Anybody know anything about CTX Field of Dreams facility in Dripping Springs. For some unknown reason my 8-year old son's coach signed us up for a tournament in Austin this weekend and we're playing out in Dripping Springs.

More than a bit annoyed because there's no reason to leave Houston- all the competition you could want at any age is here.

TarponChaser said:

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Anybody know anything about CTX Field of Dreams facility in Dripping Springs. For some unknown reason my 8-year old son's coach signed us up for a tournament in Austin this weekend and we're playing out in Dripping Springs.

More than a bit annoyed because there's no reason to leave Houston- all the competition you could want at any age is here.

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Yea it's run by Walk-Off Sports which Josh Sanders is the owner of Walk-Off sports & Nils Tobias is the Youth Director. Don't know if you saw AgsAlaska post. I know all about those guys if you need any in sight on here or offline.

BurnetAggie99 said:

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TarponChaser said:

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Anybody know anything about CTX Field of Dreams facility in Dripping Springs. For some unknown reason my 8-year old son's coach signed us up for a tournament in Austin this weekend and we're playing out in Dripping Springs.

More than a bit annoyed because there's no reason to leave Houston- all the competition you could want at any age is here.

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Yea it's run by Walk-Off Sports which Josh Sanders is the owner of Walk-Off sports & Nils Tobias is the Youth Director. Don't know if you saw AgsAlaska post. I know all about those guys if you need any in sight on here or offline.

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remove spaces & you know what to do with the "at"

I will say, the reviews I've seen online of the place aren't promising. And the fact I had to get a hotel room 30 minutes away isn't a positive. I mean, we're already going 3.5 hours to get there. Plus the fact that they didn't post the schedule until this morning to be able to plan.

TarponChaser said:

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Anybody know anything about CTX Field of Dreams facility in Dripping Springs. For some unknown reason my 8-year old son's coach signed us up for a tournament in Austin this weekend and we're playing out in Dripping Springs.

More than a bit annoyed because there's no reason to leave Houston- all the competition you could want at any age is here.

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All turf fields. Looks like 8U is on field 7 which is at the back of the complex (I've got a 7U kid and we're on field 8).

Actual playing fields are really nice, outside the field can feel like a war zone at times though. Fields are close together so when you hear "heads up!" the foul ball could be coming from any direction. So keep a close eye on little brothers and/or sisters. Walk ways get pretty congested at times too.

Bring lawn chairs, a canopy is useful too later in the season because there is zero shade. They have good restrooms and pretty solid concessions. Plenty of parking, but unless you have the 8am game you will have a pretty good haul from the car.

It's actually about 10-15 minutes outside of Drip, and traffic through Dripping Springs can be a nightmare at times.

Overall it is a nice complex, it can feel like it's in the middle of nowhere. If y'all have time between games there is a seafood place called Boil Shack about 3 miles west of the complex that is a good place for the team to hang out between games.

Sent you a email. I included my mobile if you want to text me.

TarponChaser said:

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Anybody know anything about CTX Field of Dreams facility in Dripping Springs. For some unknown reason my 8-year old son's coach signed us up for a tournament in Austin this weekend and we're playing out in Dripping Springs.

More than a bit annoyed because there's no reason to leave Houston- all the competition you could want at any age is here.

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The players love it because the fields are great and the hill country view over the fences on the east side is pretty nice. The coaches and umpires don't like the field because the outfield walls and in some places the infield walls are exposed limestone which should need no further explanation. Just warn your players.

For parents it is the least desirable place we play. There is zero shade and it is very crowded between the fields. It is also all concrete and it can turn an 80 degree day into a 100 degree day pretty quickly. Bring chairs since there is nothing to sit on, shade tents, sunscreen, and lots of water.

Hopefully they fixed the plumbing in the bathroom. I think they did.

There is also no place to stay or eat close buy. And getting there through Austin sucks.

I will see you there. We play at the same time you do I think.

