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Online now: 2 members: MR. ED, TABLE SETTER 11; 103 anonymousDiscussion: Assignment of fields for LVSSA/SSUSA World Championships
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| Sept. 28, 2018 biggflyy1953 Men's 60 43 posts | Assignment of fields for LVSSA/SSUSA World Championships I believe the general consensus of players have rated the top 3 or the most desirable complexes in Las Vegas are as follows: 1)Arroyo Grande 2) BLD and 3) Sunset. The least desirable: 1) Shadow Rock 2) Hollywood Park and 3) Russell Rd. My question is why do the Major+ teams in the ages of 40-75 have not been assigned to the least desirable complexes among players for at least the last 5 years? Here is the breakdown of the field assignments from 2015-2018 by age groups involving the Major+ teams starting in 2015 thru 2018: 40 Major+ 2016 BLD 2017 Arroyo Grande 2018 Arroyo Grande 50 Major+ 2015-2018 Arroyo Grande 55 Major+ 2015 BLD 2016 Arroyo Grande 2017 Cheyenne 2018 Arroyo Grande 60 Major+ 2015 Sunset 2016-2017 Arroyo Grande 2018 Sunset 65 Major+ 2015 BLD 2016 Arroyo Grande 2017 Desert Breeze 2018 BLD 70 Major+ 2015-2016 Arroyo Grande 2017 Sunset and BLD 2018 Sunset 75 Major+ 2016 Sunset 2017 Arroyo Grande 2018 BLD The Major+ teams have not been assigned to Hollywood Park, Shadow Rock,and Russell Rd in at least the last 4 years. Cheyenne and Desert Breeze have only been used once as an alternative (55 Major+ 2017) and (65 Major+ 2017). It appears that the Major+ teams monopolize the more desirable fields and are not assigned the least desirable fields. Is it just a coincidence, a scheduling necessity or preferential treatment? Just my opinion, the Major+ teams would have serious problems playing at the least desirable fields which most other teams have reluctantly have had to play on!! |
| Sept. 28, 2018 SOFTBALLNUTZ 36 posts | biggflyy1953 I agree 100% |
| Sept. 28, 2018 JBTexas Men's 70 434 posts | Guess you guys didn't get to play at Cheyenne this year has to be in the bottom three. |
| Sept. 28, 2018 DaveDowell Men's 70 4312 posts | fly-NUTZ .. There are a lot of other factors that go into the field assignment decisions most people fail to consider ... Those include, but are not limited to ... • Larger brackets (generally AAA and Major) require facilities that do NOT have Local League Restrictions impacting games demand satisfaction ... Henderson (Arroyo Grande & Russell Rd.) play league five nights per week and don't allow us to schedule after 2:00 PM games ... Big League Dreams has league six nights per week, starting at 6:00 PM Monday through Friday and at 5:00 PM on Sunday ... Like it or not, "local leagues rule" in las Vegas and we have no options ... • Unrestricted facilities were the former Lorenzi (City of Las Vegas) and Shadow Rock and Hollywood in Clark County ... Sunset is also in Clark County but has worked with us to only impact us on Friday nights ... Desert Breeze is a mixed bag on availability: No local leagues, but a long-standing tournament run by another promoter annually on this weekend ... We were only able to schedule today through 11:00 AM games ... • The larger brackets require multiple locations to meet the games demand ... This year's master schedule comprises 2,038 games, with only ONE open field that isn't an "end of day" option ... • The younger Major+ divisions are completely unsuitable for at least four facilities ... Home Run retrieval is virtually impossible at Shadow Rock (3 of 4 fields), Doc Romeo (2 of 3 fields) and Hollywood (2 of 3 fields) .. Russell Road is unsuitable for Major+ and Major due to the traffic on the actual Russell Road being at risk of being hit by balls landing in the roadway ... A similar safety issue exists on Doc Romeo #5 (the skate park), Dos Escuelas (the school) and one field at Hollywood (the school) ... • The smaller divisions, typically Major+ and AA, get fit in where I can to fill facilities and not waste precious game slots ... There's no Major+ bias involved, it's just math, and the majority of those younger Major+ prefer to NOT play at BLD ... All of this just creates a 2,000± piece jigsaw puzzle ... Take a peek at the overall Master Planning Grid, paying close attention to the restrictions, and feel free to let me know how you would do it differently ... I'm always open to constructive suggestions! ... Thanks ... |
| Sept. 28, 2018 Paco12 19 posts | WOW if you guys consider Sunset a good field I can only imagine how bad are the other ones, or you have never played on a good field. Just saying. Again mighty Dave has an excuse. |
