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tn3sport
28 Posts |
 Posted - 07/27/2010 : 16:38:42
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We, Chattanooga Crush, had a great week at CDP in week 7 of 2010.
The information and tips provided on this forum really helped as we were prepared with fans, water, supplies, etc.
Here's a few more tips I'd like to recommend for those of you going next year:
- If you are light on coaches, ask a dad if he'd like to go as a counselor. We had only the 2 to 3 coaches. (One of the coaches spent a lot of time off-site with his spouse which left two of us to manage the kids...) As a coach, you really want to focus on coaching and preparing your team. There are numerous distractions. Like, having to escort kids in and out of gates, keeping ice and water stocked, daily laundry inventory duties, icing and medical needs for players, etc. All these things are not difficult, but do demand your time and attention and can be a distraction. See if a dad wants to come along. Think about it, the dad only has to pay the cost of an additional coach and for it they get 3 square meals a day and get to enjoy the camp from the inside. (I can attest, living the dream on the inside is one great experience.) There are 20 bunks in a clubhouse. We saw teams of 13 using 7 coach/counselor combinations. It can be done with 2 coaches, but is easier with more...
- Your team name is important on two occasions: Opening ceremonies and closing ceremonies. There are 104 teams. They are called out for opening ceremonies in alpha order. Then reverse alpha in closing ceremonies. Its far better to have your team name begin with a Z than an A as closing ceremony includes awarding a ring to ALL PLAYERS AND COACHES FOR 104 TEAMS. So, get creative with your team name. For example: The Arizona Outlaws went to CDP twice this year. The 2nd time they wised up and changed their name to the "Zona Outlaws". The only two teams that don't have to listen to all names is the two teams playing in the championship game. The two championship teams get their rings first and then get escorted to batting practice.
- Pin trading is huge. If you are doing well, you'll see the value of your pins go up as the week progresses. By the time the championship game rolls around, and you are fortunate enough to be in it, your pin will be highly sought after.
- Hitting cages are excellent, but they are paved with black spray on asphalt. It ruins all your baseballs. Take about 3 dozen with you to use, but count on returning with none.
- There is no good place to hit ground balls. The playing fields are awesome grass turf, but you are not allowed to hit on them. The grassy areas adjacent to the hitting cages are rough fescue grass. Not good for ground ball work. They do have an artificial turf mat about as big as an infield that is available for ground balls, but it's usually crowded and the balls tend to bounce off it. We took very little ground ball work all week as those bouncing balls do not replicate how a ball bounces on a real field and we didn't want to reinforce bad habits. So, don't count on quality ground ball work.
- This last one is opinion... Let the kids be kids. We turned them loose and let them play loose. We likely had the messiest clubhouse in the park, but our kids had fun. We let them hang out as much as possible and associate with other players and peers. Ironically, these Georgia and Tennessee boys became very close friends with a team out of South New Jersey that was a near mirror image or our team. Messiest and loudest team in the village. Concensus in the stands before we played the championship game was that we were 15 to 1 underdogs to the Ripken backed Aberdeen team we were about to face. The South Jersey boys were just about the only ones that believed we could do it. They had become close friends with our coaches and players and we would not of had the success we had that night without them yelling in the stands. They actually had nicknames for many of our players. Between the two teams, we probably violated curfew more than all the other teams combined. We let em drink Mountain Dew and play clubhouse wiffle ball til late into the night. We witnessed teams that literally marched every where they went. Not our guys. Let em be 12. Let em cut loose and act goofy like most 12 year olds want to act. We only enforced one rule: when they came together under the foul pole for our player lead pre-game prayer; we asked that from that point forward they turned all their energy and focus to the game they were about to play. It worked for us.
Good luck to all those attending Cooperstown Dreams Park. |
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ccianciolojr
80 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2010 : 09:26:29
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What a great post, I can second alot of what tn3sport said, especially for the coaches, there are a lot of things that a coach has to do other than coach the games. You are the parent for these boys 24 hours and that can wear on a coach, plus don't ever try too plan on going to sleep before midnight, jsut not gonna happent tehe kids are just too wound up. One reccomendation I would offer is that on Sunday or Monday Night have your parents check thier child out and let them spend some time with their family. And then on another night let all of the boys spend the night with their families so the coaches can enjoy some family time outside the confines of CDP.
We had a blast and I look forward to going back when my son turns 10. |
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tn3sport
28 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2010 : 12:11:09
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A couple more...
- Bring your laptop. CDP updates their website with standings, scores, and brackets in near real time. If your team is like ours, we had limited pitching. It really helps with your planning to know who you are playing, how much they've won, who they've played, etc. Its much easier to see all this on their website than it is to try and read the brackets display board at the park. They have excellent wireless connectivity in the dining tent. If you're fortunate enough to be in a clubhouse within 50 meters of the dining tent, you can get a wireless connection at your clubhouse.
- Coffee is available 24x7 in the dining tent. Powerade is avail from lunch thru dinner. (Powerade is mixed quite strong. I cut it with a little water and it wasn't too bad.)
- Runners: Bring your running shoes. Several coaches, umps, etc ran the perimeter of the parking lots in the morning. Lots of little turns, but the route is flat for the most part and you never have to leave the park. 6 miler took about 4 loops.
- Friday early check-in: Again, just my observations, but...
99% of the players used Friday early check-in. Everyone had the same idea: Arrive at 6pm for Friday early check-in. Lines and delays were long. Go early. Get there at 5:45pm. They started letting people in at 5:45. Very little waiting. Or, get there later, like 9pm. I saw very few players arriving Saturday morning. The few that did, had almost no wait. |
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itsaboutbb
164 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2010 : 17:43:18
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| We had two large coolers with wheels that were baseball bucket carriers too. We were in Stalag 17, 4 cabins from the big tent and I got good wireless there. Get up early, way before the kids and get their uni's. We had them all spread out and seperated on the outside foot locker and picnic table that is in front of your cabin. When they woke up they grabbed it. Put your name and your cabin number in all of the clothes. They wash more than one team in the washer at a time. If it gets mixed up you will get yours back. |
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