As far as rooms there's hotel in Dripping Springs. You could also stay in Johnson City. Also a good BBQ place is Crimson Creek Smokehouse.

Post game you should go to the dripping springs distillery. Fun little place, they have a bar and kitchen and nice outdoor area for the kids

agsalaska said:

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TarponChaser said:

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Anybody know anything about CTX Field of Dreams facility in Dripping Springs. For some unknown reason my 8-year old son's coach signed us up for a tournament in Austin this weekend and we're playing out in Dripping Springs.

More than a bit annoyed because there's no reason to leave Houston- all the competition you could want at any age is here.

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The players love it because the fields are great and the hill country view over the fences on the east side is pretty nice. The coaches and umpires don't like the field because the outfield walls and in some places the infield walls are exposed limestone which should need no further explanation. Just warn your players.

For parents it is the least desirable place we play. There is zero shade and it is very crowded between the fields. It is also all concrete and it can turn an 80 degree day into a 100 degree day pretty quickly. Bring chairs since there is nothing to sit on, shade tents, sunscreen, and lots of water.

Hopefully they fixed the plumbing in the bathroom. I think they did.

There is also no place to stay or eat close buy. And getting there through Austin sucks.

I will see you there. We play at the same time you do I think.

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This is my 8U kid so look for "Elite Squad"- we play at 4:10 and 6-something on Saturday.

So I edited out my five beer still up waiting on our location rant from last night. But we don't like PG in Austin for a lot of reasons and last night is another good one.

We didn't know where we were playing until after 10pm. PG uses several different facilities all across the greater Austin area from Taylor all the way to Kyle to Dripping Springs. Its a huge area. And for teams like us from out of town it is a big giant pain in the ass not knowing where we are going. They started assigning some divisions on Tuesday which was really early for them but did not get to us until late last night.

I am pretty certain the reason they do it is a lot of places teams don't want to play at(see Dripping Springs for us) and don't want teams to withdraw. Before when USSSA had Austin that never happened. We knew by Monday or even before. But by the time we knew where we were going every hotel anywhere close to our location is gone and its about a two hour drive. And we play late Saturday. Great.

I have seen those guys keep tournaments going in horrendous weather and restart tournaments in unsafe playing conditions and I know those complaints were heard. Standing water on the infield is not OK. Neither is limestone.

One thing I can't put my finger on but it certainly comes from leadership is whenever we go play USSSA or NCS the general atmosphere is just a lot more fun. The umpires are more relaxed. The coaches are more relaxed. The tournament directors and employees are having fun. It's just a better overall atmosphere. PG Austin feel like a cattle pin.

My other general complaint about select baseball is there are too many teams in two day brackets, especially at younger ages. If we make the final this weekend we will play about 30 innings of baseball in 30 hours. I get that if you go 0-2 on Saturday or something, but with 16 teams there are no buys. If it was my world I would divide a 16 team bracket into two eight team tournaments. In PG we have played with as many as 21 if I remember right. That's too many.

BurnetAggie99 said:

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Sent you a email. I included my mobile if you want to text me.

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Didn't get it, must have typed in the email wrong.

df starr at gmail dot com

Starr with 2 "r"

Hey Tarpon send me an email too at kpg4923 at gmail. We have a break between games and will come find you.

This is the issue playing PG with Walk Off sports hosted events. Most of our Bandito Youth teams try not to play those events but as Director with Banditos I let the coaches pick their schedules. Your only other option is to play with Keith Hamilton CenTex Elite NCS tournaments.

sent

BurnetAggie99 said:

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This is the issue playing PG with Walk Off sports hosted events. Most of our Bandito Youth teams try not to play those events but as Director with Banditos I let the coaches pick their schedules. Your only other option is to play with Keith Hamilton CenTex Elite NCS tournaments.

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Yea maybe my ire should be aimed at Walk Off Sports.

NCS is fun and USSSA is in Waco and College Station. Those two work as well when they get enough competition.

