Youth Baseball: Nations Baseball Gets an F

How did the Nations Baseball World Series held in Pensacola, FL rate compared to other national tournaments?

Here is my report card on Nations Baseball U14 World Series Championship held in Pensacola, FL during the week of July 11 - 15, 2012.

My son has competed in the CABA World Series (U10 - Indianapolis, Indiana), the AAU National Championships (U11 - ESPN Disney Wide World of Sports, Orlando, Florida), Cooperstown Dreams Park (U12 - Cooperstown, NY), the Nations Baseball Premier National Championship (U13 - Gulfport, MS) and Nations Baseball World Series (U14 - Pensacola, FL). It is from this broad base of experience that I feel qualified to grade these events in comparison to each other.

Opening Ceremonies: The Nations Baseball World Series had an opening ceremony on Pensacola Beach the Wednesday before the start of action on Thursday. Our team did not participate for several reasons. 1) Many of the families stayed on Perdido Key far from Pensacola Beach. Few were motivated to get back into a car after recently driving 11 hours, 2) the 14 year old boys were not excited about the event, they wanted to stay on the beach instead and 3) There were only 4 teams in the tournament. What is festive and fun about that?

• Nations Baseball Gulfport, MS - Grade B
• CABA - Grade F (I don't remember any opening ceremonies)
• AAU Disney Fields - Grade A (Disney performers entertained the players, siblings, parents and coaches.)
• Cooperstown Dreams Park - Grade A (It was a bit long, but it was a festive start)
• Nations Baseball, Penacola, FL - Grade NA

The Skills Competition: The Nations Baseball World Series had a skills challenge on the schedule when the team signed up for the tournament, but it was canceled. I believe that they canceled it because there were only 4 teams in the tournament. 

• Nations Baseball Gulfport, MS - Grade B
• CABA - Grade B
• AAU Disney Fields - Grade F (I do not remember any skills competitions)
• Cooperstown Dreams Park - Grade A (Exciting competitions played out in front of a packed stadium)
• Nations Baseball, Penacola, FL - Grade F

The Fields: The Nations Baseball World Series was suppose to be held at University of West Florida, but was moved to Tate High School. We believe that the event was moved due to the lack of teams in the tournament. Only one field was needed for the entire tournament. 

Tate High School has a great field with a well manicured grass infield, a dirt mound, stadium seating and vast dimensions. The outfield grass was green, freshly cut and fast. The infield is made of a blood red dirt that looked great on the field, but terrible on soiled uniforms. The fences on the fields used for the U14 event were at least 9 feet high, 325 ft down the line and about 375 ft straight away. No home runs were hit during the tournament. 

We had a torrential rain Friday night and Saturday morning, the field was unable to recover quick enough to play any games on Saturday. This made Sunday was a long day of baseball. Fields at Cooperstown and Disney recover much more quickly. Luckily, our team was seeded #1 after pool play so we got bye on Sunday morning. 

Tate High School is where Don Sutton, Hall of Fame Pitcher, and Travis Fryman, Cleveland Indians third baseman, played ball. 

From a spectators standpoint, the Tate HS field had the qualities of a minor league stadium. There was ample seating behind home plate on concrete steps. The concrete was hard and absorbed the Florida sun, so it was hot. The stands did have a roof covering up some of the seats which did provide some protection after 11am.

• Nations Baseball Gulfport, MS B+
• CABA - C+ multiple municipal fields of varying quality.
• AAU Disney Fields - A (Perfectly manicured fields configured identically. These fields can take on lots of rain and be playable in short order.)
• Cooperstown Dreams Park - A+ (20 perfectly manicured fields configured identically with reachable fences. These fields can take on more rain than the Disney fields and be playable faster.)
• Nations Baseball, Penacola, FL - Grade B (One great field)

The Concession Stand: Tate High School had a typical HS concession stand. The food was ok, the drinks were cold, the service was friendly and the prices were very cheap.

