Sparkler review $$$

[LEsoftballdad]

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?

 

[_MIA_]

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, if not 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?

DD and her team had a good time, played some good/different teams. They played Supplemental Pool and lost their first bracket game but won 3 in a row on Sat to get into the final game of the Loser's bracket, which had they won, would have gotten them into the Championship bracket on Sunday. Alas they came up a run short (DD got thrown out at home in the top of the 7th, that run would have tied the game and would have left a runner on third with 1 out...). If it was up to me the schedule the coach put forth would have been different and probably wouldn't have included Sparkler but I wouldn't say it was a waste of time for the kids or a waste of money for me..I would like for them to try and get into the 14U Power Pool next year if they go but I am not sure the team has enough juice/rep to get in..

Your DD is playing 16's right? DD is playing 14's so the expectation that college coaches are going to be at games
is nonexistent but I would guess that some probably did show up at the 14U Power Pool games to get a look at some kids. I guess the question I have is were the coaches that were at the 16U Power Pool games there to see kids they were already in contact with or were they shopping? Either way I guess it is nice to have coaches there.

 

[cufan99]

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, if not 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 time in CO for me too. 16 yo DD plays on an 18u regional team so we played in the 18u Fireworks; not power pool or supplemental. We had a few coaches at the fields but not many. She attended a college coaches camp Sunday morning with 8 to 10 Power 5 schools. She had a good morning pitching and got a lot of love from a UF and a UW coach so that was a confidence boost.

The real highlights of the trip were Rocky Mtn National Park, Garden of the Gods, Red Rocks, Rockies game, etc. This was an expensive vacation, but no regrets.

 

[Dabears17]

@LEsoftballdad If I wrote a review, it would have been very similar to yours. I enjoyed the stunning views; it was nice playing a team from Long Island and Utah I know someone whose DD's play in the same org. My DD got to tour 3 colleges. We went to a Rockies game. I got to talk with someone you know for 15 minutes.

I got to watch a pitcher from Portland who I met 4 years ago at a clinic pitch 2 innings and talk with her parents before the deluge delayed the game, but there should of been a stoppage of play from lightning/thunder at least 5 minutes earlier. If I was umpiring, I would of called the lightning delay 10 minutes earlier.

We played a team I had coached 2 of the players on in rec, my DD had played on teams with 3 of them, and my DD and/or I have played/coached against for 9 years from our same county. We played another team twice.

I got to spend two days in Breckinridge with friends we haven't seen in over 12 years. Another set of friends we haven't seen in about 5 years ago we ate dinner and lunch with.

Only 5 coaches watched any parts of our games, and none after the first day. If you want to be recruited, save thousands of dollars and go to www.lookingforafullride , buy her book, and join her facebook group.

You are the accountant, but since I am officially my DD's teams College Recruiter, I am going to try to write off my airfare and rental car against my income from umpiring.

I think it's one of those experiences you do once, but I don't know why players go out there multiple years.

A friend of my wife's from college worked for Triple Crown for many years until about 2 years ago. I got contact information for someone to give my feedback. I will wait another 24 hours before writing the email.

 

[El Oso]

Yes for sure 99% of the coaches, including all of the bigger school's coaches, are at the power pool fields which is Aurora Sports park. If your game isn't there, you aren't going to see many coaches at all so at that point it's essentially a family vacation with some softball thrown in. Looking at it from a fiscal perspective is a terrible idea because you will consider yourself a dumbass for the rest of your life. It is NOT a fiscally responsible trip but any trip isn't for that matter. You can't stay in your house saving money your entire life so get out there and live. I do think everyone should do it once, just for the experience. Your DD will always remember it.

 

[Orange Socks]

The whole TCS Fireworks, Sparkler, Power Pools, Supp Power Pools, TV bracket, Alliance mini tourney, the various minor brackets, etc is so confusing to the parents and for the most part have no idea what they are signing up for. This is one of the reasons I like the IDT tourney. The format is Very straight forward and you know exactly where you are playing. You know you will face great competition. There aren't 1000 teams in the tourney either. TCS you can be playing at 4 different complexes scattered throughout the Denver area. But I get it. There is a place for every team. For DD, the NE schools she was targeting was able to put eyes on her at the IDT. The tourney did not ultimately put her at the school she is attending but it was part of the process of elimination. DD attended 16U Sparkler, and then 3 years at 18U Boulder IDT.

