Not trying to be a smartass, but how does Alliance work? When I look at the website, I see multiple tiers, regions, etc. We're looking at teams that play Alliance, and I just want a simplified overview, not a comparison between them and other options.
Re: Alliance
Posted by @ Parent on July 27, 2025, 2:28 pm, in reply to "Alliance"
It is similar to the Womens College World Format except starting with 100 to 110 teams. 16 Regions with an average of 7 teams in each region. The teams are ranked 1-32 and get placed in those regions accordingly. #1 team is with #32 Team and #16 team is with #17 team. Other teams fill the regions based on the same concept. The regions play and the top 2 teams in each Region advance to Tier 1, the next 32 ranked teams to Tier 2 and the remaining teams to Tier 3. It is now 3 separate tournaments that I believe all follow a similar format. They break it down to 8 four team regionals which play double elimination format to get down to 8 teams. The Elite 8 is then two 4 team double elimination brackets to get to the Final 2 and then the play the best of 3. Your ranking is based on your record in Alliance Events, some holding more weight than others. This year around 110 teams qualified for 16U, so qualifying should not be difficult. The real tournament is Tier 1 for the top 32 teams. There is no doubt that all of these teams are very talented. Tier 2 is competitive softball and a better alternative to PGF Midwest Nationals in Peoria. It is on par with the PGF Platinum division. The Alliance tournament format is nothing like PGF’s pool play, relaxed atmosphere into a bind draw. It is intense from the first pitch. I have been to both and prefer PFG Premiere but the blind draw needs to go, it is awful. Playing Alliance is competitive but going to Indianapolis is not the same as going to Huntington Beach. Get to Huntington Beach once and get to Colorado once. If you spend the rest of your time in Indianapolis it will still be good softball and there will be coaches.
Re: Alliance
Posted by Long winded explanation on July 27, 2025, 2:03 pm, in reply to "Alliance"
So to play at the Alliance Championship series you have to earn a bid via winning a qualifier. The open tourney held in TN was for teams that did not earn a bid, the national open series. The teams in Indiana all earned a bid for the national championship series.
At the National championship series they separate each team into a ‘region’ aka a pool. The region plays off in a double elim tourney format until you get a seeding, in this case 1-6. The top seeds go to Tier 1, 3 & 4 to tier 2, and 5 & 6 to tier three. Then it breaks into 3 separate double elimination tournaments. That is considered ‘super-regionals’ and then elite 8 and on to the best of 3 championship series.
Some of this was a rebellion again the meaningless pool play games in PGF with the blind draw. There are pros and cons to each. Alliance is modeled after college softball playoffs.
As far as the leagues, there are 9 total. Basically each head honcho runs a league for their area of the country. So the Midwest is predominately Heart of America Fastpitch League. You can play within your league or go to tournaments in other leagues/regions. You earn points based on how you do in your league, similar to college RPI. They use your ranking to determine seeding for tournaments. But that’s primarily in place for teams playing almost exclusively alliance as you can’t get too many points if you’re not playing many sanctioned tourneys. And those 9 member leagues form the ‘Alliance’.
I find it to be unnecessarily convoluted at times. But it does emphasize all your games counting. Which is good for competitiveness, and bad for keeping a large roster happy. Alliance has strong national level teams playing, but it’s hard to find alliance in Illinois as it’s a PGF stronghold. IPF and IMG both play alliance. But it means you’re traveling to Indianapolis, St. Louis, or Kansas City for Alliance tourneys.
Re: Alliance
Posted by @Long Winded on July 27, 2025, 2:16 pm, in reply to "Re: Alliance"
Sincerely appreciate your time and explanation.
Thanks.
Re: Alliance
Posted by Sergey Brin on July 27, 2025, 10:15 am, in reply to "Alliance"
I used Google and found this page that describes all the relevant Alliance rules and policies:
Posted by @Larry Page on July 27, 2025, 12:19 pm, in reply to "Re: Alliance"
While I appreciate your snarky assistance, I was more looking for a couple of sentences to tell how many tournaments you need to play, how you qualify for nationals, etc. I just assumed with all the Alliance boosters that's what I'd get.
Re: Alliance
Posted by Tourneys on July 28, 2025, 8:48 am, in reply to "Re: Alliance"
If you want to play in the AFCS, you just have to earn a bid. That means winning or placing second in an alliance event, or in one of the big qualifier events, where they give out 4 bids in each age group. 1 bid is all you need, but you have to get it.
If you want a high seed, you need to play more events, log your games in AGL, etc. They also reward points for teams playing against teams from other AGL regions, encourages teams doing events in other regions.
It's just like the college world series - regionals into super regionals.
And once out of super regionals it splits into 3 tiers. the top 2 finishers in each super regional make it to the top level, tier 1. Then everything resets and you start fresh with a new double elim tourney at each of the tiers.
Re: Alliance
Posted by Not True on July 30, 2025, 8:10 pm, in reply to "Re: Alliance"
They hand out berths on the west coast without playing in a qualifier. But most of the teams turn them down. I know my friends team has turned it down multiple years now. Gets invite after just playing in a showcase.