• Nations Baseball Gulfport, MS - Grade F
• CABA World Series - Grade B (Some venues were good, some not so good)
• AAU Disney Fields - Grade B - (Too expensive)
• Cooperstown Dreams Park  - Grade A+ (Good food, big variety, honest prices)
• Nations Baseball, Penacola, FL - Grade B

Game Schedule: The games were not too early, nor too late. That was good. The tournament could create a schedule like this because there were only 4 teams in the tournament. Still, Nations Baseball gets an overwhelming F. The tournament started on Thursday and ended Sunday. Why? Why not start Wednesday or Tuesday. Most of the house / condo rentals in Pensacola were Saturday to Saturday. Most of the families came down on the Saturday before the tournament started a full 5 days before the games began. Many families had to check out of their condos on Saturday morning and find a hotel room for Saturday night. The tournament did not schedule a rain out contingency day, so the Saturday games and the scheduled Sunday games were played on Sunday. A lower seeded team could have played 5 games on Sunday if it played out that way. That is unacceptable because it puts young arms at risk.

Furthermore, the World Series happened to be on the biggest weekend of the year for Pensacola. The second weekend of July is the Blue Angels Air Show weekend. It is the most crowded weekend and therefore the most expensive weekend of the year. Nations Baseball missed a great opportunity to use the Blue Angles Air Show as a draw to the tournament. No the short sighted folks at Nations scheduled games during the Air Show each day, so our families paid the extra rent to go to Pensacola on the best weekend of the year, but could not enjoy the show. (NOTE: Folks that stayed on the Pensacola Beach side did get to see the Blue Angels practice. We stayed on the Perdido Key side of Pensacola so we did not see anything.) 

Nations Baseball should start the tournament on Monday and end it on Thursday. If it rains, Nations would have Friday to make up the games. Families than will have an opportunity to see the Air Show on Friday, Saturday and can then drive home on Sunday. News alert for Nations Baseball. People need to get back to work to pay for the rather vast expense of a baseball tournament. The championship game for this tournament ended on Sunday at 7pm. Many families had to drive through the night to get to work. 

• Nations Baseball Gulfport, MS - Grade C
• CABA World Series - Grade B
• AAU Disney Fields - Grade B - (Many doubleheaders had large gaps of time between them)
• Cooperstown Dreams Park  - Grade A+ (I am not sure how they coordinate all of the teams when it is not raining, but they manage the schedule beautifully when rain delays or cancels games too.)
• Nations Baseball, Penacola, FL - Grade F

The Competition: Nations Baseball only attracted 4 total teams for the U14 tournament so they got an F. There were three very talented teams and one team that was rec level. Nations baseball was desperate for teams so they offered a local team a free entry. The local team had never played on 60/90 fields, so they took the free entry to prepare their kids for the upcoming season on the bigger fields.

• Nations Baseball Gulfport, MS - Grade F
• CABA - Grade A (International teams from Puerto Rico and Panama made the event special)
• AAU Disney - Grade A  (Lots of quality teams competed in this event.)
• Cooperstown Dreams Park  - Grade A+ (Each week for 13 weeks every summer, 100 plus teams compete. There is a wide range of competitive levels competing in this event. The top teams typically prevail, but the mid-range teams can advance far.)
• Nations Baseball, Penacola, FL - Grade F

Click Read More for Umpire, Competition Format, Destination, Website, Tournament Committee grades

Gulf Coast Nations Baseball U14 World Series Review and Tips (Part 1)

When you are looking for a baseball tournament for your team you need to do your homework. Not all tournaments deliver the same experience or competition.

My son's travel baseball team was suppose to play in the CABA World Series in Nashville, Tennessee this week. Unfortunately, several of the players on the team had football conflicts, so the team decided to go to the Nations Baseball U14 Elite World Series in Penscola, Florida instead. The Nations tournament was scheduled one week earlier than the CABA World Series.

Last year the team competed in the U13 Nations Baseball Premiere World Series in Gulfport, Mississippi. I provided tips, tricks and commentary for that event in these posts called Youth Baseball: Nations Baseball National Championship. This was what I summarized about that 2011 tournament:

"The first ever Premier National Tournament was a great experience for my son, but it is not an premier event quite yet. I do have faith that Nations baseball will eventually get it right. This year (2011) they got the baseball facility right and the host city (Gulfport Mississippi) is great. They just need to attract more and better teams to justify the "National Championship" status."

