have entry gate fees gone up too?

[DanMaz]

100% agree and somehow they still manage to keep the entry fee, sorry gate fee at $5. Amazing how that works. I wish we could play all of our tournaments there.

the parks and recreation department run Berliner. their job is to create profit to re-invest and they have done it by adding all turf fields. with 30+ fields imagine the cash flow each day. holy WOW. they should have a security presence in that booth with all that money. just saying

 

[DanMaz]

Yes, I was very shocked when I was told on Friday morning. after waiting in a line longer than any I have ever experienced at Berliner, that I, a non-parent volunteer coach, had to pay $20 to park my vehicle... It is one thing when a park mandates something that the tourney doesn't have control over - but when it is the tourney - SMH!

i know Berliner is one of the few places that coaches dont get in free. almost every other event i have been at doesn't make coaches pay and usually up to 3 coached per team get in free. it was a few years ago, but i dont remember ever paying gate fees at the IDT or Atlanta legacy... but things could have changed since then.

 

[DLamb]

I'm assuming that's per day? Berliner/City of Columbus only charges $5 a day...at least they used to up through last year. Does that mean that the extra $15 is going in the TD's pocket?

Sheer Madness was charging $20… I think capt was referring to the line at sheer madness, not at Berliner.

 

[Passion4theGame]

Sheer Madness has kept their entry fee the same price for many years now.

Sheer Madness showcase is the Best option for Northern ohio events during that weekend. You get alot for your money. Showcase into double elimination for $650 plus $20 parking. I'm in!
That is our least expensive event on our schedule every year. I have always took a team to that event.




Listen ALL these Tournament Directors do this for MONEY. I would too in a heartbeat. But here's the thing, Nothing will change until Coaches band together and force them to make changes.

Keep giving Tournament Directors $800 plus dollars for 5 showcase games with a horrible game schedule (friday 9:30pm, Saturday 3:30, 6:30, 8pm, sunday 5pm, 6:30pm) and tell me how that works out for you and your team.
If your girls are emailing and doing the right things, coaches might come to 2 of those game times saturday. This is a legit "showcase" schedule for a coach & his team that played in an Event in northern Ohio this Fathers Day weekend. Several coaches even played "Showcase" games without fences. ? due to high winds. At 16u! SMH. Move some games around. Put 12s & 14s with no fences. Piss poor execution & motivation. Checks have done been cashed and thats what ALL this comes down to, Money.

I'm not going to list the Event, I have No personal issue, as coaches we need to hold them accountable for some of the bullsh*t they get away with.


I am happy with my decision of playing Sheer this weekend even with the bullsh*t increase $ on parking. We know what we are getting. No Smoke & Mirrors.

 

[Passion4theGame]

Yes, I was very shocked when I was told on Friday morning. after waiting in a line longer than any I have ever experienced at Berliner, that I, a non-parent volunteer coach, had to pay $20 to park my vehicle... It is one thing when a park mandates something that the tourney doesn't have control over - but when it is the tourney - SMH!

Quit being Cheap Russ @Captain_Thunder ! Lol. You've got deep pockets.

You Host tournaments and charge $6 per day flat out. On some you charge an additional fee per team of $120 or whatever it is for entry. It's just another way for you Directors to maximize your profits. If people will pay there's nothing wrong with it.

 

[Mike_Craig_-_Ohio USSSA]

when I was looking to host one of my bigger tournaments there because we were running out of room at the current location the city Columbus told me that they charge five dollars per day and that if I wanted to make anything off the gates I would have to tell them how much they would charge and then they would reimburse me after terminal was over anything over five dollars per car a day

Ricky, they stopped offering that option about 5-6 years ago and really only did it if you designated a non-profit to direct the additional gate fee to. We used to do that for our last fall event of the season down there and would have them donate the difference to the Mid-Ohio Food Bank for Thanksgiving along with any donated foods brought to the event by teams.

And they are still $5 per day other than RV's which are either $15 or $20 per day and have a special lot to park in.

They used to only charge parking there one weekend per summer and it was 4th of July during there Christopher Columbus slow-pitch tourney because the parking used to go to their non-profit group, B.A.T.S. for park improvement. That event started sometime in the late 80's because I played in it out of college. It stated as a $29 entry fee for a double-elim format that played at Berliner, Rhodes, Busch, and Tuttle Park and had over 350+ teams in the first or second year they ran it. One of the divisions had over 150 teams in it and you had to win one of the brackets on Saturday at the outside parks to get back to a single-elim bracket back at Berliner on Sunday. This was one of the many Gary Ogle brainstorming ideas on how to raise money for the then new B.A.T.S team that did the maintenance of the fields back then.

