LakePoint

So you thought your daughter should be free while you had no problem with parking then paying for admission?
Also, you didnt have to pay for meals and lodging for the weekend so that makes it a bit easier on the pocketbook.
JMO

The point of charging for parking is the convenience of being able to park within a reasonable walking distance to the park, the parking fee is worth that.  The point of charging me at the gate is to have the privilege of seeing my son play baseball on a beautiful field at a beautiful park, admission price is worth that.  It is my choice on whether or not to buy anything at the concession stand.  The point of charging a 4 or a 5 year old is.....um.....I'm at a loss?  She wasn't watching the game, she wasn't using the batting cages, she wasn't enjoying a playground...so...yeah, I thought she should have been free. JMO

So you are saying parents only should pay...not siblings?
Never heard of that one.

I have seen many parks allow 10 and under for free.   I think if it is a facility were letting younger ones for free does not compromise seating or anything that could take away from a paying customer.  LP should realize that if they are going to have 10 year tourney's or 12 year whatever the case may be that a lot of their patrons are going to have younger ones.

 

However I do not think this should be a license for a free baby sitter... I do not feel LP should be spending time tracking down lost children.

We had 5 families on our team that paid for young children...two of which were still in pull ups!  I think 10 and under being free would have been appropriate, and yes I have been to those kind of tourneys as well.

My son played 17U last year.  He played at Grand Park in Indy, the Univ of Cincinnati, Univ of Miami, Vandy, Belmont, Northern Kentucky, Kent State...and LakePoint. He's played at Notre Dame, the Univ of Michigan and Ohio State in the past.   I never once considered it an issue to pay for admission.  Those fields are expensive to build....and the tourneys don't get to use them for free. If you don't like it....it's real simple, play on a team that doesn't go to those kinds of places.  Once you play a weekend tourney on horrible HS fields that don't get mowed...or worse yet, aren't even drug and lined, you'll realize that paying to see your kid play at some of the places I mentioned above really isn't a big deal. 

I am not advocating that adults do not pay... small children and babies... I have ran and been involved in many many tourney's and from my exp..... you would rather have two paying adults than one paying adult while the other adult sits in the car , stays outside and watches the younger one.

It's about being reasonable.  In most commercial tournaments (those not run by a team organization, HS, etc.) there is a gate fee.  It is either included in the tournament cost or paid at the door.  If it is paid at the door, children under a certain age should get in free.  Otherwise, a family with several small ones could be out 25-30 bucks just to see little Johnny play his 12u tournament.  IMO, that's gouging. 

 

We attended a tournament at Grand Park in Indy.  Nice place.  Expensive to build.  Grandpa drove a few hours to see the kid play.  When he arrived at the gate and they wanted to charge him full price, so he asked about a senior rate.  After a few minutes of friendly conversation, they took good care of him for the weekend.  That's accommodation. 

Funny you mentioned Grand Park.  They have their posted "weekend" rate...but if you ask nicely, (Senior or young kids) they'll almost always give you a break.  Also, my in-laws are older....and the parking lots can be quite a distance from the field.  They have carts available.  Heck, the HS kid driving the cart was waiting for them after our game ended to return them to their car....never even had to ask.  Top notch facility....and it's great to finally get something like that here in the "North"...lol

CaCO3girl,

 

Perfect Game (us) are in charge of the gate, not LakePoint.

 

I'm glad you brought this up, because it is definitely a mistake.  Our policy is under 14 kids are free.  It has been that way for years.  This year we are starting senior citizens half price at the gate.  If you are a senior citizen tell them at the gate, otherwise it will be full price.  They might ask, but not all senior citizens look like senior citizens.  

 

I believe what happened was our gate for youth was established based on high school pricing.  Not sure why we did that, but we did. I can understand why some might view this as gouging, in fact I view it as gouging myself and apologize.  This was not done on purpose and it won't happen again.  Once again it helps when we hear about concerns that people have.  Please understand there are things we can fix and there are some things completely out of our control.

 

Anyway, don't know how to take care of your situation or others that might have experienced the same thing.  Ideas are welcome.  I do know that moving forward all events will be consistent. Under 14 are free, senior citizens are half price.