So fast-forward to 2012. Did Nations Baseball listen?

The 2012 U14 CABA World Series, which dubs itself "the greatest show on dirt", attracted 31 teams from 15 States. In contrast, the Nations Baseball Tournament attracted 4 teams from 3 states. There were three very strong baseball teams competing in the event and one local team that got run ruled in every game. The local team had players on the team who had never played on a 90 foot diamond before. They were a nice bunch of kids, but they were totally out classed. I talked to one of the moms from that team who told me that Nations gave them a free spot so they took it for the experience of playing on the bigger fields.

The so called "World Series" was literally a round robin tournament between 3 teams. Not three teams from US, Japan and the Dominican Republic - no - three teams from Florida, Texas and Ohio. It turned out to be fantastic baseball with some outstanding pitching on a really cool field, but it did not live up to World Series or National Championship status again.

The Main Point

Last year, I had faith that Nations Baseball would eventually get it right. I lost that faith after hearing what the Nations Baseball Tournament Director had to say.

Here are the details of my conversation:

Ten families from Ohio each spent about $1700 on lodging, $500 in food and $340 in gas to participate in a tournament. The team paid a $700 tournament fee. The team spent about $26,000 in total to participate in the event. This is a lot of money for strapped families in this economy.

When we got to the stadium where the event was being held, Nations Baseball wanted another $25 per person for an entry fee ($7 per day per person or $25 for a 4 day event pass). My wife, my daughter and I went to the stadium to watch the action, so we were charged $75 to watch this four team - poor excuse for a tournament.

Gate fees are common at these tournaments, but you would think that because it was so poorly run they would give us a break. Many complained, so Nations made 8 and under free. My daughter is 11, so I paid the $75.

Several parents from our team approached the Nations Tournament Director to express their disappointment regarding the entry fee and the quality of the tournament that was promoted as a "World Series". First of all, the team felt lied to. One week prior to the event, Nations communicated that 6 teams were paid and two more would be confirmed before the event. Eight teams does not make a "World Series, but it is better than three elite teams and a rec team. He told the group that he could not help it that two teams backed out at the last minute to play in the USSSA tournament 16 miles away in Orange Beach Alabama. Upon hearing that, one of the parents concluded that it makes even more sense that Nations not charge us to get into this event since Nations collected money from teams not here and umpire expenses with fewer games played would be lower. The Nations representative said that he refunded the money to the teams that backed out.

What $#!@$#? - there is no penalty for pulling out of a tournament at the last minute. That is a big problem.

The Tournament Director then whined to the group that he has to charge the entry fee because the tournament has lots of expenses. The tournament consisted 5 age groups. There were tournaments for 6U (4 teams), 10U (6 teams), 11U (4 teams), 13U (6 teams) and 14U (4 teams) in the event. Each tournament had 12 slots available, so each and every age group had trouble attracting teams. This clearly suggests that Nations Baseball is having trouble competing in a very competitive category against CABA, USSSA and Ripken, etc.

I paid entry fee money and went into the stadium. Several of the parents refused to pay and just watched through the outfield fence.

I was up close to the action when my son's team won the event. It was not a hollow victory because the two other strong teams made the tournament very competitive, but we are not running around calling ourselves World Champs or even National Champs.

Finally, Pensacola is a great place for a tournament. In the next couple of posts, I will provide tips for baseball families regarding lodging, eating and having fun in the Pensacola area.

Youth Sports: Family Separated on Holiday Weekend

When I was a kid, a holiday weekend meant a trip to the Jersey shore with the entire family. Soccer was a fall sport, basketball was a winter sport and baseball leagues would take a break for the long weekend.

Fast forward 35-40 years and soccer is a year round sport, basketball is a year round sport and baseball plays 70 games from March 15 to July 31 instead of 18 games. And of course none of the sports gives a rats ass about your family vacation plans.

This weekend I am in Dayton, Ohio with my daughter, CC, who is playing in an elite soccer tournament. My wife is with our son, Nic, in Cleveland, Ohio, 3 hours away. Nic is playing in a top regional baseball tournament.

