Pigeon Forge Tennessee

Who has been there how is it. We planed on taking our teams there(12u and 14u). How is competion ( We were told B plus) Area, Things to do and such. Facilities. Any imput would be appreciated. Thought for 2 1st year teams this would be a great way to end season
Thank You

What is the date of this tournament?

It is there National Event July 21st - 26th

We went as 10's three years ago and as 12s last year, the competition has been excellent every time. Very few teams there that I would call B. We have always played @ the city park with Joe Caldwell being the TD. We are still considering going down for the 5/2/09 tourney.

This trip can also serve as a good team bonding session for the girls and parents. I would schedule a vacation day for Monday it can be pretty rough drive home late Sunday then off to work in a few hours after you get home.

PM me and I can send you Joe's phone # if you are interested.

Warren, the area is absolutely beautiful. I used to go to the area yearly and stay in a cabin. You have Dollywood nearby, Gatlingburg to the south, couple water parks and caverns nearby.
Competition is like you said B plus, but I think you would compete well. A lot of teams are staying close to home this year, so I would think the competition might be better.

I know the one complaint is you don't have to qualifie to get in it is open to all, but I don't really buy that since all the other sactioning bodies just want you to play the tournies for the money generated for them. If you really want in you can get in win or not. So it comes down to what is best for your team or organization.

Doug31014 said:

This trip can also serve as a good team bonding session for the girls and parents.

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We went down there a couple years back when DD was with Doom 96. It is a great place for team bonding because of so much you can do as a team outside of softball. They went go-carting. Took a team picture dressed up as cowboys and saloon girls. Fun trip. Beautiful area. Go early, stay late and make it a mini family vacation too.

They played at a very nice park. Well organized, good competition.

Agree with Shockwave...have been to the area two times (although not for softball--sorry). Area has grown since our last trip, but it is beautiful with the state park, gondola ride, little shops all in Gatlinburg. Then in Pigeon Forge you have water parks, amusements parks, plenty of shopping
and food. Lots of hotel options as well, including rental cabins which are wonderful. Warning though--it can get chilly at night (even in July). There is even a casino over the mountain in Cherokee, NC. See something for everybody...GOOD LUCK to you and your team.

We went last year and we are going again this year June 12th-15th. Last year there was a 12U team from Alabama that was great. there was also a team in the 16U from Florida.
Like someone else said it is great for bonding.

Explosioncoach12u

We are heading down there for the SEAA World Series this late July ourselves. My daughter played in this SEAA WS a couple years back and the other two years my daughter and I watched it while on vacation down there. Also the dd played in a tournament down there in last April in a regular tournament event.
The fields are tremendous,with the mountains in the background. Fields are a mixture of real soft dirt and red clay. Nice set up for seating around the main 3 fields. There are 5 fields total in Pigeon Forge,with one set up for 6u/8u. They also use fields in Sevierville also,which is only about 4 miles down the parkway.

The SEAA World Series is extremely well ran. They do make it where each team will get to play during the day and have atleast one prime time game under the lights.
Of course just being in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg is just the best place to be with family and friends. The girls will just love the action down there on the field and off with all the activities.

Jim and Freddie Mulllins are in charge of this tournament. They are real good people to deal with (just haft to work thru that southern accent,lol). As for the competition itself..........
It wont be a strong as the ASA Nationals, but it will be tough! Those southern teams play some ball. They take it as serious as they do their cooking and religion! You will see a mixture of teams at the SEAA Nationals. Most are strong that are there to win. A few less strong teams will enter that are just happy to be part of the whole tournament.
From the begining from opening ceromonies til the very end,they do everything first class! Very well ran and the girls have a blast!

Fair warning though.........................
They only take 32 teams total at 12u. Teams do fill up quick at 12u and 14u. I know of 5 teams already from Ohio and Michigan that are already making their plans for down there. Plus you have all the Tennessee,Kentucky,North and South Carolina,Georgia and Florida teams that get in!

Here are some links................

www.seaayouth.com
www.mypigeonforge.com
www.gatlinburg.com
www.visitsevierville.com


I have Jim and Freddie`s contact info if you have any questions. Ive work and known them for 3 years now.

Here is a pic we took of our dd this past spring down on Field #1 while playing in Pigeon Forge.