 

I have no problem with these type complaints because they actually end up helping.  We should know everything that is going on, but sometimes different departments aren't aware of everything.  Our goal is certainly not to piss everyone off and ignore every complaint.  It is not possible for our organization to be the cheapest, but we don't have any desire to gouge people.  We don't work out of our house, start a website, and run showcases and tournaments part time.  We actually want to be the very best at what we do and that can't be done cheaply.

Thank you PGStaff, it's nice to be heard :-)  FYI, the same rules applied for our games held at ECB, $3 for three and over, $5 for adults.

 

Even with the glitch in charging for the young ones it was the BEST baseball experience my 12u has had, so thank you!

We are also responsible for East Cobb and all other places. It will be under 14 free, senior citizens half price everywhere we play.

 

Thanks for bringing this up and for the nice things you have said.

Having followed this thread since the start, I've wanted to jump in several times.  

 

FWIW - My son has always been very good at baseball but he is not a top 10 kid; in fact he's what most people would call "a grinder" - day in and day out he does the work and puts in the time. He doesn't perform particularly well at showcase events, but he loves playing the game! Will he play for a top 20 D1 program? No, but he will play college baseball somewhere? If he wants to - absolutely.

 

I started with this because he is not the kid that will have 30 scouts looking at him at a PG event.  But he is the kid who could be playing at a PG event when there are 30 scouts watching the game - as in last year's PG World Series 16U when, late in the game with the score tied, he ripped an oppo single with 2 outs and 2 strikes to drive in the go-ahead run vs a 90+mph certain 1st rounder and a national powerhouse team! Wow - was that electric!

 

I mention the above because part of the reward for his hard work is the gift of playing with guys from all over the country against guys from all over the country and the absolute best venue/value for that has been - PG events.  I have met Jerry, Betty and their sons, I'm sure none remembers me or my son and that's just fine, they are running a huge operation, impacting thousands of young men over the years. I can say that I've observed that they are honest, hardworking and IMO, an american success story.  Running such a large enterprise takes capital, lots of capital.  There are a multitude of ways that they could price things and I'm sure when they design their business plans they take into account various revenue generators and profit centers. I have no problem with any of PG's (LP included) methods of revenue generation.

 

I'v been to WWBA 15U, 16U, and will be 17U twice (after this July) with my son.  The times that we've had together, the times that my son has had with his coaches and teammates, the time that he's had making new friends and saying hello to old competitors. These times are (hating to be cliche, but this is true)... simply - priceless.

 

Am I made of money? Hell no.  Did my wife and I sacrifice somewhat of our future retirement to fund our son's baseball dreams? Yes. Will it result in him being able to leverage baseball into a better academic school than he would've gotten into without baseball? We sure hope so - and most importantly...so does he!  

 

You know what I'm not doing this summer?  I'm not worrying about the damn parking fee, or the gate fee or the concessions prices.

 

What I will be doing this summer, is watching my son play baseball, wherever his team is scheduled to play, getting to spend time with him during his last summer before he graduates from HS and saying thank you again - in person - to the Ford's for creating an environment where I can have this kind of experience with my son.

Can anyone tell me if the games played at lakepoint are available via streaming video or the like?  My son is playing in the 14u tournament on the 19th and we would like to watch the games.  Unfortunately traveling cross country was not an option for his mother and I.

deuces wild,

 

That is definitely in the future plans. Unfortunately it is not set up yet.  Guess GameChanger is the best option for now to follow the games.  Sorry

 

dadof2016player,

 

I can't tell you how much I appreciate your kind words. We are extremely lucky to have some very talented hard working people with us.  

 

22 years ago I was a college coach and at that time I knew nothing about business.  Now I know a little, but the actual business part of PG is handled by business people.  I often joke that if I were in charge of everything, the IRS might have put me behind bars. Truth is we probably wouldn't have made it that far because I would have given everything away, just like when we first started.

 

I have had the opportunity to meet many great business people through our sponsors and partners, MLB executives, etc.   I have no problem telling them all that I HATE business. I only put up with it because I love baseball and I know what we do has helped so many young kids.  Sometimes I just sit back and wonder why I have been blessed with this experience.  I truly believe had we got involved in this to make a lot of money, we would have failed a long time ago.

