Unimpressed at TCS East Coast Nationals in Myrtle Beach

[CMMom1740]

We are currently at TCS East Coast Nationals in Myrtle Beach. 16U team. We had a late game last night that was due to start at 8:15 PM. Weather app said that sunset would be at 8:25. As the game started, we're all noticing that the lights are not on. We played half an inning and then it was starting to get dark quickly. There was no tournament director anywhere around, the umpires had no clue where the switch was, and of course no one from Parks and Rec could be roused on the phone at that hour. It took all the umpires and coaches a good 20 minutes to find the switch and figure out how to work it.

Um, the sunset is a predictable thing. Why was there no one there to turn the lights on when they knew there would be a game going on after dark? Why was no one from TCS on site? It just made the tournament look like amateur hour. Color me unimpressed.

 

[The Man In Blue]

Places do not realize that it is the small details that will bury them.

The part that bothers me most in your post is “There was no tournament director anywhere around”. There is no excuse for that. The TD and the UIC (or a deputy/designate) should be onsite THE ENTIRE time.

 

[djcarter1966]

Yeah, there always as to be someone in charge present....as an umpire if its dusk as the game start I usually try and get the lights on BEFORE we start playing.

 

[CMMom1740]

It was a little weird because this particular park was very spread out. Field 3 was across the street from Field 1 (like a real hike to walk; we moved our car to an entirely different parking lot). Field 3 looked like the red-headed stepchild of the park; the rec field that everyone forgets even exists.

 

[KPower]

That is awful.
DD played in Myrtle Beach back in February a the fields she played on were amazing!!!
I'm sorry you've had bad luck so far - hopefully the rest of the tourney is better!

 

[CMMom1740]

That is awful.
DD played in Myrtle Beach back in February a the fields she played on were amazing!!!
I'm sorry you've had bad luck so far - hopefully the rest of the tourney is better!

We're at the big/better park this afternoon. Hopefully, we don't have to go back to the other park the rest of this week.

 

[Jdaddy]

We are at Grand Park today at 3pm. Looks like a lot of DFPers are here this week. Not a fan of turf, but it is a nice park.

 

[Jdaddy]

Well, after the week is over, my impression of this tournament is just ok. We played at the same park all week which was nice, unfortunately there were two awful dirt fields in a park of 9 really nice turf fields and facilities which sat away from everything else. These were the worst fields we’ve ever played on. Never dragged never relined. Porta-johns and no concessions and personal coolers were not allowed.

Umpires were very good. Only had one that was bad and it was both ways. The rest were friendly and seemed to enjoy being there. Dealt with one scheduling conflict and after about a 20 min delay a director stepped in and covered the field umpire until a replacement was found.

Definitely wasn’t USA Nationals, but it was at the beach which was a fun way to end the summer. I wouldn’t say don’t go, but it isn’t a tournament I would be excited to go back to again.

 

[CMMom1740]

I will say that the big North Myrtle Beach sports complex was beautiful. Lots of picnic tables/shaded seating for between games, nice restrooms, laid out well, and ample parking. The rest of the week went smoothly (although our team played like horse puckey). It was just the satellite park we were at (Central Park) that had the problems. We noticed that in Colorado too. If you weren't at the big park, your experience could vary greatly (lots of Porta-Johns in CO).

 

[The Man In Blue]

I don’t have a lot of experience with those larger tournaments, but from what I have heard it, it is not uncommon for them to get too big for the host complex and then overflow onto “smaller” area fields (public parks, neighboring towns, etc.) that are not maintained or do not have the same amenities.

I get that they want to rake in the $$, but they don’t stop to think about the experience that leaves in somebody’s mind. If you are advertising “play our nice fields” then it should be “play our nice fields”.