Is this situation good or bad for the family? What do you think?

The Main Point

Personally, I do not mind going to a tournament on a holiday weekend. I actually enjoy them. I would much rather enjoy the long weekend with my entire family together, but these weekends do give my wife and I a chance to connect with our kids individually on a much deeper level.

Last night, my daughter and I went out to dinner at Franco's Italiano Restorante, a must stop when you are in Dayton. We both got two big bowls of pasta and talked about the two big wins the team had earlier in the day. The second win of the day against the best team in the state was especially fun to reminisce about. CC had a terrific two games in goal. She made four spectacular saves. She even had an assist on a long punt over the defense.

Give the Assist to the Goalie

Gave Saving Dive

Thanks to iphones, my wife and I traded updates and pictures. My son went 3 for 3 and threw a guy out at the plate from second base. I enjoyed the chats with my son as he recounted the highlights after the game too.

It is not ideal, but it will be a memorable weekend for my family even though we are not all together. Thanks to technology we can stay connected.

Youth Baseball: Planning for Cooperstown Dreams Park

The Cooperstown Dreams Park baseball week is a very special event for 12 year old baseball players and their families. It's well worth the time, effort and money. The tournaments happen in the summer but the planning happens in the winter. 


Here are some of the things you should be doing in the winter to prepare for an awesome baseball experience for your team and your kid in the summer.


Stage 1 (Complete in November or December. January at the latest.)


1.       Parents - Get lodging booked for all parties who are not staying in the barracks. This includes parents, siblings, grandparents, etc. Players are not technically required to stay in the barracks. If your kid is considering not staying in the barrack for what is essentially a 5 day sleepover with friends, I would definitely re-think that because it is a memorable team building experience.


Here is link to housing options.  http://www.cooperstowndreamspark.com/familyguide.html  and http://www.cooperstownfamilyrentals.com/ Many families double or triple up in one house to save on costs. That is what I did. Some families they prefer to be by themselves.  Some families chose to stay in the hotels listed as well, but they are much more expensive on a nightly basis. I recently heard that a house called the Federal House right across the street from the park is nice and sleeps 14 people. Here is a list of Cooperstown house options that my team used. 


You want to look for housing now because they options are fairly limited. Start early and get the house that best fits your needs.

2.       Coaches / Parents - Make sure each player has an original birth certificate.


Players will not be eligible to play if they do not have an original birth certificate. So, it is a good idea to look for the original birth certificate in the Stage 1 period just in case you can’t find it. If you cannot find it, here is a website called VitalChek where they can order an authorized birth certificate that Cooperstown Dreams Park will accept.


3. Coaches - You need to start looking for an umpire.


Each team must supply a umpire for the week. From what I understand it is an honor to be selected and they make a few bucks. Normal pay for the ump is anywhere from $500-$800.00. Umpires stay in the barrack for free.


The Main Point


Wintertime is the time to start planning for Cooperstown. Stage 2 post, Things to do in Feb / March to follow shortly. 

Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship (Part 8)

My daughter, CC, and her team are making a run at a AAU Division I National Championship. I am following the process through this series of blog posts.

• (Part 1) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship -Registration Process
• (Part 2) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship -Tournament Qualifying Process.
• (Part 3) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship -The Super Regional Step
• (Part 4) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship - Tips and Tricks 1
• (Part 5) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship - District Championships
• (Part 6) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship - Positive Coaching Alliance Test
• (Part 7) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship: Opening Ceremonies
• (Part 8) Championship Games

The following describes how the AAU National Basketball Tournaments are structured.

Pool Play

Once the qualifying process is over and all the teams have registered for one of the AAU National Tournaments (Div I, II, or III), the tournament committee ranks the teams and forms the pools for each division.

The 2011 4th grade tournament only had 26 teams divided up into 6 pools. Pools A - D had 4 teams each and Pools E-F had 5 teams each. As such, teams in pools A-D had 3 pool play games and teams in pools E-F had 4 pool play games each. I am not sure if the extra game is an advantage (extra experience) or a disadvantage (exhausting). All of the final 4 teams came from pools with only 4 teams so you can draw your own conclusions.