 

Anyway, I am far from special, but it means a lot when people like you take the time to say nice things. Thanks. I sincerely hope your son gets what he wants. If you don't mind, I would like to know who he is. Maybe you could send me a message.

Deuces:  If you know some of the other parents, you could always ask them to Periscope it to you.  It's an app that will allow video streaming, which can be shared with specific users (or shared with everybody).  Runs on iOS or Android.

PG - I sent you a DM. Thanks again.

http://www.nwgabaseball.org/sn...c.asp?TOPIC_ID=46854

 

So, do players get charged to park if they're alone, and how far away do I have to be dropped off to avoid a trespassing citation?  Is walking to LakePoint considered defacto trespassing?

 

Guess I'll find out for sure tomorrow...

 

(And I have e-mailed LP to see if I can get a response from them.)

Love Grand Park

we played there last yr and many college coaches were there to watch games. Workers ride around in golf carts, son mentioned it would be a great place to work in Summer. 

 

We play at LP later today (and for the next 5 days) and son & I are both excited.  The whole thing is expensive, but we knew that going in and could have opted out of the trip.  I have several close friends who are deeply involved in "kid" baseball and not one of them is making a fortune.  Am I excited about $5 for parking, no, but it's not at all unreasonable (come on, MLB parking is $20+) and I'm not sure where it is in the LP or PG info, but I knew before I left home.  It takes money to build facilities and money to run tournaments and I am grateful that both PG & LP are providing great venues & competition.  We all know they will hang up their cleats one day and as long as mine plays I will enjoy it, no matter where or how much.

I have been on this board for many years and this is the most depressing thread I have ever seen.  We, as families, choose to play travel ball.  I tell parents all the time to be careful before you enter this adventure.  The costs and time are overwhelming.  WE are not made to attend these events but choose to attend these events.  If you do not like the costs of an event, the answer is simple.  Don't attend.  When I go to a sporting event, I expect to pay certain fees, but I check it out ahead of time.  It is clearly posted that LP charges parking fees, that is the cost of playing at one of the best facilities in the nation.  If you don't want to play on turf, don't go but also don't send your son to college because you don't get to decide where they play.  If you want the best exposure that PG offers, go to their events.  This thread has moved from concerns to just downright griping. 

I understand the costs but again we choose to go with our sons and enjoy the moments with them.  If you can't afford it, then don't go or send your sons.

 

This is not aimed at any particular poster but just the situation at hand.

I have read all of the posts on this thread, but have not replied. After giving a lot of thought, this is my response FWIW. I do. It know Jerry Ford personally. I have never met not spoke to him. But, he ABSOLUTELY has a part in the success my son has experienced. I will apologize up front. None of this is to bring attention to my son. I assure you our story is not unique.
We live in a very small town in South Georgia. My son has played baseball, really all sports since he was 5. I always knew he was very athletic and talented. We played local Dixie Youth baseball through 12 or so. We did a little "travel" baseball around age 10 which amounted to tourneys that were within a couple hours drive. My son loved this at that age because he got to stay in hotels. Even then, I struggled with the "Is this worth the cost" argument. My wife hated that all of our vacations were centered around baseball. We were first introduced to Perfect Game at 15. We played on a regional travel team that was coached by a former big league player. We went to East Cobb and beat some very prominent teams. That kinda got our name out in the baseball community. Well, unfortunately,that team disbanded. The coach loved the kids but hated dealing with parents. At 16, son played for a somewhat larger organization, but was still what I consider a regional team. He got his first college interest after the schools pitching coach watched him throw one inning. The coach was there to watch another kid. He had absolutely no idea who my son was. That fall, son was invited to a state all star game that happened to be played on the campus of the school that showed the first interest. After the event, they could recruit him because he was on their campus. From his performance at that event, he was invited to play with one of the top travel programs in the country. He had started to get what I would say was a moderate amount of interest from some large in-state D1 programs. These were very exciting times for us. We had no idea what was on the horizon. July after his junior year, his life changed in the span of a week. His team played in the 18U PG WWBA and the next week in the 17U PG WWBA. I couldn't take off 2 consecutive weeks of work, so I scheduled it to where I could make the finals of the 18U and then see a couple of pool games in the 17U. I'm following the 18U on gamechanger. I'm at lunch and see a pitching change is made in 6th. Sons name pops up. Great!  2 Ks and groundouts I think. Well he doesn't come back for 7th. I thought that was odd but oh well. When I get to Atlanta the next day, son is bursting its excitement. That one inning changed his life. He hit 92 that day and he was pulled because there was a pro scout there that wanted his information. He was invited to Syracuse, NY to East Coast Pro Showcase. There were several major D1 schools there recruiting some of his teammates. We got a lot of "who the hell is this kid. How have we never heard of him" comments. Just a couple days (actually nights) later, he was scheduled for a start in the 17U.  There were close to 50 college recruiters and pro scouts there for a 9pm start!  After that outing, son was offered by multiple major D1 programs. He was offered and accepted a very good scholarship by his dream school. That outing was the only time the pitching coach had ever seen son throw in competition. Son knew he would be there, which only added to dads stress. While I apologize for the length of this post, I just think sons story and journey may have some meaning to someone else. It is very difficult to get "discovered" when you are from a small town. Obviously your son has to have the talent, but if no one is there to see it, what does it matter. Jerry Ford played an integral part in my sons baseball career. He doesn't know me or my son. But, I will always be grateful for Perfect Game. Would my son have played college ball without PG?  Almost certainly. Would he be playing for his current program without PG?  Almost certainly not!!  One day I will meet and shake Jerry Fords hand and look him in the eye and tell him thank you. He gave a dream to a small town kid.

