Safety over Money??

[google1]

So we're currently playing at Softball City Ballpark in Taylor Mill Ky. It is 90 degrees and humidity outside. We were informed at the gate (nothing in the rules giving to coaches) that we were not allowed a "team cooler" of water for the girls. The owner of the park stopped us and said he sells water at the concessions stand. We will be more than happy to sell the girls bottled water. We have 4 games to play at this park today. After questioning the owner on our availability to keep the girls hydrated... his response was AND I QUOTE... "I have a 2 million dollar insurance, I'm perfectly okay with a girl falling out due to heat ".....

What's your thoughts on this... why should a park be allowed to bit the girls at risk for the almighty dollar? This park and any other like it should be banned. This will be our last trip to this park!!!

 

[CARDS]

Almost all mens slow pitch parks and that is a mens slow pitch park has a no cooler policy.
These facilities are more for the adult game but all the ones I remember had coolers in each dugout that the grounds crew would swap out before each game.
Not sure about the Taylor Mill park but; Rumpke, Expressway, Great American Ball Yard, West Side,River Shore etc. all had no cooler policy but provided coolers in the dugouts "If" you were brave enough to drink it...

 

[Captain_Thunder]

I believe insurance and or board of health stopped the coolers on the dugouts. Most of the parks Cards mentioned will allow individual jugs for girls.

 

[wow]

This is total nonsense and is nothing more than a money grab. I am not sure legally they can stop you from brining in water. The concessions stands are for food and extra water gatorade, not essential plain old water. I mean whats next charge you for the oxygen you breathe? Sad really. I also get the no food things and that OK. I don't need to buy food there, however the girls need water to play, plus are you supposed to run the concession stand every time you need another? The convienace of a cooler is not a option, rather a requirement.

The no cooler, many times, is more to detract the alcohol, not to limit the girls hydration needs.

 

[denised1989]

As a person with severe food allergies, my husband and I have always discretely brought in a cooler even into the ballparks that state you can't. My husband will then purchase some items from the concession stand through out the weekend. Based on the way the owner of Softball City Ballpark handled the situation, my husband refused to purchase anything throughout the day. Instead, we continued to use the cooler we brought in and also went back to our car to restock from our large cooler. Will never go to this ballpark again as this owner does not deserve my hard earned money.

 

[CARDS]

As a person with severe food allergies, my husband and I have always discretely brought in a cooler even into the ballparks that state you can't. My husband will then purchase some items from the concession stand through out the weekend. Based on the way the owner of Softball City Ballpark handled the situation, my husband refused to purchase anything throughout the day. Instead, we continued to use the cooler we brought in and also went back to our car to restock from our large cooler. Will never go to this ballpark again as this owner does not deserve my hard earned money.

That is the best thing teams can do is avoid these type of parks.

A lot of mens parks are going after the youth dollar because of the decline in mens /co-ed and womens slow pitch. With the exception of Expressway Park in Milford most of these parks struggle setting up the fields correctly, rarely have 200ft fences,use slow pitch umpires, have little to no shade do not allow pop ups or grills in parking areas, and charge a premium tournament fee for 4 maybe 5 games then fleece the parents with a gate fee some as much as $3 for anyone 12 or older.

Events held at community parks seem to more friendly to the teams.

 

[grandpa]

I agree that most could be more polite when enforcing this. However, they do have a liquor license and must follow Ohio law. The law in Ohio is that you cannot bring in outside drinks to any establishment that serves alcohol. If a liquor agent shows up during a tournament and sees coolers with drinks in them, they will be cited. They face a hefty fine and possible suspension or revocation of their license. They simply are following the law. If you don't like the law, contact your representative or senator and ask them to change it.

 

[grandpa]

I realize the incident being discussed happened in Kentucky. I imagine the law there is similar to Ohio.

 

[CARDS]

I agree that most could be more polite when enforcing this. However, they do have a liquor license and must follow Ohio law. The law in Ohio is that you cannot bring in outside drinks to any establishment that serves alcohol. If a liquor agent shows up during a tournament and sees coolers with drinks in them, they will be cited. They face a hefty fine and possible suspension or revocation of their license. They simply are following the law. If you don't like the law, contact your representative or senator and ask them to change it.