I was told that the committee ranked our team 6th going into the tournament so we were the first team in the sixth pool (pool F). The returning champs from the 2010 3rd grade National Tournament were the first team in the first pool. So our placement makes sense. I am not sure how the committee placed the other teams, but every team in our pool was a district champion.

Pool play games were held on Tuesday and Wednesday. Our team had 4 pool play games so we played 2 pool play games each day. The teams in pools with 4 teams played 1 game on one day and 2 on the other day. Each team's pool play record determined a team's placement in Championship bracket. Every team advances.


Our team started off with a very surprising 0-4 pool play record, yet we still had a very good chance to win the National Title.

Championship Bracket 

All teams advanced to the single elimination Championship bracket. Each position on the bracket was predetermined and populated after the results of pool play were determined. Each pool first place finisher got a bye. All of the other teams fell into the spot that corresponded to their pool letter and placement in the pool. For example - the 3rd place finisher of pool D was schedule to meet the 3rd place finisher of pool E for the opportunity to face the 1st place finisher of pool A (the defending champion). I was a bit surprised that the teams were not re-ranked after pool play and placed into the Championship bracket based on that.


2nd place and lower teams needed to win 5 straight games to win the National Title. The 1st seed teams needed to win 4 games to take the title.


First Round Consolation Bracket


Teams that lost their first round game (not including the teams with byes) were placed into the first round consolation bracket. These teams vied for 11th and 12th place. A team would need to win 4 games in this consolation bracket to earn the 11th place finish.


Click here to understand how the 10th through 1st place teams are determined.

Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship (Part 7)

My daughter, CC and her team are making a run at a AAU Division I National Championship. I am following the process through this series of blog posts.

• (Part 1) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship -Registration Process
• (Part 2) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship -Tournament Qualifying Process.
• (Part 3) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship -The Super Regional Step
• (Part 4) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship - Tips and Tricks 1
• (Part 5) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship - District Championships
• (Part 6) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship - Positive Coaching Alliance Test
• (Part 7) Opening Ceremonies

Opening Ceremonies

The Opening Ceremonies for the AAU National Championship in Disney at the ESPN Wide World of Sports was a pretty special event for the 10 year old girls (4th grade) and 9 year old boys (3rd grade) who are competing in the tournament. I can only image how my daughter felt. I know that I never experience anything like it in my sports career in the 70's and 80's.

The event started at 8:00pm, but the teams needed to assemble in uniform at 7:00pm. The entire event with a Parade of Champions of about 50 teams took exactly 1 hour. After the parade was compete, the kids sat on the floor, listened to a few short speeches from a Disney official, Mickey Mouse and an AAU official and watched the Toy Story Green Army Men put on an acrobatic trampoline show. The event concluded with an explosion of streamers. The kids and their proud parents loved it.

Tip: The HP Pavilion fills up quickly. Our team of 10 girls had about 60 people in attendance. We did not get there early enough to secure a single section for all of the boosters for our team so we had to split up in to two sections. If you have a big group get there 45 minutes early to secure a big section.

Parade of Champions AAU Basketball 4th Grade Girls

Parade of Champions

Big Crowd in HP Pavilion

Short Speeches from Disney, AAU and Mickey

Disney Entertainment - Acrobatic Show

Conclusion Explosion of Streamers

The Main Idea

Disney puts magic into everything to delight the kids. The AAU National Tournament Opening Ceremonies was a special event. If your son or daughter is lucky enough to go one day you will not want to miss it.

Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship (Part 6)

My daughter, CC and her team are making a run at a AAU Division I National Championship. I am following the process through this series of blog posts.

• (Part 1) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship -Registration Process
• (Part 2) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship -Tournament Qualifying Process.
• (Part 3) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship -The Super Regional Step
• (Part 4) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship - Tips and Tricks 1
• (Part 5) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship - District Championships
• (Part 6) Positive Coaching Alliance Test

Positive Coaching Alliance Test

All coaches and sideline assistants like scorekeepers need to take an online course from the Positive Coaching Alliance called Double Goal Coach: Coaching for Winning and Life Lessons. Everyone who wishes to sit on the sidelines with the team must pass the test with a score of 80% or higher.