Something else that I enjoyed was a break from the Houston Heat. Nothing better than waking up to 55 degree mornings and 95 degree afternoons.

Now I get to follow from home.
Winners: Single Elimination Brackets---Brutal
Boulder IDT-18U-Tx Hotshots
Louisville 18U-Team North Carolina--gets a berth into Boulder idt
Longmont 16U-Beverly Bandits
Broomfield 14u-OC Batbusters

TCS-Power Pools
18U-Athletics Mercado
16U-Tx Hotshots
14U-Texas Riptide

Supplemental Power Pools
18U-AL Sparks Elite
16U-MN Magic
14U-not listed

There are so many other brackets but I don't feel like listing. LOL. Fireworks, Sparker, Kennedy, Horsetooth, Mt Elbert, Pikes Peak, Long's Peak, etc.

 

[Orange Socks]

Yes for sure 99% of the coaches, including all of the bigger school's coaches, are at the power pool fields which is Aurora Sports park. If your game isn't there, you aren't going to see many coaches at all so at that point it's essentially a family vacation with some softball thrown in. Looking at it from a fiscal perspective is a terrible idea because you will consider yourself a dumbass for the rest of your life. It is NOT a fiscally responsible trip but any trip isn't for that matter. You can't stay in your house saving money your entire life so get out there and live. I do think everyone should do it once, just for the experience. Your DD will always remember it.

For most, this might be the only times in their lives to see Colorado. This is what we signed up for when our DD's started "Travel" Ball right? Travel.

I had a client who had a kid playing in Colorado back in 2003 and I had no idea that I would be able to have similar experiences 15 years later. I called him right after his kid hit a bomb in front of Jo Evans (former Aggie coach) and he was so elated. She ended up playing for the Aggies and played in the WCWS.

 

[ang2bmd]

Our team played the IDT 16s and placed 3rd. I love the tournament, lots of coaches but the facilities this year were for sure 2nd rate. Garden Acres is nice but there were no concessions. Centennial park was awful 2 stalls for the womens bathroom, a porta potty that hasn’t been changed in forever full of shirt and crack pipes and syringes, and no concessions, stazio fields for the semis had crazy weird dips in the infield and then you had to run up a big hill into the outfield and back down. From home plate our outfielders looked about a foot lower and again no concessions but decent rest rooms. Umpires were pretty good all week. Competition was excellent.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[LEsoftballdad]

Our team played the IDT 16s and placed 3rd. I love the tournament, lots of coaches but the facilities this year were for sure 2nd rate. Garden Acres is nice but there were no concessions. Centennial park was awful 2 stalls for the womens bathroom, a porta potty that hasn’t been changed in forever full of shirt and crack pipes and syringes, and no concessions, stazio fields for the semis had crazy weird dips in the infield and then you had to run up a big hill into the outfield and back down. From home plate our outfielders looked about a foot lower and again no concessions but decent rest rooms. Umpires were pretty good all week. Competition was excellent.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

All of the fields we played on had real bathrooms and concessions, so that was one thing we didn't have to worry about. And the fields themselves were nicely maintained, with one being newly installed turf. The turf actually caused a problem since the umpires felt they could play through a pouring rain because it wasn't dirt. I actually told them I felt they put the girls safety in jeopardy because they were sliding all over the place on the wet turf. Turf shoes are great on dry surfaces, but they provide no grip when the turf is wet.

My point about money was more that I could have used the funds I spent on three or four camps. Was it a neat experience? Yes. I got to talk to people from California at our last game who were some of the nicest people I've ever met on the softball field. I got to meet up with a cousin I grew up with but haven't seen in 18 years. From that respect, it was great.

The good news is my daughter got offered a spot on the top team in our organization after Saturday, and they only play in the IDT. So, my daughter may return next year, but I think I'll let my wife go.

 

[Lobster Birch]

My daughter’s team played in the Kennedy division, the lowest division. They had a lot of fun, played some really good ball and some not great ball. Some of the girls did some camps and felt they did well. For what it’s worth we saw a few coaches every day. I’m sure there were others we didn’t take note of. Overall it was a really good experience for the players and families, both from a ball experience and social experience.