Humm...Yes and No...In Southwest Ohio we have the Hamilton county park district that allows coolers and serves beer at their fields for youth and adult events.
All the community parks I have been too allow coolers and most also serves alcohol. All of our local recreational parks allow coolers and serve beer, some even serve liquor.
Now some places do have a patio policy where no alcohol is permitted off the deck/patio area during youth events.

Also, people are "not permitted to bring in their own alcohol" and, coolers can be subject to inspection. Most places have signs up with alcohol enforcement and guidelines. (I would think most people do not risk getting a ticket or caught bringing in alcohol to a youth sporting event especially; when it is available).

In this case I would say they could have inspected all coolers for water only and had the majority of people having water and a couple sliding in sports drinks or food. Again, its a private park for profit and the owners are obviously there to make money not friends...

 

[daboss]

I am not justifying what they do but like many things in life you do have choices. You can choose to not attend. While the cry is that it's all about the almighty dollar may I remind you it IS all about the almighty dollar. Tournaments are never held anywhere for your enjoyment. The concessions are a huge income at any tournament. In some cases it makes the difference between having a tournament or not. Every tournament has a goal and as far as I know the main goal is to make as much money as they can. What is done with it is another story.

Years ago I had the idea to start a mobile softball equipment business and travel to tournaments. My daughter needed a summer job and I saw the need to have something like this so if you broke a bat, needed a new glove, or simply liked a training aid we had to offer you could purchase it at the park instead of going without or driving across town. I contacted as many tournament directors as I could to see if they would indeed let us provide the service. I was even offering a rental fee for a sp[ot to set up. Not 1 tourney would allow it! Not 1!!! The reason? They didn't want the families to spend any money with me. They wanted every dollar you had in your possession to eventually go to them. I swear to you this is what I was told. I had not thought about how it would impact them. I selfishly wanted my gimmick to tap into their gimmick for my own gain.

All get excited to go play a big fancy park like that and I'm sorry if you are surprised they are driven to make money but my gut tells me this guy already had enough trying to explain to everyone they have a park policy of no coolers and you pushed that button again. A heads up should be shared and somebody dropped the ball. My guess is it was your scheduling coordinator that didn't read all the fine print as most are going to have the park rules somewhere for all to see. You probably saw others go thru the gate without interruption as they are used to the rule and plan their weekends accordingly.

I would not want the risky business of a $2,000,000.00 debt that is totally reliant on Mother Nature whether they get to play or not-----------or make ANY money. Wait a minute! I farm for a living and chose softball and car racing for hobbies. Maybe need counseling.

 

[Linedrive21]

My cooler is coming in, the girls are staying hydrated....get an attorney and sue me...in the meantime " Mr Park Owner ", F*** Off.....

 

[Coach_Joe]

I was at Mid American Ballpark last weekend in Cinci. They have a no cooler policy, I have a pregnant wife and a dd that plays. My wife is also the head coach. They made her open the cooler and they checked it, all was good. Sunday was a little bit of a hassle though.

 

[CARDS]

My cooler is coming in, the girls are staying hydrated....get an attorney and sue me...in the meantime " Mr Park Owner ", F*** Off.....

They wont need to sue you... its a private park. They will just ask you to follow their park rules or ask you to leave.

 

[google1]

The biggest issue was the owners comments about his insurance policy.. the guy said straight up AND I QUOTE... "I have a 2 million dollar insurance, I'm perfectly okay with a girl falling out due to heat".

When a park owner, tournament director or anyone for that matter says that, then it's time to stop supporting them! The guy's name was Shawn, said he was the owner and said if anyone had an issue with it come see him! He was a complete arrogant asshole and he has no business hosting youth events at his park!!

 

[Resq202]

So on top of the above mentioned problems were the condition of the fields. Maybe drug in the morning but not touched after that. By our 8:20 game there were no batter's boxes, the circle was barely discernible and there was a six inch deep trench that served as a batter's box. We were also expected to send someone into the poison ivy filled woods to retrieve foul balls. I am not sure when the last time the men's room was cleaned either. I know several times our head coach was looking for a tournament official for information and ended up having to call the registration contact. The 7 game for $325 is a good deal but I would suggest the Bandits find different facilities to hold their tournament.