How softball field ratings work
TourneyMagic rates every team from its public game results, then rates each tournament's field from the teams registered in it. This page explains how, so you can judge how far to trust a number.
The ratings use 1,711,925 game results and 247,344 rated teams, and cover 3,683 upcoming softball tournaments from 20 sanctions and organizers.
How is a team's rating worked out?
From its publicly posted game results. Each result moves both teams' ratings by how surprising it was: beating a stronger team counts for more than beating a weaker one. The winning margin counts a little, but it is capped, so running up a score barely helps. A team that plays under more than one organizer is matched across them, so all its results count together.
How is a tournament field rated?
Each age group is rated separately, from the registered teams that have ratings. The field rating is 40% the average of those teams and 60% the average of the strongest third, because the teams at the top decide who wins. We tested that blend against about 10,000 real team-tournament results, and it predicted how teams did better than a plain average or median.
When does a field get a rating?
On tournament pages, once at least 6 of its registered teams have results we can rate. Before that the page says the field is still forming, and it fills in as teams register.
Can anyone pay for a better rating?
No. Ratings come only from game results. Organizers and teams can't pay to change them, and we don't use anything about individual players.
What the bands mean
On tournament pages a field is shown as a band; the app shows the 1-10 number.
| Band | Field rating (1-10) |
|---|---|
| Very strong field | 7.3 and up |
| Strong field | 6.6 to 7.2 |
| Balanced field | 5.9 to 6.5 |
| Developing field | below 5.9 |
What a rating can't tell you
A rating is an estimate. It is less sure for a new team with few games, for a team that has changed a lot of its roster, and in the fall when teams move up an age group. It can't see the bracket format, the weather or who is pitching. Use it to compare fields, not to predict a single game.
Where the data comes from
Tournament listings and results come from organizers' public pages, checked daily. TourneyMagic is independent and isn't affiliated with any sanctioning body or organizer. It's built by James Simmons, a softball parent in Austin, Texas, who plans tournaments for his daughter's team. About.