You can access the course and the test through the AAU website.

You need an AAU membership number to take the course.

Most of the content in the course is common sense wrapped in helpful mnemonics like ROOTS (Respect the Rules, Opponents, Officials and Teammates and Self). We have all experienced confidence killing coaches, witnessed unsportsmanlike behavior on the field and watched unruly parents in the stands. This course gives coaches techniques to build confidence, to control bad behavior from players and parents and to honor the game. According to the Positive Coaching Alliance, coaching for life lessons actually results in more statistical wins on the field of play. 

Tip: This course and the test (if taken properly) takes 2 hours. 

Tip: Four coaches can register with the team and get into the Disney ESPN Wide World of Sports facility for free. Coaches, if the team does not have four sideline coaches reward the team mom or the scorekeeper with the opportunity to be a credentialed sideline assistant. They will have to spend $14.00 to become a member of the AAU and take the test, it will save them $58 - $72 in admission costs for the events.

The Main Point

Take the test and more importantly embrace it. I talked to several coaches from various teams at the AAU tournament who skipped the course, went straight to the test and passed it (if not the first time, the second time). Poor integrity off the field will lead to poor integrity on the field too.

I completed every step of the course, downloaded all the reference material,  listened to every video and completed the test in about 2 hours. The test is easy, especially if you listen to the course. I got a 100%.

Youth Baseball: Nations Baseball National Tournament (Part 7)

Nations Baseball Premier National Championship - Gulfport, Mississippi - What to do besides play baseball

We had a good time in Gulfport, Mississippi watching our team compete in 7 games at the Nations Baseball Premier National Championship. That is a lot of games in 5 days, but we still had time to do some other things - besides eat that is.

Swim / Beach - Gulfport, MS is right on the Gulf of Mexico. The kids had a good time wading in the warm waters of the gulf. The kids could actually walk out about 1/4 of a mile and the water would still be waist high. From the beach it made me nervous, but it was really nothing to worry about. The kids enjoyed the swimming pool and the condos better.

Putt - Putt (Mini golf) - There is a family fun center on border of Biloxi and Gulfport on Beach Boulevard called Big Play. They had two 18 hole mini-golf courses.

Big Play Mini-Golf

Golf - There are lots of golf courses in the area, the players dads played on two. One was perhaps, no it was, the worst golf course I have ever played on, yet we had a blast. The first course we picked we chose alphabetically. This is not a recommended way to choose a golf course, but we were calling at 7pm on Monday night for a 8am Tuesday morning tee time. We were concerned that we waited too long. Googled "Golf Gulfport" and the first listing was Bayou Vista. I called and much to my surprise I secured two tee time 8:30 and 8:40. When we arrived we found out why it was so easy to get a tee time. The golf course is situated between the runway of the Gulfport - Biloxi International Airport and a sewage treatment plant. The club house is a trailer that is falling apart. Many of the greens were not green at all. I would not recommend this course, but we all have entertaining stories to tell about the worst golf course in America.

One story - Hole 6 (I think it was hole 6) is a dog leg right. You need a decent drive to turn the corner to have a look at the green. Unfortunately,  I teed my ball too high and popped up my drive. I had a choice to make pitch the ball down the fairway past the corner, or cut the corner over a huge sewage tank. How could you not take that golfing challenge. I needed a club to get the elevate the ball quickly, yet long enough to reach the fairway. I chose the 6 iron. That was the wrong club, the ball did not get high enough quick enough and hit the tank with a thunderous bang. Luckily, the ball did caromed into the fairway. If I did hit it in the tank, I was told I could lift clean and place it.

We also played at The Oaks. The Oaks is a really great course especially for the money $49 (Summer rate, greens fee and cart.)  The Oaks name is a apropos.  Lots of trees line each lush green fairway. The greens are tricky.

Go Karts - Big Play also has a really fun Go Kart track. We had a blast racing against each other.

Big Play Go-Karts

The Main Point

There are fun things to do besides eating and playing baseball in Gulfport, Mississippi.

