expressway park,rivershore or pastime

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Who will win the race to be the dominate fast pitch park for next year?

It seems that the park that fixes the issues that have been widely discussed at the tournaments on the weekend and on this site will come away with all of the fast pitch events.

here is just a list of items each park does well and not so well per conversation and postings.

Expressway
positives:

fields not bad if waited between games
nice concession area



needs work:
schedule (looks a lot better this week)
getting behind not enough time (OR NONE) between games
200' temp fence



River shore
Positives:
competition (sluggerfest)
pavilion area (shade)
temporary fence (sluggerfest)


needs work:
concession stands 1 window open
fields are terrible
no field equipment for the rain at sluggerfest (spike rake is a joke)
lack of knowledge or (desire) on fixing a wet field
line fields throughout tournament
overall attitude



Pastime
positive:
location

Needs work
BATHROOMS ARE UNUSABLE
fields need the sand scraped off and replaced with brick dust or field dirt
dug outs need torn down replaced with block
bleachers need boards replaced
line fields throughout tournament (would require more than 1 kid with a garden rake)
fields need water between games (brick dust would fix this)
general upkeep weeds,garbage and parking lot (makes me wonder about the concession stand)
concession prices
scheduling procedure
200' fence (not major but would be nice for warm up)
park seems overwhelmed by daily operations (not enough help)



I did not even mention umpires park by park there are good and bad I just want them to know the rules for FAST PITCH

I know I will catch $#%^ for this but to be honest this to let the parks know in a constructive manner what it takes to get our buisness.

This is nothing more than what is being talked about every weekend.

Good luck to the 1st place to step up you will have more teams than you can handle.

 

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You should not catch much ****, just telling the truth.

The real problem is that we all keep going back. Therefore they see no reason to do anything to attract our business. It is basically built in.

Only staying away until the changes or upgrades are made will send them a message. The fact is in Cincinnati these are the complexes that we are stuck with. I see no changes coming soon, because they don't have to.

 

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I agree Budda. It seems these posts are just copied and pasted from previous years. Its the same old complaints year after year. There are many hidden gems out there that offer great competition and a fastpitch friendly environment. You know what they say...Money talks, Bulls^%$ walks. Speak with your wallet next year.

 

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I think EXPRESSWAY would get the nod, if they can add 200' fences and address the ongoing umpire situation. Nice clean fields, usually pretty well maintained, and they hold water well if it rains.

 

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I agree Budda. It seems these posts are just copied and pasted from previous years. Its the same old complaints year after year. There are many hidden gems out there that offer great competition and a fastpitch friendly environment. You know what they say...Money talks, Bulls^%$ walks. Speak with your wallet next year.

That is the point of my post these are for profit parks no matter what anyone says about
(its for the kids) so who ever changes first will make all the money

 

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I agree EXPRESSWAY, they at least seem to care and make an effort to improve.

PLEASE do what Ringer said "Speak with your wallet next year"!

It is the only way things will get better in Cincinnati and we stop being the joke of the state.

 

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Who wins the Fastpitch park battle? Hopefully the players and fans.

The issues that have been posted with the Cincy area Fastpitch parks are not new and are not limited to the Cincy area.

Change however is inevitable; With adult slow pitch on the decline there are other parks in the area like Kolpling, Triple Creek, Eggelston etc. that are looking for other areas to generate revenue with youth sports and I would say it is just a matter of time before they throw their hat in the ring with Boys Baseball or Girls Fastpitch.

With the current economy and everyone looking to save $ I would think people (TD) would be looking into some of the nicer Township, City or County Parks around Cincy that would be great places for Travel Fast pitch teams (unfortunately; most of these facilities are currently focused on Boys Baseball but; that could change).

There are even some rec. parks in the area that would be better suited for youth Fast pitch than the slow pitch super parks.
Just my 2 cents

 

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I honestly believe both Expressway and Rivershore are slowly getting better. Expressway's fields drain very well and the last time I was there the field crew did a great job, our games ran on time, and the umpiring was better. Temporary fences would be a nice addition.

Rivershore's fields had been neglected for years. The fields are much better than they were just a few years ago. The field crew works very hard with what they have. Don't forget...it takes money to make money and I believe Patty is doing as much as she can with the money she has at her disposal. Every time we play at Rivershore it seems to be a bit better each time.

Neither of these fields is cheap to maintain so there will always be an entrance fee. They do not receive funds and groundskeeping services from a city or county like municipal/park fields do. Whenever you play at these types of fields, the residents and businesses of that area are helping pay for you and your team to play and be there.

Len

 

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I like Rivershore. Patty is improving the park every year and the better competition is definitely there. If they are not going to allow coolers in the park, then they must do a better job selling drinks. You can get stuck in line for a long time.

Haven't been to Expressway in several years, but may play there this fall. Living 5 minutes away is a plus.

Have never been to Pasttime.

