This tournament needs to move back to KC. Again (5 years in a row) there are no Arkansas or Tennessee teams. The rain came and the fields were just full of water 6 hours after it stopped. 2 fields were never in shape after 36 hours. The games were shortened to 5 innings, while we could have played later on Saturday night, but the Director had his winner of each bracket and did not care.
The umpires worked hard on the fields, but did not see much of the crew on Saturday at all. If we went back to KC we might get more Iowa and Minnesota teams. Please consider
And not to mention Arkansas is not even in the Midwest. Strange.
Midwest Championships should be in KC or St. Louis for sure. This is an annual comment. That tourney just doesn't draw enough teams in Rogers. The facility is also not up to par there either.
First, I agree with each of you....the Midwest Championships should (needs to) come back to KC. But, being from the KC area, I "could be" a bit biased. 😊
2nd, creins, there were 4 Arkansas teams "listed" this year. But you are correct on the fact that no team from TN participated. Additionally, the info below does not list a team from TN either - even when the tournament was in KC. Now, a team, or two, from TN could have participated in any one of the non-listed years.
Just some figures:
2009 at Mid-America in Shawnee, KS (58 total teams):
IL - 15 teams; MI - 11; WI - 11; IN - 5; MO - 5; 3 each from KY, MN and OH; and 1 each from IA and KS
2013 at Mid-America in Shawnee, KS (57 teams):
MO - 17 teams; IA - 7; KS - 6; 5 each from MN, IL, and CO; 4 from NE & AR; 2 from WI and 1 each from MI & OK
2016 - 1st year in AR (46 total teams):
MO - 16 teams; 5 each from IL, KS, and AR; 4 from OK & NE; IA - 3; and 2 each from TX & MN
2021 - Rogers, AR (37 total teams):
MO - 15 teams; TX - 7; OK - 5; 4 each from KS & AR; NE - 2
0 teams anymore from IL, MI, WI, IN, KY, MN, OH, IA, or CO
1 positive note.....the number of teams from TX & OK have increased.
Dbax, I Maybe from Texas but only 200 hundred miles between Rogers and KC so I guess both aren't in the Midwest.
Lol. Good point. That’s probably why they picked Rogers. It’s close to the Midwest.
Even without the rain the outfield is horrible. No grass at all, lumping ground. The place was built on swamp ground so no good grass would ever grow. Colorado stopped coming once it moved to Rogers, some teams gave it one time and then never again. It needs to move where there is Astro Turf which KC now has in Shawnee.
This event really needs to come back to KC. I have played at both complexes and it isnt even close. KC is much better and will draw teams from the North Central region. Mid-America is getting a complete face lift last year and this year and will really be an excellent complex when finished. This tournament will die a slow death if it remains in Rogers. Creins is 100% correct about the outfield. If you like bad hops these fields are a dream come true.
creins and Parman ... Just for the record and public disclosure, the reason SSUSA relocated the Midwest Championships from Shawnee (KS) to Rogers (AR) had EVERYTHING to do with what Shawnee did to give away our traditional dates to a youth tournament promoter and NOTHING to do with SSUSA voluntarily wanting that to happen ... There will need to be some major fence-mending and binding assurances from Shawnee before we would consider risking going back ...
Dave. I hope you will consider trying some fence mending. Its my understanding this complex now has new owners. Four fields are now completely turfed (infield & outfield) with the other main four fields scheduled to be completed this fall/offseason. The remaining two fields are to be finished the next offseason. There are no bad hops at all on this turf, the only drawback was it gets extremely hot. I hope the SSUSA TOC folks will at least consider it. I know youth ball is huge in KC but I would hope Shawnee could give us 1 weekend for a big tournament.
We're open to any location that males sense, whether it's the current one or someplace else ... There just seemed to be a false misunderstanding that SSUSA left Shawnee voluntarily ... Nothing could be further from the truth ...
Has their been a decision made on where and when the Midwest Championships will be played in 2022?
If KC wont work (cost prohibitive with new turf & new owners) has anyone considered Carl Smith Complex in Tulsa. 10 diamond complex all in the same location. Only issue its just 100 miles straight west of Rogers Ark so may have the same issue not getting teams from the upper Midwest to travel that far. Still might be worth looking into.
Other ideas would be Columbia (6 fields) or Racoon River in Des Moines
What about moving the Midwest Championship to St. Louis...you cant bet closer to the MIDWEST than St. Louis. Seriously, I think it would be a great draw for the great Midwest. I am sure that they will have the facilities to support 75+ teams. Just a thought.