| Sept. 28, 2018 local 169 posts | Desert Breeze is terrible. Outfields are so hard the ball bounces like it is hitting cement. As with most older people, we all have the need to use the restroom. This year there was NO tp in the restrooms in the morning. I told the staff this, they informed me they had the same problem last year!! I will post my other complaints in a email to SSUSA. I believe they are isolated issues that they need to be aware of. |
| Sept. 28, 2018 DaveDowell Men's 70 4312 posts | That's hilarious Paco. No excuses here at all. And no value judgements on which fields may be better than others. Scheduling 624 teams with everybody playing at Arroyo Grande and BLD just isn't possible. Help me out here, I must be missing something that's obvious to you. LOL! |
| Sept. 28, 2018 Paco12 19 posts | Mighty Dave, vey easy look for a different state or split the division just like SPA does. Sorry, if you do that you might loose few dollars. Another solution get rid of the M+ division especially after 55...look at the teams total attendance. There are options but to you money is more important that client satisfaction. However, I don't blame you I blame us, we get treated like garbage but we like it and say or do nothing. Just my 2 centavos. JESUS TE AMA |
| Sept. 29, 2018 local 169 posts | Move it back to Phoenix !!!!!!!!!!!!! |
| Sept. 29, 2018 Jawood Men's 50 943 posts | Are there better complexes in Phoenix than in Las Vegas or just more of them? I remember playing in Phoenix years ago and do not remember playing on fields better than BLD or Arroyo Grande. Maybe some improvements have been made? |
| Sept. 29, 2018 Dbax Men's 65 2100 posts | Nothing wrong with Sunset. Belongs in the top three. |
| Sept. 30, 2018 lowprofile 65 posts | WOW Paco I think your kicking Dave to hard on this, we are weekend warriors nothing more! I go to work on Mondays, we are not professionals playing on pro fields, were old people playing SLOW PITCH SOFTBALL nothing more than that, I like you I'm sure have been playing tourneys our whole adult life, I have played on every kind of field imaginable, I take it with a grain of salt and play! period. What happens if it rains, wind blows dirt, suns in your eyes,If the fields become atrocious due to mother nature were still gonna play... you gonna blame Dave? thinking not. But OK yes there are some things that should be done at min for a major National tourney as this such as grass being cut, fields drug and batters boxes up to par. After that...I JUST WANNA PLAY BALL!! Thinking maybe there using what 9 different complexes? and maybe there at the mercy of the city's to do the maint on the fields? yes they should be checked out by SSUSA prior to being played on but I'm sure Dave is busy doing brackets for over 600 teams so I don't think it's fair for you to be blowing up Dave! Just my 2 centavos, as Dave says...carry on! |
| Sept. 30, 2018 biggflyy1953 Men's 60 43 posts | I have to agree with lowprofile, I just wanna play ball! I have been going to the SSUSA/LVSSA worlds since 2003! By goal every season is to play in the World's at the seasons end. No matter what complex I have played on I have adjusted to the conditions, good or bad. I have been fortunate enough to play on 3 World Championship teams and finished 2nd a few years ago. I have been to Arroyo Grande to spectate and have been impressed by the fields. However, the 15 years I have attended the Worlds, never had the opportunity to play there. Would be nice to get assigned there once before I call it quits! Probably need to get on a Major+ team. I do appreciate the SSUSA organization to give us seniors the opportunity to play ball throughout our golden years! I know it takes a great deal of energy and committment to run the organization. Dave- I do have a small bone to pick with you in your above post when you state the younger Major+ teams do not prefer to play at BLD. This particular statement seems to contradict you when you also state that there is no Major+ bias. How many years has it been since the younger Major+ teams have played at BLD. There are many other teams that prefer not to play at Hollywood and Shadow Rock but do. All in all, SSUSA is the best senior organization for us senior softball diehards! Good luck to all who have competed in the 2018 SSUSA/LVSSA Senior World Tournament! |
| Sept. 30, 2018 Jawood Men's 50 943 posts | Hate to think what the organization would be without Dave and Fran! Think about how much they do! |
