Tournament seed question (home vs. visitor)

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Mountaincoach

Thanks. Trust me, I'm "over it". Like I said in the original post, I was cool with just batting in the "visitor" slot. It's no big deal at all, and my kids are just having fun. I just figured you guys might know what the usual practice is in a tournament like this. I'll just let them flip a coin and let me know how it turns out when it comes time to have my kids bat or take the field. I'm so proud of all the kids. The playground has all different color jerseys on it after each game. They're having the time of their life.

Did you really say a tournament played by 9 and 10 year olds was "intense?"

[asdf]

Originally Posted by GROUPthink

Did you really say a tournament played by 9 and 10 year olds was "intense?"

+1

The only thing they'll remember is how the ice cream was after the game(s).

[MD Longhorn]

Ignore the dumb comments at the end... I remember games / seasons / tourneys from when I was 9 or 10. Some of them were intense TO ME, which is what matters.

Tournaments generally state somewhere what the home/visitor rules are for the tourney. I'd say that at least 3/4 of the tourneys I work do not use the seeding at all to determine home or visitor - it's a coinflip at the plate before the game. The higher seeds already have the advantage they've earned by virtue of the opponents they get to play. Additionally, at least half of those, perhaps a bit more, state that the ONLY game that is not flipped for is the winner bracket vs loser bracket game - winner bracket is home. In tourneys with IF games, the IF game is always a coin flip.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

Ignore the dumb comments at the end... I remember games / seasons / tourneys from when I was 9 or 10. Some of them were intense TO ME, which is what matters.

Tournaments generally state somewhere what the home/visitor rules are for the tourney. I'd say that at least 3/4 of the tourneys I work do not use the seeding at all to determine home or visitor - it's a coinflip at the plate before the game. The higher seeds already have the advantage they've earned by virtue of the opponents they get to play. Additionally, at least half of those, perhaps a bit more, state that the ONLY game that is not flipped for is the winner bracket vs loser bracket game - winner bracket is home. In tourneys with IF games, the IF game is always a coin flip.

I umpire a ton of 9-10 year old tournament games as a bit of community service -- the only people it's intense for are the coaches and parents, it seems.

[MD Longhorn]

You should have come to either of the recent USFA softball qualifiers I worked in NW Houston. Had you not been told in advance, you would not know these girls were 10. In size, in attitude, and in ability. Yes, 10U baseball and softball is often slightly more than babysitting, with the occasional 2-3 kids per team that can play and take it seriously. But most of the teams still playing this late into the season are for real - both boys and girls.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by GROUPthink

I umpire a ton of 9-10 year old tournament games as a bit of community service -- the only people it's intense for are the coaches and parents, it seems.

Again, it depends on where you live, and what league it is. I've worked 9-10 LL Minors games that the players weren't very skilled or coordinated and spent most of their time chasing dandilions or picking their noses. Then I've worked 9-10 Mustang games with some very skilled young ballplayers who took the game quite seriously and these games were very competitive and intense.

I remember when I was a kid, we were more skilled as a general rule, and played the game with intensity from Day 1. That was back when baseball was all there was to do during baseball season.

[Mountaincoach]

Thanks for the comments. Heck yeah it's intense at times, but not in a malignant way. We have 6 teams in the league this year, and it's been one of those years where there was not a marquee dominant team but rather a bunch of teams running neck and neck. And trust me, they are very aware of the score at all times. It's coach pitch (age is 7-9 with a handful of 6 year olds). I saw a 9 year old kid bounce one of those semi-hard "level 5" training baseballs off the center field fence the other day. In years past, we've definitely had a lot of dandelion pickers, but man they have really improved as a whole group. We make sure they have a good time, and I keep telling them "guys, this is the time of your life, enjoy it". I just hope they someday look back and see that after they progress into the competitiveness of the upper levels and life itself. They constantly bug me throughout the game with "what's the score, do we get to bat again, i need to go the bathroom, etc." Then, after the game, they all go to the playground and have fun, no matter what color jersey they're wearing.

As for the comment about when WE were kids--heck yeah I agree. We didn't have ipods, xboxes, six zillion TV channels, etc. My dad bought us a wooden bat and one baseball. And we taught OURSELVES how to play in the front yard. Where there was an argument on a play, we learned how to work it out among ourselves. I honestly think the 9-12 year old Little League teams from 25 years ago in my community could demolish the teams now. We lived to play ball.