Hamptons or Cal Ripken College Summer League

Not much help....but this is what I know:

Son has had high school and college team mates play in the Cal Ripken league and did well.  Keewartson was supposed to play in the Hampton's League last summer but wound up having surgery.  Manager of the league was very kind and we did get back a partial refund of the deposit.  Parents were very disappointed to cancel vacation plans in the Hamptons  

 

Both leagues offer host families from what I understand.

Not first hand knowledge, but looks like the environments are a little different with the Hamptons being more rural.  I personally would pick the Hamptons unless there was a compelling reason to go elsewhere (specific pitching coach, teammates, etc.) - sounds more like summer camp.  Probably not the typs of answer they are looking for so you maybe you can outline what some of their goals for the summer are (if any) and then folks might be able to say which would be the better fit.

Hampton League is far newer than the Cal Ripken League. The Hampton League is in part a spin off of the Atlantic Collegiate League (not completely but they do share a common heritage). The kids that we knew 6-8 years ago that played in the Cal Ripken League spoke highly of their experience. My son played in the Atlantic League and would not have gone back under any circumstances.

ILVBB, I'm going to respectfully disagree with you assessment of the Hampton league, which was only connected the the ACL for a four year period from 2010 - 2013. It is now it's own league and not affiliated with the ACL. And the only connection, at the time was they played a one game championship. There were no crossover games at all. The ACL was mostly filled with local players with an occasional player who needed a host family. 

 

My son played for the Southampton Breakers in 2011 (the summer after his freshman year in college). The league at the time consisted of 5 teams (now 8). None of the travel was more then 40 minutes and for all away games bus travel was provided for the players by a local sponsor - Hamptons Jitney. Most of the league was not local players and all out of the area players were provided host families. My son lived in a mansion, at no cost, in Watermill, NY (the next town to Southampton). His host family provided meals or meals were provided at the fields after games from local volunteers. A workout facility was provided by another local sponsor in downtown Southampton. Most of the players had cars and some host families provided them. Each team at the time did have a $400 fee (I figured it would have cost me more then that to have fed him for the time, if he was home).

 

Most of the players in the league were from mid major D1 schools, top D2 schools and occasional D3's. There were also some major conference type schools, but mostly younger players. They played 40 games plus playoffs. The season ran from early June to early August. There played between 5-6 games per week, plus some rainout doubleheaders (7 innings). I made it to about a dozen dates to see my son play.

 

He had a blast that summer and still keeps in touch with some of the players.About a dozen of the players on his team that year were drafted. On scout day he was seen by other summer leagues and had offers waiting for him when he showed up at school for the NECBL, Norwoods, and the Coastal Plains League. IMHO it was a very worthwhile league to have played in.

 

 

I'm stating the obvious but both leagues have websites with extensive info.  You can research cities, facilities, past player rosters, schedules, distances, etc.

I hesitated replying with the obvious earlier when I saw you were from the northeast - I have no info on the leagues but we owned a home in Montauk for 10 years and there is probably no place better to spend a summer for a college student than the Hamptons.  I saw birdman gave some positive info on the league experience so I figured I'd chime in with a positive vote for the Hamptons. 

Thanks for the replies. Cabbagedad I did check the websites but I don't think anything is better than 1st hand accounts. Especially Birdman's for me. My son will be playing in the Hamptons league but we didn't know much about it and my son didn't really have a say.  Just figured it's the Hamptons, how bad could it be. Lol My friend's son was given a 1st choice 2nd choice option.  She said the coach told her son that both were full but he would try to get him into one. Neither of us knew anything about the Ripken league so I figured this was the best place to ask. As always thanks for your help.

Makes sense.  You'll have to report back what he decides and why.  Hope your son enjoys the Hamptons!  My West Coast kid is headed back to NY for the PGCBL.  Not sure where you are in the NE but maybe you can give him a heads up on what to expect. 

My son played in the Cal Ripken league this past summer. I believe its a solid league, some teams/organizations better than others.  It is rounding into a competitive league with a good game every night. The talent was good to very good.  The travel is very reasonable although traffic in and around DC and Baltimore can at times be burdensome. The coaching was good for the most part. Only a couple of teams would I rather my son not play.  (I attended about 80% of games). My son would definitely play there again

 

hope that helps a little

Results vary widely by team, and host parents. In terms of competition when my son played the Cal Ripkin League had decent pitching.  The last thing you want to do is to send him to a team that doesn't treat the players right.  Often times players can figure this out in advance by talking to teammates that played for the team in the prior year.

Do players get to know players on the other teams very well?  Was wondering if you might not know a player for a particular team, could you ask a player from that league what they had heard about the the other teams in addition to his own?

Typically college teams send their players to particular summer teams with whom they have a relationship, thus your son's college teammates may already know about the potential team choices.  i.e. my son's college teammate told him his summer team assignment was good and even lined him up with the host family he liked. Teamates and opposition players do talk about stuff like this.

I'm wondering how feasible it is, really, to tell your college coach "no thanks" when he assigns you to a summer college team.  I am of the thought that if he tells you to go, you go.  I'd love to hear from others who have experienced something different.  I feel like I can definitely learn something in that arena.

The coach at my son's school tries to place players close to where they live if they want to play.It's not mandatory to play summer ball.Although he expects the players to come back in the fall in athletic shape.He was not able to place my son in SoCal last summer, so he found him a team in the Bay Area.My son stayed at the home of one of his college teammates(who was doing a summer internship with The Pittsburgh Pirates).

 

My son found a team here in SD County to play for next summer.The coach is fine with that.Oftentimes rising seniors will choose an excellent summer internship over one last summer of baseball, if the two are not compatible.They have no illusions of playing professionally and would rather use that time to prepare for the next chapter in their lives.They are not penalized by the coaching staff and are actually encouraged to explore any and all opportunities.

Thanks bobby...  would still be interested in hearing from others...

 

how feasible is it to tell your college coach "no thanks" when he assigns you to a summer college team?

 

Son is happy with assignment and this doesn't apply to us but the question comes to mind when there are so many inquiries here about summer leagues. 

 

What if there is negative feedback?  What are the player's options at that point?  Any experiences here where you knew the assignment wasn't the greatest or didn't fit going in?

My son played in the Hamptons League during the summer of 2014. He enjoyed it. Here are a couple of random observations:

 

--The crowds attending games range from none to modest.

 

--I understand the Montauk team is no longer--which is probably all for the best as the location, though incredible, is furthest away and, in my son's experience, never had more than 15 observers attending a game.

 

--Some families who would like to visit to see their son play--namely those who have modest means--will find it difficult to find affordable lodging (either a rental or hotel/motel) in a resort region where modest homes nowhere near the beach rent for lofty sums and where resorts have hefty in-season rates.

 

--The competition is the equivalent of a solid low-to-mid major program.

--Games are played on high school or municipal fields; quality is decent.

slotty - can you provide any comments about the daily life of the players?  Do they get  much opportunity to take in the local flavor - maybe some beach time on Sundays?  I think the setting would be perfect, but I may be thinking more about myself (old) and less about a 19 yo baseball player.  Any comments on the host family situation?