I will add one more point to my above chapter. Jerry has stated on here multiple times that their venues are not for everyone. But, if you son has the requisite tools, I cannot imagine their is a better organization to have your son attend. There are others out there, but in my opinion, none do it better than PG. Yes East Coast Pro was awesome and I am certain Area Codes are as well. But your son has to be identified to get that invitation. There is also a lot to be said by playing against the best competition. My son has competed with and against probably 100 kids that he will face again in college and hopefully in pro ball. While there are a lot of costs involved, I will echo the poster above when saying for us the journey was "priceless".

I don't think anyone was claiming that PG doesn't run a great tournament. To the contrary I know I said they run the best tournaments and that Lakepoint is a beautiful place. However, that doesn't mean that as customers, which is what we are, that we cannot or should not be able to criticize. To be told we should know better than to question being charged at every turn is a bit unfair and condescending.

       
       

You silly goose.   You should just bend over and take it! 
Hopefully they provided people to run the scoreboards because at our PG sponsored event I had to do it for two of our games.

To update my experiences so far...

 

Kudos to the PG gate employees on Sunday afternoon who gave me no hassle at all about leaving my all tournament pass at home and did not charge me to see my son's game that day. It's been my experience that PG employees are customer oriented in ways that very few service business employees are these days, and that includes PGStaff here.

 

General observations and criticisms from the long weekend of baseball so far:

 

Outside food and drink rules are enforced for visible food at the gate, but as near as I can tell pretty much not at all anywhere else.  People covertly bring in pretty much everything.  This probably has a lot to do with concession prices (including charging for ice if it's not for an injury, apparently). I've seen plenty of people with items that are expressly prohibited like sunflower seeds, and I've seen at least one coach and one PG employee with tobacco.

 

Literally every adult I've spoken with (and I often chat up opposing team parents) is unhappy with the parking situation (and I don't bring it up first).  Most also do not know that players do not pay to park (which I have been sharing when it comes up). Concession prices are a common topic as well, especially given that there's a chick-fil-a up the street now.

 

People are parking outside of the baseball complex, at the chick-fil-a (on Sunday when it was closed, at least) and at the other LP venues that don't charge for parking. This will probably lead to people getting towed at some point, and the consequent acrimony.

 

No one from LP has responded to my inquiries regarding the parking situation, I'd be happy to get contact info for the right person from anyone here who has it.

 

I have witnessed rather distressed conversations between LP parking employees and management/security, which I can only assume is the result of teenage employees having to take the brunt of whatever ire the adult patrons are giving them.  I know of adults who are paying in pennies as a passive-aggressive form of protest.