Youth Baseball: Cooperstown Dream Park - New Tips from 2011 Season

Readers are giving back and adding new tips and tricks to make the Cooperstown Dreams Park experience even better. Here is the latest advice from a baseball Mom.

Pre-order Food:


If you have a night game that goes late, have one parent go out and pre-order some burgers from the closest concession stand in the last inning. Otherwise, there will be a long line and slim pickings by the time your coach is done talking to the boys.

Group Discounts: 


Ask for group discounts wherever you go! Putt-putt, go karts, basically every place is used to it and most will accommodate you.

Restaurant Tips: 

Jive Cafe -- Looks like just a coffee place, but has great lunches. Right by the ballpark.

Lakefront Restaurant & Bar -- kids can run around in the park next door and by the waterfront while adults eat inside. Great spot to take coaches to watch sports on TV (if they are going through withdrawal as there are no TVs in Baseball Village, of course).

Things for the Barracks: 


A "sound machine" can be helpful in the barracks -- set it to ocean waves or similar white noise for a more restful sleep.

Team Giveaways:


Several teams brought give-away items representing their state, in addition to the pin trading. They threw these items during the opening day parade, and handed them out around the village. These were popular teams! Items included seashell necklaces, regional maple candies, leis, frisbees, etc. You might check with a local business before you go to see if they want to donate anything -- especially a tourist-type of business.

Rolling Cooler:


We should've brought a rolling cooler -- one per team is allowed, and then you can take ice & bottled waters to the ballpark. We wound up with warm bottled waters during some games.


POV on Rental Houses:

The rental houses out on the lake are wonderful and beautiful -- but far away and most discourage group parties. Not worth the cost of the rental, in my opinion.


Cell Phone Alert:

Cell phones while driving are ILLEGAL in New York State! The ticket costs $500. There was a road block outside the park on our first day there, checking for "seatbelts" -- but also checking for cell phones being used by the drivers. Several people got tickets that day. 

Go with the attitude that this is summer camp -- and experiencing a new place and making new friends is the whole point! I met some wonderful moms from other states.


Click here for additional Tips and Tricks. 10 posts cover almost everything you need to know.


The Main Point


Cooperstown Dreams Park week will be one of the most memorable weeks of your son or daughters life. These new tips and the tips I provided last year will help make it a little bit better. I hope you have a great experience and report back here when you return.

Youth Baseball: Nations Baseball National Championship (Part 6)

How did the Nations Baseball Premier National Championship held in Gulfport, MS rate compared to other National tournaments?

Here is my report card on Nations Baseball Premier Level National Championship held in Gulfport, MS during the week of July 10 - 16, 2011.

My son has competed in the CABA World Series (U10 - Indianapolis, Indiana), the AAU National Championships (U11 - ESPN Disney Wide World of Sports, Orlando, Florida), Cooperstown Dreams Park (U12 - Cooperstown, NY) and Nations Baseball Premier National Championship (U13 - Gulfport, MS). It is from this broad base of experience that I feel qualified to grade these events in comparison to each other.

Opening Ceremonies: The Nations Baseball Premier National Championship started with a parade in downtown Gulfport. It could have been a great event, but very few teams participated. Our team participated to the delight of the younger siblings. I think that this will be a great opening ceremony with the proper planning, promotion and participation.

• Nations Baseball Gulfport, MS B
• CABA - F (I don't remember any opening ceremonies)
• AAU Disney Fields - A (Disney performers entertained the players, siblings, parents and coaches.)
• Cooperstown Dreams Park - A (It was a bit long, but it was a festive start)

The Skills Competition: The Nations Baseball Premier National Championship started with a skills competition. You can read about it here. It was good, but not great. The Home Run fences were too far to make it exciting. The tournament committee did not make a big real about celebrating the winners or even announcing the winners on the website.