And they have only been mandatory parking fee since around 2003 or 2004. That year after the Chris Columbus tourney, they never stopped charging parking since. For a weekend or two, they even charged umpires to come into the park until I got Jack Castle with CRPD to reimburse all of my officials for what they paid to get in for those two weeks and to stop charging officials to park.

 

[BEN CAMBAL]

Sheer Madness has kept their entry fee the same price for many years now.

Sheer Madness showcase is the Best option for Northern ohio events during that weekend. You get alot for your money. Showcase into double elimination for $650 plus $20 parking. I'm in!
That is our least expensive event on our schedule every year. I have always took a team to that event.




Listen ALL these Tournament Directors do this for MONEY. I would too in a heartbeat. But here's the thing, Nothing will change until Coaches band together and force them to make changes.

Keep giving Tournament Directors $800 plus dollars for 5 showcase games with a horrible game schedule (friday 9:30pm, Saturday 3:30, 6:30, 8pm, sunday 5pm, 6:30pm) and tell me how that works out for you and your team.
If your girls are emailing and doing the right things, coaches might come to 2 of those game times saturday. This is a legit "showcase" schedule for a coach & his team that played in an Event in northern Ohio this Fathers Day weekend. Several coaches even played "Showcase" games without fences. ? due to high winds. At 16u! SMH. Move some games around. Put 12s & 14s with no fences. Piss poor execution & motivation. Checks have done been cashed and thats what ALL this comes down to, Money.

I'm not going to list the Event, I have No personal issue, as coaches we need to hold them accountable for some of the bullsh*t they get away with.


I am happy with my decision of playing Sheer this weekend even with the bullsh*t increase $ on parking. We know what we are getting. No Smoke & Mirrors.

Couldn't agree more, our team has done Sheer Madness for 6 years and will be back next year! Great event for the money, well organized and well ran year in and year out

 

[BHaines]

As a former coach and a spectating parent, I've never been thrilled with the gate fees. But what really chapps my butt is a gate fee ON TOP of the rule, "No coolers." Not only are your charging me to coach or watch my kid, but now you want to force me to use your overpriced concession stand? No thank you. I have found through the years that the tourneys in a certain part of Ohio engage in this nonsense more than anywhere else in Ohio (you know who you are). If you're going to charge me a gate fee, your bathrooms should be maintained, your fields shouldn't be full of rocks and your concession stand better offer more than cold hot dogs and lukewarm soda.

 

[Gamesrgreat]

Not exactly. That park is run by the SPORTS department of the Columbus Recreations and Parks. The gate fees become part of the SPORTS department budget and they spend it wherever they choose. I was paying for parking back in the 90's when the park was still named Greenlawn. If the gate fees went to just Berliner, the entire park would be under a dome, the grass cut by scissors and the roads made of gold by now.

The parking money does only go to Berliner. It actually goes to BATS and not the sports office. We use that money to put back into Berliner and then to help other parks within the community after voted in by the board.

 

[Gamesrgreat]

Hoping they decide to do all their fields with LED Sports Lighters here soon. That has been the talk for a few years now.

We will be adding some fields with lights, but it will never be all fields. The new projects are parking lots, new concessions, bathrooms and 2-3 with lights but that won’t be for a few years. We will be re turfing 14-17 this year because it is worn.
it is a great park, we still have much to do , but it is nice and will be top notch within the next 5 years

 

[Stedman00]

can we improve exit road volume in the evenings?? coming from the 20's it's a long slow slog out say 7pm saturday. lol

 

[Valley 07]

I hate when you pay for a tourney back in January then a couple weeks before the event they hit you with "$100 gate fee". Just tell me upfront the event is $ with free parking or whatever don't hit me for another $100 two weeks out.

 

[yocoach]

I hate when you pay for a tourney back in January then a couple weeks before the event they hit you with "$100 gate fee". Just tell me upfront the event is $ with free parking or whatever don't hit me for another $100 two weeks out.

I said the same thing in another thread. I'd rather pay an additional $100 up front and and have them advertise free parking or just say the cost includes a $100 team parking fee.

 

[Passion4theGame]

I said the same thing in another thread. I'd rather pay an additional $100 up front and and have them advertise free parking or just say the cost includes a $100 team parking fee.

It’s a simple fix. Coaches just need to stop playing those events.