We went last year as a 14U... Hillbilly has it right, beautiful area, very well run tourney (other than opening ceremonies, not well organized), great facilities, and overall good competiton (a good mix for first year teams). As many others have said, it is great for team bonding because of all the activities available (horseback riding, go karts, pictures, rafting, dinner shows, etc...). With that said, a few personal insights....you should plan like it is a vacation and be prepared to spend lots of money since you will be there basically all week and there are sooooooo many things to do constantly being advertised as you drive from place to place....you will play one game/day through Friday, then more on Saturday/Sunday depending upon how you perform (you could be out Saturday), so there's a lot of down time early on, but again, this can be used for team bonding activities (of course it depends what time of day you play)....also, look for ways to save with maybe a cheaper hotel or sharing cabins with other families, because activities are pricey...meals are about average, if you stay in a cabin, you can buy groceries and eat in to save money....remember, it is a tourist area, so they are looking for you to spend money and believe me, it's hard not to! It's not a bad drive from central/southern Ohio and if you're looking for that combined WS/vacation, it's probably the best choice. ASA, NSA, USSSA run very nice nationals, but thery're not always in a "tourist" area, so when they are close, I suspect they are a bit less expensive.

Prices I got have been great not expensive at all.

They have weekend tourneys which is what we did. Competition was good

Just a few hotels that I would recommend....................

In Pigeon Forge

Willowbrook Lodge
Valley Forge Inn
Best Western Plaza Inn
Mainstay Suites (coaches meeting there that Monday)
James Manor

In Gatlinburg
Brookside Resort
Park Vista
Best Western Zoders Inn

Also check out some of the cabins down there in PF and Gatlinburg!!!!

The motels/hotels will send out brochures and info on their place if you request. I have done that already for our parents. I go down there atleast 3 times a year so I know these places very well.

loncor said:

We went last year as a 14U... Hillbilly has it right, beautiful area, very well run tourney (other than opening ceremonies, not well organized), great facilities, and overall good competiton (a good mix for first year teams). As many others have said, it is great for team bonding because of all the activities available (horseback riding, go karts, pictures, rafting, dinner shows, etc...). With that said, a few personal insights....you should plan like it is a vacation and be prepared to spend lots of money since you will be there basically all week and there are sooooooo many things to do constantly being advertised as you drive from place to place....you will play one game/day through Friday, then more on Saturday/Sunday depending upon how you perform (you could be out Saturday), so there's a lot of down time early on, but again, this can be used for team bonding activities (of course it depends what time of day you play)....also, look for ways to save with maybe a cheaper hotel or sharing cabins with other families, because activities are pricey...meals are about average, if you stay in a cabin, you can buy groceries and eat in to save money....remember, it is a tourist area, so they are looking for you to spend money and believe me, it's hard not to! It's not a bad drive from central/southern Ohio and if you're looking for that combined WS/vacation, it's probably the best choice. ASA, NSA, USSSA run very nice nationals, but thery're not always in a "tourist" area, so when they are close, I suspect they are a bit less expensive.

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How true! Bring some cash because you will be spend it down there. Also the traffic can be heavy and slow at times!

How does that compare to Sterling or some of the other National sites. I heard Sterling was the worst ??
Are you talking about spending cash for amusement purposes?? Parks gocarts and such
Thanks

Talking about the amusement stuff. There are stuff to do down there that are free or cheap. We have 4 kids so they like doing all the rides,putt putt and all that stuff that takes money.
You have many restraunts that are good priced (franchise ones) and you have some that have some good southern cookin that cost more (like Old Mill and Apple Barn).

Way we do it is that we hit a grocery store when we first get down there and load up on food, so we dont go out every time and spend money.
There are times that we can spend less that $300 for 5 days down there,but then you can spend that in one day alone also down there.

There are coupon books out the gazzo down there that will save you alot of money.

Thanks so much Hillbilly

If you want to spend big bucks, Great Wolf or Wilderness just opened a hotel with the big indoor water park. Go to the one in Wisconsin Dells every year. Great fun but not cheap.

I was also referring to the "activities" as being pricey. Just like Vegas, you can get a bargain on hotel/food since they figure you are going to be staying for awhile spending money everywhere. Hillbilly is right about saving money by not eating out every meal. We found breakfast to be the cheapest at some of the various diner type restaurants and so we would eat a later breakfast, then maybe eat a light lunch/snack in the afternoon at the cabin, and then decide about dinner. We picked a couple of nights to eat out and a few to eat at the cabin. We did eat at a pizza buffet like CC's here in Ohio that was very reasonable. Hillbilly is also right on about the coupon books, which are everywhere, and the traffic. Getting from Pigeon Forge to Gaitlinburg can be quite an adventure at times! It's so true that you could easily drop a couple hundred bucks a day on the activities and it is REALLY hard (for the kids especially) to see all the things to do and not want to go. I guess financial discipline is the key! LOL