Oh, I'd like to add my 2 cents worth....lol
We showed up to our first game for my oldest daughter's game Sat morning and the field was so muddy that when our coach went out to the mound, he slid.
The umpires went out with the coaches and walked the field and I could see them all shaking their heads, obviously that the field wasn't ready to play on. ?The umpires were walking off the field when the TD approached and very loudly and gruffly asked "WHY HASN'T THIS GAME STARTED YET?" ?One of the officials said, "The field isn't playable" ?The TD said, and I quote, "That's BULLS**T!" ?I said to another mom, "Let's see him put his daughter out there". ?An umpire overheard me and said" Don't worry ma'am, those girls won't go on that field until it is acceptable" ?I was very glad to hear that.
We all understand that rain will delay and that it can be difficult to keep things running on time. Living in Ohio we have all learned to accept that. ?However, all the parents and especially the coaches were dismayed at the lack of communication.
My older dd was told to be at the field on Sun at 8am for a 9:00 game and did not play until after 2pm. ?The fields were never touched from what I could see. ?They tried to let the sun and wind do what they should have been doing before anyone got there.
When we arrived at 7:45 Sunday morning for my youngest dd's game and there was standing water on the field. ?Of course the pitcher's mound and the plate were the worst. ?But the entire field had not been touched! ?It stopped raining Sat nite and the sun even came out. ?There was no reason why the field should have standing water. ?It should have been "squeegee'd" off Sat nite, then at the CRACK of dawn, it should have been raked and that diamond dry stuff should have been put on or at least some dry dirt, sand, something. ?We were talking to another coach and he said he had to wait on someone to come and unlock the gate! ?Noone was even there before the coaches arrived. ?That is unacceptable. ?If you run a tournament, it should be your first priority that weekend, other than a funeral. But I'll tell you what, that stinkin' concession stand was open and the grass was being mowed and the guys were riding around changing the TRASH CANS! ?Like that was the most important thing. ?The TD almost kicked a coach out of the park for "complaing too much" about the fields. ?He told her that if she wanted them perfect that she should come back next week. ?All she wanted was a safe field for the players. ?There were parents raking the fields while a guy with a STAFF shirt on stood by and watched and then came over and instructed them on what to do next. ?The field then appeared to be top priority and was being worked on very hard. ?However, the diamond next to us was being played on with some standing water and very muddy. ?We were in awe. ?Then for the rest of the day neither field was touched AT ALL. ?Not even a rake or re-lined or anything. ?A rake would have done a great job with all the sun and light breeze we had going on. ?But nope, they had better things to do, like ride around on the golf cart and sit up in the building, and make sure that concession stand had plaenty of junk food in it.
And don't even get me started on the stinkin' concession stand crap. ?All these teams came from miles and miles away and were told after they arrived that they could NOT bring in thier coolers, and they couldn't even bring in bottled water! ?One parent said "then whtat am I supposed to do about drinking water for my daughter?" ?A guy at the gate said "I don't care, buy it at the concession stand, I guess, but you cannot bring that water in here" ?If the coaches had been told beforehand about this rule, then at least everyone wouldn't have been so surprised, but no one had a clue. ?It was a big deal to a lot of families. ?Not only is it costly to purchase food from the concession stand, the food consisted of very burnt hamburgers and hot dogs, and nachos that just sit on the players stomachs. ?Our girls like fresh fruit and nuts and granola bars. ?Not pop and candy. We should have a choice about what our kids eat, not be forced to eat cheap processed hot dogs and candy.
Both my dd's coaches have stated that they will not be returning. ?We have been to this tourney for the last 3 years, when it was in Fairborn by Wright-Patt, and we've always had a good tourney until this year. ?The facility was unacceptable, there was no communication, and our right to feed our children healthy food was taken away. We are ticked off.
It was a very disappointing start to the season.