Who has played at the Space Coast Complex?

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Jun 12, 2015
3,848
83
Our World Series is there next week. Please hit me up with all your tips and tricks. I hear you are definitely forced to use the concession stand as you can't even bring in water? I saw on the site that players can bring in water bottles and there's water in the dugouts, but someone else said they cannot bring in the water jugs they all like to use that actually keeps their water cold. No coolers - does that mean no cooling towels?

Really any little bits of info you can provide would be helpful. I'm very excited there's no parade. They do a tailgate party then a USSSA Pride game. My DD thinks that is MUCH better and I agree. She's less excited about turf fields. She only played on one once and was not a big fan. Any helpful tips with that?
 

jjr

Jun 13, 2017
69
8
Turf is all about the bounce. Depending on how new the field is, the bounce can be higher. So tell her to be aggressive and charge the balls. Usually, it takes a game or two for them to get used to the turf. I think you said your husband was HC, so I would suggest he hit them hard grounders to get the bounce during warmups so they can get a better feel for it.

Although, I will say the turf is wonderful if your team has a great bunt game BECAUSE of the bounce of the ball.
 
Nov 29, 2009
2,975
83
Turf is a tricky animal to get used to. The ball comes faster. What you'll find is a ground ball with topspin will come up on the 2nd bounce. Be sure the coach hits ground balls with topspin at them.

Thrown balls will kick sideways if they bounce. The natural spin of a thrown ball will make it kick. If a thrown ball from a right handed player is coming to you it will bounce/kick to your left. It kicks to your right from a left handed player. Also, outfields need to know this too. For left fielders. A sinking liner from a left handed batter will kick to their right towards the line because of the spin of the ball coming off of the bat. The same thing goes for the right fielder. The ball will kick to their left towards the line from a right handed batter. The closer to the line the more the ball will kick.

The outfielders need to be super aggressive getting to balls. Many ground balls that would normally be a single on grass end up rolling to the fence for 2 or 3 bases. Backups in the outfield are super critical.

Your infield can usually play a step deeper because of the speed of the ball.

It's HOT on the field!!!!!

The good part. The lines stay there the whole game. No grounds crew needed. If it rains play can resume very quickly.
 

marriard

Not lost - just no idea where I am
Oct 2, 2011
4,312
113
Florida
Lists of policies for Space Coast here: A-Z Complex Policies - Space Coast USSSA

No coolers of any kind including water jugs. Small bags OK. They wont stop you bringing in a personal bag with some water in it but may search it.

Field is the latest turf. It is pretty good - we played in sneakers or turfs. It gets hot - not as hot as some turf but still hot. A lot of our pitchers like it because you don't get the holes in front of the rubber.

Ball bounces hard in the infield. Slides need to be early - you will want to get a guide on that early especially if it is wet or early in the day. Temp fences on most fields and temp backstops because they use a lot of fields for baseball so backstop is far - it takes some getting used to being that far from the action.
 
Feb 17, 2014
7,152
113
Orlando, FL
The first clue that the concession stand sucks and/or is overpriced is when the facility business model is geared toward creating hostages instead of customers. The whole experience sounds very much like Disney WWOS, but even they let you bring in coolers.
 
Jun 12, 2015
3,848
83
Turf is all about the bounce. Depending on how new the field is, the bounce can be higher. So tell her to be aggressive and charge the balls. Usually, it takes a game or two for them to get used to the turf. I think you said your husband was HC, so I would suggest he hit them hard grounders to get the bounce during warmups so they can get a better feel for it.

Although, I will say the turf is wonderful if your team has a great bunt game BECAUSE of the bounce of the ball.

So it helps that our last two tournaments were at a park with VERY bouncy fields. Maybe not as much as turf but it should help them not be totally unprepared.
 
Oct 1, 2014
2,219
113
USA
Last year when we were in FL for the USSSA All American games that were held at Disney/ESPN's WWOS complex and a few surrounding fields they were really touting the new Space Coast Complex as being so much more user friendly and less costly for players and families...I guess that may not be the case?
 

marriard

Not lost - just no idea where I am
Oct 2, 2011
4,312
113
Florida
The streaming video & broadcasting of games out of SpaceCoast is superb.

USSSA spent a LOT of money on this place. They have been on us to bring events to the place - it is huge and needs usage.

There are still some kinks and other things they are working out - just like Disney I expect they will get over the 'no cooler' rule eventually and some other things. But it is a GREAT venue they have created out of the old MLB pre-season site.
 

marriard

Not lost - just no idea where I am
Oct 2, 2011
4,312
113
Florida
Last year when we were in FL for the USSSA All American games that were held at Disney/ESPN's WWOS complex and a few surrounding fields they were really touting the new Space Coast Complex as being so much more user friendly and less costly for players and families...I guess that may not be the case?

There is no doubt it is more user friendly and less costly that WWOS. All the fields are together, fields are consistent in terms of turf on all, food HAS TO BE cheaper - and admission for spectators so far is significantly less (how could it not be). While Disney does a good job of converting fields to softball they are still conversions so you go from 5 dedicated softball fields to 15. It makes for a more consistent experience and more centralized.

Concessions have a lot of variety - not sure about cost since I never buy from concessions. There is a lot to like. For an event like the USSSA World Series they can hold it in one location which is positive.

As Viera is not in Orlando it means less hotel choice and you require a rental car, but otherwise very positive experience all around. Reasonable drive to Orlando for parks for a day trip, beaches are reasonable distance and Kennedy Space Center is close.
 
Dec 10, 2017
25
3
DD’s team is there now for the 13u Elite Select Futures tournament. Started with tailgate last night at Pride vs Bandits game. Pride players were available after the game last night and at the fields today, which was pretty cool for the girls to get photos and autographs.

As for the no coolers and outside food they did not enforce that at all for today’s games. Saw numerous parents with outside concession cups and coolers.

The teams are allowed a team cooler so you can pack that with water and ice for the cooling towels to soak. Also will allow players to have personal jugs.

Concessions were not priced excessive but you do pay more then you would at convenience stores.

DD said the turf wasn’t that bad to play on from a heat stand point but she was expecting it to be hotter. Definitely see a little more bounce in the ground balls and the slides are much faster then we see in the Mid Atlantic region.
 
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