LEsoftballdad
DFP Vendor
Okay, so here are my thoughts on my first trip to the Sparkler in Colorado. This post will take into consideration a few things from competition, coaches, and money.
First off, the views in Colorado can be stunning. Seeing the mountains rise up out of the Great Plains is wild to see for the first time for someone used to seeing the Catskills and Adirondacks. The air is too dry for me there, though. The bloody noses were not fun to deal with.
We played in the Supplemental Pool, not Power, so the coaches coming to our fields were pretty non-existent. From what I understand, many more were at the Power Pool games, so if you were there, maybe you can confirm. The fields were nice and well maintained, but they were way too far from our hotel. One complex was about an hour away from DTC. All but one field had temporary fences on Men's fields at 200' or shorter. In the mountain air at 5,500 feet above sea level, that's a recipe for a lot of dingers, which was common in every game I watched. Personally, I think a lot of the homers I saw hit this week are standard outs at sea level. If you're going to play in such thin air, make the fences 220'.
Lightning rules were not well-defined. TD at one field said lightning had to be within 5 miles to pull the girls off the fields despite the fact the thunder was rattling the windows of our cars. Safety first when it comes to lightning, especially since I had a friend struck and killed by it 35 years ago.
Now, was it worth it for those not in the Power Pool? This is a resounding no for me. Between flights, car, hotel, and food, not to mention lost productivity at my business, it cost me $3,250 for the 6 days and 5 nights I was there. Yes, we faced some good competition that you don't normally see at more regional events, but that isn't a justification for the costs. I imagine the lower pools were even more barren for coaches than the Supplemental 16U pool was. If given the opportunity to go again, unless we were in the Power Pool, I would say no and spend my money on college camps instead. For the record, I saw way more top coaches at the airport on Saturday evening than I did at the fields.
I hope everyone who did attend had a great time. What were your experiences?
First off, the views in Colorado can be stunning. Seeing the mountains rise up out of the Great Plains is wild to see for the first time for someone used to seeing the Catskills and Adirondacks. The air is too dry for me there, though. The bloody noses were not fun to deal with.
We played in the Supplemental Pool, not Power, so the coaches coming to our fields were pretty non-existent. From what I understand, many more were at the Power Pool games, so if you were there, maybe you can confirm. The fields were nice and well maintained, but they were way too far from our hotel. One complex was about an hour away from DTC. All but one field had temporary fences on Men's fields at 200' or shorter. In the mountain air at 5,500 feet above sea level, that's a recipe for a lot of dingers, which was common in every game I watched. Personally, I think a lot of the homers I saw hit this week are standard outs at sea level. If you're going to play in such thin air, make the fences 220'.
Lightning rules were not well-defined. TD at one field said lightning had to be within 5 miles to pull the girls off the fields despite the fact the thunder was rattling the windows of our cars. Safety first when it comes to lightning, especially since I had a friend struck and killed by it 35 years ago.
Now, was it worth it for those not in the Power Pool? This is a resounding no for me. Between flights, car, hotel, and food, not to mention lost productivity at my business, it cost me $3,250 for the 6 days and 5 nights I was there. Yes, we faced some good competition that you don't normally see at more regional events, but that isn't a justification for the costs. I imagine the lower pools were even more barren for coaches than the Supplemental 16U pool was. If given the opportunity to go again, unless we were in the Power Pool, I would say no and spend my money on college camps instead. For the record, I saw way more top coaches at the airport on Saturday evening than I did at the fields.
I hope everyone who did attend had a great time. What were your experiences?
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