tourneys that have the best teams coming every year. I want the West to get better. I get sick and tired of people saying that the West can't compete with Soddy, Beech, and Goodpasture. Let's go play them, see what they are doing, and start to bring some hardware home. No derespect to TCA here, they are and will force to recond with for a little while longer.

 

 

High school softball programs aren't built during the HS softball season. HS coaches work very hard for their teams during the season but HS softball programs are built by young women who work hard during the summer & fall travel season & during the winter hitting,pitching & working out to get better. Some HS programs are just able to take advantage of a high percentage of players who are that committed to the sport & they do travel the state & other states to participate in tournaments.

 

If a HS doesn't have a large portion of their players that play summer & fall ball it will be very hard to ever compete with the top level HS teams in the spring. For these teams it would be a waste of money & time to travel to far off tournaments plus it would demoralize the program. If you want the West to compete as a whole you must get your teams players to quit putting the bat down in May & not picking it back up till Febuary! But in all reality I do think that in ratio the West has as many competitive teams look at how the West was represented at the "boro" last year.

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[SBdad4ever]

High school softball programs aren't built during the HS softball season. HS coaches work very hard for their teams during the season but HS softball programs are built by young women who work hard during the summer & fall travel season & during the winter hitting,pitching & working out to get better. Some HS programs are just able to take advantage of a high percentage of players who are that committed to the sport & they do travel the state & other states to participate in tournaments.

 

If a HS doesn't have a large portion of their players that play summer & fall ball it will be very hard to ever compete with the top level HS teams in the spring. For these teams it would be a waste of money & time to travel to far off tournaments plus it would demoralize the program. If you want the West to compete as a whole you must get your teams players to quit putting the bat down in May & not picking it back up till Febuary! But in all reality I do think that in ratio the West has as many competitive teams look at how the West was represented at the "boro" last year.

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We just had a tournament here in west tn. only 2 teams east of the tn. river came to play and the tournament was posted back in the fall of 2008. If they want us to play in middle or east why don't they come and play in the west?

[intheshadow]

We just had a tournament here in west tn. only 2 teams east of the tn. river came to play and the tournament was posted back in the fall of 2008. If they want us to play in middle or east why don't they come and play in the west?

 

 

Because the competition, as a whole, is not as good.

[SBdad4ever]

Because the competition, as a whole, is not as good.

 

 

Just to let you know that 8 out of 20 teams made it to the state last year. How do you know the competition is not good unless you come down and play. The proof is between the whit lines and not on this site or the paper.

[stlbrd]

Just to let you know that 8 out of 20 teams made it to the state last year. How do you know the competition is not good unless you come down and play. The proof is between the whit lines and not on this site or the paper.

 

It would almost be impossible for 8 teams NOT to make it............ /blush.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":blush:" border="0" alt="blush.gif" />

[jtk]

Just to let you know that 8 out of 20 teams made it to the state last year. How do you know the competition is not good unless you come down and play. The proof is between the whit lines and not on this site or the paper.

 

Birdie has a good point. Take TCA, Covington and St. Benedict out (7-6 in the 2008 tournament), the other five teams were 2-12 between the white lines. Huntington and Martin Westview each won one game.

[coach_22]

The bottom line is this: The west can find teams in the west, the middle in middle, and so on. There are plenty of good teams in each part of the state to keep the talent level up.

 

Give it a rest on the Middle Tennessee dominance. The team with the best pitching and quality hitters will win and there's not much we can do about it as coaches.

 

If you have the talent you will win, if you don't you won't. And as far as some other quotes on summer ball. I have several girls tell me that they get zero coaching out of summer. Yes, they get to play but nobody and I mean nobody works on fundamentals with kids. Highschool kids shouldn't have to be taught to slide and how to tag up at 3B on a flyball but that's the case.......And some of thiese kids are playing for Middle Tennessee Softball Teams.

 

The overall concept has become a joke in my opinion. Without highschool ball some of the kids would know very little about the game of softball and would not be prepared for the next level.