 

Players and parents alike are not big fans of the turf, especially midday in 90+ temps. If it's being cooled, it's not working that well. We haven't had any rain, so perhaps people would have a different opinion if games that would otherwise be getting canceled on grass fields were getting played thanks to the turf.

 

Sliding on the turf seems quite dangerous, not sure how this stuff compares to HS or college fields that are turf, but guys are generally sliding much farther than they expect to, which has led to some collisions that might not otherwise happen (and probably got one coach ejected on a DP I witnessed).  Also saw one kid that managed to stick his slide somehow (headfirst) in a way that looked awfully painful.  That might have just been poor technique on his part, I don't know.

 

I'm sure the lights are super high-tech and all, but I've heard a few players comment about the glare being weird.  Maybe just because they're not used to them, I suppose, and the fields do seem much better lit than the typical HS field.

 

Semi-odd scenario today, but my son's team had an 8am start time on a field where the fielders were looking directly into the rising sun with the field next to theirs open and not subject to that problem.  Given the setup of the facility this is likely to be a problem on a couple of fields every day at sunset/sunrise, which might ought to be accounted for in scheduling games.  I heard that one ump halted play for half an hour on one field for a late afternoon/early evening game due to the sun setting directly in his (and the batters and catchers) eyes.

Apparently today's 8am scoreboard operator shift didn't show up on one set of fields. We didn't have a fully functioning scoreboard until the 3rd or 4th inning (and basically nothing at all for the first couple).

 

Ironically, we've had really good luck with scoreboards being manned at HS locations the last couple of weeks, which is far from typical.

Well I have a complaint. I got sunburned. Now this wasn't at a PG event it was while I was mowing but seriously can't PG do something about how hot the sun is during the summer.

I am 1000 miles away from Lakepoint right now, but I would gladly pay too much to park if I was watching some baseball today.

Jacjacatk, you were probably on the field today that we had yesterday for the first game.  Sun was a problem, but the boys didn't complain.  Scoreboard was fine until 5th and then it quit completely until bottom of 7.  The radar gun seemed oddly off, too.  Nothing that made any real difference.  Love to know time/field y'all play tomorrow.  It'd be fun to see another HSBBW kid play

I would like to give a shout out to the fabulous PG staff that's been here.  I lost my wallet somewhere in the 5 states we crossed to get here and only had about $100 in cash until I could get more today.  Not easy to feed a player on that for 3 days!  I explained to the sweet girls at the window when I got here Friday and they kindly cleared me through the gate everyday.  Today, as promised, I went to buy a tournament pass and they again nicely said to just worry about a $10 day pass and not pay the full $40.

Umpires have been good, concessions people have been good, bathrooms are clean and my kid hasn't even complained about the artificial mounds (which he usually hates.)

Clearly PG & LP staff are well trained, considerate and professional.  I totally appreciate being here this week.  Somehow I don't think Lubbock is going to go quite as nicely in two weeks!

Radar guns on the scoreboard were high today in the beginning, but then seemed to get fixed.  PG rep said something about a foul ball hitting one of the pieces of equipment and throwing things out of whack.  Also, FWIW, readings they report on the scoreboard don't appear to be the same ones that go on PG website, though they're generally only 1-2mph different when there are differences. I'm anecdotally convinced that readings on the newer fields are slightly faster than those on the ones that were completed for last season, not that it matters all that much in the long run.

 

My son's not a fan of the mounds either, and says they seem to be wearing down at the rubbers pretty quickly, but he does grudgingly admit they're better than a crappy dirt mound (of which there are plenty at local HS fields).  He's spoiled by getting to play HS ball mostly on pretty well kept fields, and those he definitely prefers to the turf.

CanyonsMom,

 

We are just normal people. So we treat nice people nice and bad people not so nice.

 

Actually, we try to treat everyone nice, but sometimes that isn't enough.

 

Thanks for the kind words.

I can't tell if this is supposed to be a swipe...

 

I would think that constructive criticism, combined with a sense of the mood of the people I've spoken with, would be something that LP/PG would be interested in.  LP hasn't responded to me at all, so I'm left to assume they don't care about the issues mentioned here that much.