Played in dripping springs one time and hope we never go back. Beautiful facility but too damn far from where we live in the north brazos valley. Also, no rooms close by so you have to drive at least 30 minutes and like stated before, traffic in dripping springs sucks with all of the traffic lights. We usually stick with NCS and Ussa now and avoid the PG tournaments.

Good luck to all the boys and girls playing this weekend. And safe travels!!

Forgot to ask- how is the Dripping Springs facility on bringing in coolers for drinks & snacks?

They have someone walking around looking for them and will tell you to take it out.

TarponChaser said:

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Forgot to ask- how is the Dripping Springs facility on bringing in coolers for drinks & snacks?

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We have had both success and failure in the past. Be relatively discreet and you will probably fine. I lean towards begging for forgiveness over asking for permission

I can't find a link to the Perfect Game rules book. Trying to get clarification on pitch counts/innings before we start.

Anyone see a link to it or know the rule?

agsalaska said:

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I can't find a link to the Perfect Game rules book. Trying to get clarification on pitch counts/innings before we start.

Anyone see a link to it or know the rule?

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https://www.perfectgame.org/Events/Tournaments/PitchingRestrictions.aspx?event=69680

Thanks

Bumping this thread for the weekend. We finished first last weekend in temple, 9u USSSA. We also just got bumped up to AAA in USSSA this week. We are playing a NCS tournament in Ennis this weekend, looks like there should be some good teams there. Good luck to everyone this weekend.

Proud dad moment last night.

This is our first season of kid pitch and it is an absolute roller coaster. We only have one kid who is consistent, he has thrown 3 times and had success each one. Well multiple who have fallen flat both attempts and many with one good outing and one really bad.

Well my son had been in awful camp. I was to the point I wasn't planning to use him so as to not look biased to my own kid. Well at practice this week the other coach tells me he much he improved and that I needed to send him back out. (Sorry for the rambling)

Last night he went out, struck out the side in his first inning with only 16 pitches. Second inning the strike zone magically shifted but he still managed to strike out two and get a weak grounder to first to secure the W.

Kids are weird and really hard to figure out

Thats awesome.

Pitching is an incredibly stressful think for a 9 year old to deal with. The second you put a 9 year old on the mound he has done something more stressful than 90% of kids his age.

My son is 11 now and is an excellent pitcher. But he had to work very hard to overcome the anxiety that comes with the ups and downs of being on the mound. 9u and even a part of 10u was an emotional rollercoaster complete with tears, intense anger, overwhelming joy, and two mild anxiety attacks. Now he is as cool as a cucumber up there and wants nothing more than to make the batter regret coming to the plate.

He has done a lot in sports and outdoors stuff. But nothing made him mature more and build more confidence in himself than pitching.



Last year we were in a final in CS and he had thrown three scoreless innings. Extra innings they do the loaded base one out thing. He gets the first out then he forces a ground ball back to him and he threw it into right field. Lots of tears. But two weeks later on the same fields he pitched and won the semi final 2-1 and stole home to win the final. A week after that he threw a complete game gem(though they lost) against a majors team in Dallas. That three tournament run changed him for the better. I cant think of anything else at that age that could have that big of an impact.

Can anyone here recommend a good video camera for streaming games? It's hard for grandparents to travel to some of the tournaments and we are looking to do some streaming so they can watch.

Mevo

Thanks, we will check them out

I just my kid's phone and the GameChanger team manager app. It updates live with the game and cuts video clips for each kid. It's pretty useful as a coach to go back and look at clips and not have to search the whole game.

Can anyone recommend a position rotator app or excel program? Our coach is trying to do it on the fly and it is causing issues with us other coaches

What age group? I have a spread sheet where I pre plan each inning, this allow be to rotate then bench and positions and anyone can follow it to get kids out quick.

Only issue ive found this year in 9u is pre planning pitching.

8u coach pitch