• Nations Baseball Gulfport, MS B
• CABA - B
• AAU Disney Fields - F (I do not remember any skills competitions)
• Cooperstown Dreams Park - A (Exciting competitions played out in front of a packed stadium)

The Fields: I give the fields at the Gulfport Sportsplex a B+. The grass was green, freshly cut and fast. The infield is made of crushed crimson stone that looked beautiful, dried very quickly and did not tear up skin like some crushed brick fields. The fences on the fields used for the U13 event were 8 feet high, 280 ft down the line and 300 ft straight away. This is a much more challenging distance for U13 players compared to the U12 experience in Cooperstown. Portable 3.5 foot fences were put in for the younger age groups and set at 275 feet. Portable mounds were used. I prefer dirt mounds, but I understand why portable mounds are used on fields that accommodate multiple age levels. The portable mounds used at the Gulfport Sportsplex were good. Finally, the drainage system is very good. We had a torrential rain one morning and we were able to play all the games with a minimal delay.

• Nations Baseball Gulfport, MS B+
• CABA - C+ multiple municipal fields of varying quality.
• AAU Disney Fields - A (Perfectly manicured fields configured identically. These fields can take on lots of rain and be playable in short order.)
• Cooperstown Dreams Park - A+ (20 perfectly manicured fields configured identically with reachable fences. These fields can take on more rain than the Disney fields and be playable faster.)

Gulfport Sportsplex

The Concession Stand: I give the concession stand at the Gulfport Sportsplex a F. They had a very limited menu. There were two concession stands and a snowcone truck, but the concession stand near the group of fields where we were playing was not open for all games. We played one full game on field #7 in intense heat with the stand closed up. We had to walk all the way over to field #2 to get much needed water and sports drinks. This was particularly frustrating because the tournament committee made it very clear that no outside coolers were allowed. (The team coach could bring in one specially marked cooler for team use.) Halfway through particularly hot game, the concession stand employee started to close the stand. We had to get the tournament director to remedy the situation. He was able to get the women to stay for the duration of our game. This situation was so indicative of the poor planning of this event.

• Nations Baseball Gulfport, MS - Grade F
• CABA World Series - Grade B (Some venues were good, some not so good)
• AAU Disney Fields - Grade B - (Too expensive)
• Cooperstown Dreams Park  - Grade A+ (Good food, big variety, honest prices)

Game Schedule: I give the game schedule a C. Most of the games were played later in the day 5:30 or 8:00. Perhaps this was done to avoid the heat. It does cool off at 8:00pm, but most of the games were played at 5:30 when it was still very hot. I would rather have games in the morning, so the kids can swim and have fun in the afternoon without worrying about getting tired out. Plus the parents can go out to and enjoy dinner at a reasonable hour. We were told that the tournament could not secure enough umpires for day games. I guess that makes sense.

Another reason for the C rating, the original schedule was wrong and a few game times were changed at the last minute. This made planning difficult. We were originally scheduled to play our one Wednesday game at 8pm, so many families headed to New Orleans for the day. That trip was cut short when the game time was changed to 5:30. Despite all of these issues,  most of the games were started on time and the umpires managed the games to the 2 hour time limit.

• Nations Baseball Gulfport, MS - Grade C
• CABA World Series - Grade B
• AAU Disney Fields - Grade B - (Many doubleheaders had large gaps of time between them)
• Cooperstown Dreams Park  - Grade A+ (I am not sure how they coordinate all of the teams when it is not raining, but they manage the schedule beautifully when rain delays or cancels games too.)

The Competition: Nations Baseball only attracted 7 total teams for the U13 tournament so they got an F. This 2011 inaugrial premier level tournament only attracted 7 teams and two of teams were U12 teams who had to compete at the U13 level. The tournament committee had an even tougher time attracting U12 teams. Go figure, the best U12 teams are spending their time and money in Cooperstown. The U13 teams were all talented and competitive teams, but not top level super regional teams that one would expect to see in a National Championship. The Cooperstown, CABA and the AAU National Tournaments attract a lot of high quality teams and thus these events crown worthy champions.

• Nations Baseball Gulfport, MS - Grade F
• CABA - Grade A (International teams from Puerto Rico and Panama made the event special)
• AAU Disney - Grade A  (Lots of quality teams competed in this event.)
• Cooperstown Dreams Park  - Grade A+ (Each week for 13 weeks every summer, 100 plus teams compete. There is a wide range of competitive levels competing in this event. The top teams typically prevail, but the mid-range teams can advance far.)

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