 

You have responded, and I commend you for giving PGs and/or your perspective on the issue.  You've been nothing but a positive influence here with regards to how many people view PG and any issues that arise with PG, and every PG employee I've dealt with has been the same.  That doesn't change the fact that there are some, IMO, valid criticisms here that I don't think are necessarily being taken seriously and/or in the constructive vein in which they were intended (whether by LP or PG).

 

Talk to the spectators at these events, and you'll find that most of them don't distinguish PG from LP, and even if they do what LP decides on policy issues still reflects on PG in those spectators minds.

 

FWIW, a PG staff member expressed his opinion to a group of fans at one game that he preferred the games he did at East Cobb, because the parking was free, concessions were cheaper, and coolers were allowed in.  If he thinks that, what do you think the typical fan thinks?

My son took a team to LP a few weeks back in a PG tourney. We met some of the teams parents last weekend.  I asked how they they felt about the facility, the field, BASEBALL HEAVEN, they had NO complaints.

They also didnt know that Perfect Game was involved with the Park.

Not everyone has issues.

I don't know how that's possible given the giant PGs everywhere, but maybe it's a local thing. I do spend the majority of my time with GA parents, most of whom are local to ATL and/or EC, and many of whom have lots of history with PG/EC events prior to LP opening. For lots of them, they're on their 2nd or 3rd go round with a ballplayer in the system.

I am glad that your son's team had a great time...No one is saying that everyone in the park is running around miserable with their hair on fire. I think the vast majority of the criticisms are about some of the excessive fees and food costs. Yes that has to with LP and not directly PG but unfortunately PG is taking the brunt of that. I feel bad for the kids who are having to take the complaints from parents. That's not fair.  This forum is a great place for baseball parents to interact with PG Staff to give feedback to the company and see if there are things that could be better...No one on this thread has tried to say LP or PG are bad guys and aren't allowed to make money. Hell, I hope they make as much money as they possibly can.  However, as a customer it does get tedious to be nickel and dimed to death when those fees could be put into the team's entry fee.  My issue is with those that say "well you signed up for this and knew this coming in so just shut up and take it" I don't think any of those folks would do that in any other part of their lives so its no different here.  Yes, they could possibly give you some exposure but coaches don't just sit there game after game hoping a prospect shows up...not how it happens.  They come if they have a kid that they want to see.  They may end up liking another kid that is playing in that game but they have an agenda of who they are looking at.  PG does provide this venue but it is by no means the reason why a kid might get recruited.  And blindly paying anything that is asked of you just because it's baseball and PG doesn't strike me as something others would do in any other part of their lives when it comes to spending money.

Parking is $5 per car for the day.  Players park for free if driving themselves.  Players may also be granted free parking if they are commuting with teammates.  Non-teammates will be asked to pay to park.  If a player is driving a non-teammate, payment for parking is required.

Above is from the LP website, recently updated.

 

This is silly.  Players park free, using one parking space.  If they bring paying gate customers in the same car, they have to pay $5, using no more parking spaces than if they were alone.

 

I need someone to explain to me how there's any logical reason this makes sense beyond we can charge you $5 if we want to add to our bottom line.

I don't understand the confusion.  It's an entertainment venue.  Entertainers and other employees don't pay to park or get in.  Spectators do.

 

If your son works at a water park and you want to go for the day and drop him off at the same time, you would pull up and drop him off, he would get in free with his employee pass and you would go back out to the main parking lot and pay for your parking and entrance fee.

 

If your son was a singer performing at a music venue and you wanted to watch him perform, same routine. 

 

Do you think there should be special privileges for parents of players? If so, the paying audience would shrink in a hurry for these baseball events. 

I'm sorry but you are a complainer and travel ball probably isn't for you.  ;o)
You probably complain about the high cost of food in the airport.  Lol

And blindly paying anything that is asked of you just because it's baseball and PG doesn't strike me as something others would do in any other part of their lives when it comes to spending money.




       

I went to Lake Lanier Islands this weekend with my wife because it was her birthday and she wanted to be by the water for the day. We paid $10 to park, then $10 each to get in the beach. So, LP is not the only venue that does this. If you go to a Braves game, you pay to park in their lot and pay for a ticket to get in.

And I still can't believe there is this much discourse for a $5 parking fee.  If you play every one of your games at LP, it's a total of $30 - and that is highly unlikely. I think this issue has worn itself out...