ASA Tournaments
 

Are you all seeing problems with ASA tournaments making? This weekend will be the first one I know of in Alabama that has made. NSA has been playing every weekend for a month. Lots of teams don't want to pay for the new required certifications I am told. I'm afraid that between this and the pay decrease for umpires ($30 -> $25) ASA in Alabama may be on the way out.

How is it elsewhere?

Just worked a 55 team tourney. 66 team tourney next weekend. No worries in Sugarland Texas, I promise you.

ASA for girls fastpitch is in rapid decline in the Twin Cities metro, but this is not due to anything that ASA national is doing. All local politics.

I can tell you for sure in a week or two about this year, but ASA has been the preiminant softball organization in Upstate SC for several years. WFC, NSA and ISA have been dieing out. USSSA made an attempt last year, but had very few tournaments make.

The story is different towards the coast, though.

In this part of North Texas, it seems that VTD is making its move to take over.

Has PONY been making inroads over ASA anywhere? They have in MA/RI.

PONY made inroads in VA and now NSA has taken the lead. At least in my part of VA. The state is a lot bigger than anyone outside of it wants to admit.

ASA's problem is with their web site and with the registration of teams and signing up for tournaments. They got their site working so late, pluse everyone ws just used to going to the VTD site to register. Hopefully things will be back on track soon.

the best complex in North Texas, maybe the southwest - the Forney Softball Complex - will be hurting due to their decision to go with VTD. The 50 member local ASA umpire organization has decided not to call VTD tournaments, although individual umpires can do so if they wish.

When all you have to do to become a VTD umpire is pay them $50 and buy their cap I'm sure the quality of officials will be right up there with ASA. :-)
VTD is truly all about the $ - hell they started sanctioning leagues & tournaments because of the lost $s due to losing ASA as a web site client.

In Indiana, a check of the Indiana ASA web site shows 15 tournaments listed for the year. The NSA site lists over 100 tournaments in Indiana for the year. I received an email from the NSA State UIC where she asks for help in umpiring 18 tournaments in the month of June alone.

I personally have worked 77 NSA fast pitch games so far this year (79 if you count the two rec games I did last night which use NSA rules), and six ASA slow pitch games.

At every NSA tournament I always get at least one coach who tells me his team is new to NSA because they see that they can play many more tournaments in our area. We also see teams from Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Canada because the tournaments are very well run. I'm sure the ASA tournaments are well run also, there just aren't very many of them.

and its because of the web site fiasco ... ASA dropped the ball on not being prepared for 2010

In Northern VA, ASA and PONY seem to be on the way out. Most of the ASA tournaments are playing in Central and Southwestern VA.

There's been only one PONY tournament in NOVA so far this year.

USSSA has fifteen scheduled tournaments in NOVA this season and NSA has ten.

Another problem with ASA and this has been building over the last few years is their customer service! Good luck getting a hold of anyone that can help you. This even goes for people in charge of championship play tournaments.

Yes their tournament sign up process is a major problem as well as their nickle and diming of teams, i.e. ACE certification, Insurance, ID Cards. They are fading fast in North Texas.

I umpire as well as coach a team and have zero ASA tournaments on my umpiring schedule and as of this morning am working on pulling out of two tournaments for my team(due to lack of teams signed up for them as well as the above problems) and switching over to another VTD tournament.

USSSA is overtaking ASA in the Midwest.

As I read these comments, I'm wondering FP, SP or both. My comments above were aimed solely at FP.

OP was FP...I don't call SP.