| Sept. 30, 2018 DaveDowell Men's 70 4312 posts | One (hopefully) last word on this one from me ... • Las Vegas is the home of the LVSSA/SSUSA World Masters Championships for the foreseeable future ... The two entities jointly promote the tournament, and neither could do it alone ... The areas of the country that have the minimum required number of fields is very limited ... Phoenix is one of those, and the past 12 World Championships events have been held either there (2007-11) or Las Vegas (2012-18) ... When we ran in Phoenix, the field comparisons and opinions were the same, and still are as it relates to the annual Winter World Championships in November ... • In any multi-venue event anywhere, there are going to be public opinions expressed as to the relative rankings, top to bottom, of those facilities ... While it can be entertaining (and annoying) to read sometimes, that commentary has no influence on field assignments ... This event is structured solely for the efficient implementation of games demand as measured against field availability and suitability for specific skill levels as mentioned above ... Don't plan on that structure theory changing anytime soon ... • biggflyy1953 ... By "..no Major+ bias..", I am referring to their perspective, which happens to be coincidental with ours, but for entirely different reasons ... They prefer to not play at BLD because they hit and can't retrieve home runs balls when they launch them over the nets into the parking lot! (We had a lady lose her windshield on Friday afternoon, and her car was parked in the 3rd row of the parking lot outside Wrigley at BLD ... About 425' from home plate!) ... The economic burden of buying so many replacement balls isn't fair to them ... My perspective is that Major+ generally has smaller brackets and BLD is best suited for larger single brackets around 30± teams (or a half-bracket somewhere in that same size range, like half of this year's 40-Major or 50-Major) • lowprofile and Jawood ... Thanks for the kind words ... No worries, though! ... This is a "free speech zone" anonymous message board where factual accuracy and civility are appreciated, but certainly not mandated! ... The next time that anything proposed here is actually implemented by SSUSA will be an "association-first" in our 30± year history ... And we appreciate that for every few ill-informed nasty posts here, it saves us the wasted time of it coming to us in a phone call! ... That's a plus! Carry on! |
| Sept. 30, 2018 Lecak Men's 60 1026 posts | As a resident of Vegas and semi-active in the community I had an opportunity to speak with the Parks and recreation manager for the city 2 years ago about budgets for new facilities. Las Vegas has added many new communities and the money is going to general use parks and youth facilities. He knew about the demand for fields especially around the several large events that come to town. The problem as he explained it is they cant build parks that only have occasional demand. He told me private money would have to build softball complexes. I would imagine that would be a similar problem in other parts of the country. Where I live every new development gets open space. I use several of these parks to work out and they all have large softball diamonds (no fences). I never see kids on them what I do see is kids packing the basketball courts and kids playing street hockey on the cement playgrounds and pickup soccer games. Your future seniors in action. The city is building what the public is demanding. Before the recession 10 years ago there was a rumor floating around that one of the big casinos was thinking about a softball venue similar to what Disney has in Florida near the strip. This would be a guess but the most logical sites probably have our hockey arena, the Raiders new stadium or the Topgolf facility. i would think anything built private would have to be throw away land like Freedom Park was or built out in the middle of no where. There is not much throw away land in Las Vegas. We have had a number of golf courses closed in the last 5 years with a few more for sale. All of them have plans for more housing or have lawsuits trying to stop the development of housing. We have a lot of new construction lots of green space in those developments just no baseball diamonds that I can see. |
| Sept. 30, 2018 lowprofile 65 posts | Biggflyy and Jawood...well said gentlemen! Lecak that's some interesting info, thanks for that insight into L.V. lol...carry on! |
| Sept. 30, 2018 Dbax Men's 65 2100 posts | The City of Las Vegas does not need to build any more complexes. How about they fix up and take care of some of the crap ones here? |