[MrNoitAll]

Ok, hear is an answer you may not want to hear and that is that the people in the West just do not have it.....of course your private schools are good but do not be expectin them to be coming to the "boro" and goin home with any of them trophies! If you have not notice they will not even make any comments on this topic because they are not reading it or just do not care! /flower.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":flower:" border="0" alt="flower.gif" />

[jtk]

Ok, hear is an answer you may not want to hear and that is that the people in the West just do not have it.....of course your private schools are good but do not be expectin them to be coming to the "boro" and goin home with any of them trophies! If you have not notice they will not even make any comments on this topic because they are not reading it or just do not care! /flower.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":flower:" border="0" alt="flower.gif" />

 

I will agree with you that most teams in the West "just do not have it". Talent is thin in the West but TCA and SBEC have a good chance to take home a trophy in May, and St. Benedict could also make a run.

[TOUCHTHEPLATE]

The bottom line is this: The west can find teams in the west, the middle in middle, and so on. There are plenty of good teams in each part of the state to keep the talent level up.

 

Give it a rest on the Middle Tennessee dominance. The team with the best pitching and quality hitters will win and there's not much we can do about it as coaches.

 

If you have the talent you will win, if you don't you won't. And as far as some other quotes on summer ball. I have several girls tell me that they get zero coaching out of summer. Yes, they get to play but nobody and I mean nobody works on fundamentals with kids. Highschool kids shouldn't have to be taught to slide and how to tag up at 3B on a flyball but that's the case.......And some of thiese kids are playing for Middle Tennessee Softball Teams.

 

The overall concept has become a joke in my opinion. Without highschool ball some of the kids would know very little about the game of softball and would not be prepared for the next level.

 

 

I agree if you have talent you will win. /flower.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":flower:" border="0" alt="flower.gif" />

 

Just because a kid is playing travel ball in Mid. Tn. doesn't make them good. /roflol.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":roflol:" border="0" alt="roflol.gif" />

There are weak & strong travel teams in middle Tn. with good & not so good coaches just like some HS teams have poor coaches & some have good coaches. But unless you are a skilled player already you won't get picked up by a GOOD travel coach/team in west or middle tn. These coaches aren't going to devote much time in practice to fundamentals (on high school age kids) they want to work on the little things that usually make the difference in close competitive games. I do agree though a girl playing HS softball must know the fundamentals of the game or someone (parent,rec coach,middle school coach,10-14 yr travel coach) didn't do a very good job. High school coaches should also be working on the little things that win close games but usually spend a small portion of practice if any at all working on the little things.I'm sure some just pass time doing the same old routine untill it's time to go home for the evening. /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

[TBALLEXPERT]

Ok, hear is an answer you may not want to hear and that is that the people in the West just do not have it.....of course your private schools are good but do not be expectin them to be coming to the "boro" and goin home with any of them trophies! If you have not notice they will not even make any comments on this topic because they are not reading it or just do not care! /flower.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":flower:" border="0" alt="flower.gif" />

 

 

 

O.K. now mrnoitall not that I will disagree with you on this one but maybe them nice folks in W.Tn. just aren't as big on chest thumpin as SOME of the good folks in Middle Tn. are. /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

[intheshadow]

O.K. now mrnoitall not that I will disagree with you on this one but maybe them nice folks in W.Tn. just aren't as big on chest thumpin as SOME of the good folks in Middle Tn. are. /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

 

 

Unfortunately we haven't had much to thump our chest about. TCA has done a good job lately, but when the Renfoes are gone they will have a harder time winning the big one. JTK is right about SBEC, but after this year their stock will go down. St. Benedict is probably down this year compared to the past, but they always seemed to be in the title game. The problem is that the other team in that title game will probably be GPS, which may be the best team in the state in any division. As far as talent goes, I believe that alot of athletic girls get into soccer, basketball, and cheer. These are promoted more and better in the west and we tend to do better at these sports when the girls get older.