JUST STOP. You've had plenty of opportunity to rank players BEFORE the tournament started. If someone isn't properly ranked, that's on the Div Reps and LO... DO YOUR JOBS! ... Sandbagging will apparently happen REGARDLESS, no matter WHAT YOU DO! Quit penalizing players because your system SUCKS, and you're just plain lazy!!
For starters, both teams turn in scoresheets. If Team-A's inning count has a large discrepancy, it might be a sign. FIND OUT WHY! Send out the sniffers. Watch the players in question. Pay particular attention to their scores for a bit. And God forbid you have to get off your asterick and go watch a match!
Quick background on this. Our LO asked if we could take a teams spot in a regional qualifier held on Saturday OVER MEMORIAL WEEKEND (end of May). The team we replaced was already qualified so they bailed. It was exactly 1 week before the tournament. People already had plans, but we scrambled and managed to field 5 players, including one who would've received triple-time at work that day. Everyone else was out of town... After our first match, the LO arbitrarily ranked-up 2 players. Both players have established histories, and a solid baseline for their current SL. Regardless, BOOOM. First match of the morning under our belts, and we're DONE. Everyone was extremely unhappy... The LO blamed "the computer" for the ranks, then pointed the finger at one of our other lower-level players, because he wasn't present.... Nevermind that he wasn't even in the state at the time... In summary, we pulled it together for a holiday weekend within a weeks notice, then proceeded directly to get screwed for our efforts.
The system is flawed because it's designed to rate players based on their week-in, week-out competition in a small region. The player performance during any given session helps determine their rating. But remember... they are playing folks in and around a select, small region.
Go to any APA regional qualifying tournament and you'll see 5s, 6s, and 7s from ONE area that could be considered OVERRATED. But now they're facing competition of folks from another small (or maybe no so small) region a bit further away. All of them lumped into one room/tournament. Then you'll start to see the differences between 6s or 7s in one region vs. those in another region. Sometimes, they're not that different. Sometimes they are LIGHT YEARS apart.
Now examine the process once more on a NATIONAL level when a 6 from a small town/small region in upstate wherever gets matched up with a 6 from a larger city in a much bigger region. One guy can play like a good 5 while the other might be a shortstop or a road player. lol.
There's VERY little the APA can do about it except to change player ratings mid-tournament. It helps to level the playing field just a tiny bit. The only other feasible options are:
1) DQ the player who appears to be underrated (VERY controversial given they've paid their way/dues into the tournament, and in the cases of 7s/9s, how does one 'underrate'?)
2) Completely reevaluate their scoring and rating model. This is more realistic but I'd imagine, a monumental task that will leave a SLEW of players complaining about the change, the adjustments, how it affects them/their teams, etc..
The APA's system is imperfect. But saying "Stop changing player ratings mid-tournament" does a tremendous disservice to the entire tourney field.