 

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Coach McQueen,

Did you really mean to put LOCATION as Pastime's big plus? Are you an EMR, Static or East Central coach or parent? Seriously though, one petty reason I don't prefer Pastime is the drive to Harri-friggin-son to play ball. At least Expressway is right off the highway exit ramp. Then again, Rivershore is not that far from the exit, if you know where you're going. Otherwise, you'd think you were in the middle of nowhere. I do like Rivershore and I know Patty busts her butt over there, but if you urinate on one field or spill your water on it, ALL the fields are down for an hour or two. Just my 2cents.

Pastime
positive:
location

 

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Expressway has been the most consistent IMO. Patty is working hard too, evident in having the only park with 200' fences which made some games fun for the hard hitters.

Location is always an issue and ASA Region changes won't be helping Patty in 2010. Cincy will be included in with the rest of Ohio Regions unlike it is now and has been.

 

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Expressway is top notch when it comes to fields. Bobby and his staff do a great job on the fields. But in order for it to be a great fastpitch facility they have to add parking, allow families to bring in coolers and add more windows for concessions. I have waited in line for over 30 minutes before and that is about the norm. Last but certainly not least the umpiring crew has to be upgraded.
Patty is doing a great job getting Rivreshore back up to snuff, but until they figure out how to get the fields to drain it will always be a nightmare when it rains. concessions are also a pain, but at least you can bring a cooler in. Umpiring needs addressed also.
I will be able to comment more on Pastime in a few weeks, but if it hasn't changed in the last 5 years they still have many issues to to address.

 

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We played in the fall league last year at Pasttime and had one game that had to be called because of the dust blowing around. They desperately need to change to brickdust and put some water on it. The holes in front of the pitching rubber got to be 8" deep and I guess they thought shoving loose dirt in it was the answer. Our parents all said not to go back this year.
Expressway has nice fields, and temp fences would be a huge improvement as we could also have a place to warm up. Potential to be the best around.
Patti does a nice job at Riverside, love the park. Need to pray for no rain when you play there.

 

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Expressway is top notch when it comes to fields. Bobby and his staff do a great job on the fields. But in order for it to be a great fastpitch facility they have to add parking, allow families to bring in coolers and add more windows for concessions. I have waited in line for over 30 minutes before and that is about the norm. Last but certainly not least the umpiring crew has to be upgraded.
Patty is doing a great job getting Rivreshore back up to snuff, but until they figure out how to get the fields to drain it will always be a nightmare when it rains. concessions are also a pain, but at least you can bring a cooler in. Umpiring needs addressed also.
I will be able to comment more on Pastime in a few weeks, but if it hasn't changed in the last 5 years they still have many issues to to address.

They will never allow you to bring coolers in. If you go to any of these three, coolers are and will always be a no-no. They need the concession money to help with their cost. Enless it is a fastpitch organization ran tourney they do not have volunteers. This drives their cost up. Remember these are FOR PROFIT parks. If this bugs people so much find different tourneys to attend. Our team has been to all three parks this season, and IMHO Expressway stands alone. With all the criticism they received earlier in the season I was kind of hesitant about playing there. I will have to say after playing our last tourney there, I had no complaints (except temp fences). They did address alot of the complaints. Hopefully they continue to make improvements!!

Mike

 

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This day and age one other aspect that has not been brought up is websites. Expressway and Rivershore do a good job using them to provide information. Pastime still have not mentioned anything about this past weekend in the softball news or put up photos like in the past.

Rivershore has a place saying Results but no link to the scores.

I think all three know that Marketing plays a big part in the success but who is really taking advantage of their website to promote thier park?? Are they understaffed, not focused or just lazy?

 

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Gofastpitch,

You bring up an interesting point that I have not really considered until now. I (as many of us) rely greatly on the internet for info, communication, research, etc. At the Grand Slam WSQ at Expressway early in June, our game results were online before I even got home from the field, because Bob somehow was able to get the game scores loaded directly into the USSSA web site almost immedietely, which was really cool.. That's initiative, IMHO.

With Pastime, I am still trying to find out who won what divisions and what the Pool scores were for the June 27-28 tourney. Nowhere to be found - the tourney results haven't even been posted on the NAFA.com web site yet. Then again, NAFA still doesn't recognize the state of Ohio as a member yet, let alone posting any info about events in Ohio. The Pastime Park Fastpitch News link was updated on June 3, 2009.

When we played in SluggerFest, Patty did a good job of trying to get the scores and winners/losers online as quickly as possible. It seemed a tiny bit slower than Expressway, but she got it done.

This day and age one other aspect that has not been brought up is websites. Expressway and Rivershore do a good job using them to provide information. Pastime still have not mentioned anything about this past weekend in the softball news or put up photos like in the past.

Rivershore as a place saying Results but no link to the scores.

I think all three know that Marketing plays a big part in the success but who is really taking advantage of their website to promote thier park?? Are they understaffed, not focused or just lazy?

 

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Bob had the pools, brackets, field assignments and times on the website by last night. Great Job! Really helps our team to plan ahead.

Patty is second and Pastime is not even in the PARK!

We really hate to see Pastime go backwards but we cannot continue to support a park that does not produce a positive experience for our ladies.

Dayton is getting better and Greenville is looking closer on the map each day.