Youth Baseball: Cooperstown Dreams Park Tips and Tricks (Part 4)

The parent orientation, opening ceremonies and the skills competition are on Saturday at 4:30 if the weather cooperates. I played golf with three other dads on Saturday morning and planned to go to the park at 4:15. We made it to the park in plenty of time to see the opening ceremonies but we had to park in lot C-9, just about the furthest point from the Little Majors Stadium where the festivities are held. The distance away from the stadium was not the issue. The main problem is that Lot C-9 put is at the end of the line to get out of the park when the festivities were over. It took us over 1 hour to get out of the park. We had been trapped in that parking lot for a total of 4 hours over the course of the first two days. Ugh.

The Opening Ceremonies were entertaining. The founder of the Park gives an uplifting speech and you get to see you son for the first time when each team is announced and paraded around the stadium.

I have to admit, I had some tears in my eyes when John Fogerty's Centerfield was played. That is the song we played over and over as my son was in the hospital following major heart surgery when he was 4 days old.

We then watched the skills competition. There are 4 events.

1. Around the horn plus - a timed event. Each team puts 9 players on the field and they need to throw the ball around the horn, the outfield and then home.
2. King of Swat - A home run contest. (One kid is selected from each team.)

3. Running the bases - A timed event where select players run around the bases. A kid ran the four bases in 12 seconds flat in the preliminary rounds. Wow. My son is very fast and typically runs it in 13.9. (One kid is selected from each team.)
4. Golden Arm - An event where select players throw from center field to a target placed at home plate. (One kid is selected from each team.)

Each event is contested on the fields surrounding the stadium. Then the top 6 qualifiers from each preliminary event compete in front of 1000's of fans in the Little Majors Stadium. My son competed in the around the horn event.

The Cooperstown Dreams Park team does a good job coordinating all the events.

Opening Ceremonies Tip

Get to the park at 3:30 for the opening ceremony and park in the A or B lot if possible. You will save your self a lot of aggravation when you want to leave.

Not all 12 year old kids are created equal. My son is number 7.

The Main Point

All the aggravation of registration and parking go away during the opening ceremonies when you realize just how special this experience is for your son.