Power Summer Collegiate League

Interesting.  I will add baseball as something to see in Palm Springs when I go, if I go in the summer (PS is on the bucket list).

Almost $2000 to play no more than 20 games.  (I only saw one player that played 20 games).  With travel plus food, it may be an option for those with means.  Schools where the players are from seem very 'diversified'. 

Since you are from LA, this may be a local option for you?

There isn’t any travel (all teams play in the same stadium), but yes there is an expense. Not sure that it is any more than traveling to Phoenix each weekend for high school! We are wondering about the quality of play?

Back in the days I used to play golf in Palm Springs during the summer.  Rates were about $12-$14 instead of the normal green fees $65-$90, thus a bargain.  Temps typically started in mid-upper 90's and rose to 110-120.  Golf was ok since sitting in cart majority of time with a cool wet towel around your head and neck, don't think you can do that trying to hit a baseball.  I was told yeah it's hot but a dry heat.  Still hot much like AZ in the summer.  Be prepared!

My son played a few years ago.  I can't really speak that much to the level of play as the only game we managed to catch was the all star game.  The guys in that game were good to very good, but my son indicated that the overall group was quite mixed and he would have liked to face a few more high-quality arms. He liked his coach, but the coach decided to divide the playing team equally, which he was not crazy about.  He liked he gym a lot.  I think he had fun -- probably too much fun -- living in the complex with other players, but note that it's not really as nice as pictured.   Decent location and close enough to restaurants, hotels with pools etc.  The Palm Springs stadium is very nice, but I think when he was there the all star game was the only one played there, other than when they did their pro day or whatever.   The games were at local parks or high schools.   As mentioned above it's important to understand that summer temperatures in PS range from torrid to nuclear. You don't want to be there, much less play baseball when it's nuclear.   Feel free to PM me if have any questions.

Weather report from Palm Springs—a balmy 108F! So we are spending the weekend catching a few games. 2021 is settled in after arriving a day late as CIF playoffs winded down. League is exactly as advertised—a pretty diverse mix of talent and lots of stories of how each player arrived at the league—some other summer leagues cancelled, a Canadian who couldn’t return home after college season ended (Covid!), and about half are local area players.

About 40-50% are JC players trying to get on board with a 4 year, the remainder are from every level trying to get a few at bats or IP. Roster size is about 23 without tremendous pitching depth, so games have averaged about 6 innings. 2 days on, 1 off with the occasional practice. All of the coaches are college assistants and 2021 likes his coach a lot. Games are in the morning—latest start is 12:30.

League has a very good web site with player bios and team and individual statistics. About half the games are played at the local stadium and those games are web streamed on youtube and the announcers do a nice job calling the game. Since they are on youtube I’ve been able to watch those games in the evening after work—a lot less stress than rushing home to make a high school game!

Players are housed in the local hotels. 2021 has 3 roommates, 1 is the other catcher from his team who is a year older, from a D1 and a good mentor. Players are responsible for their own meals; suite has a kitchen but not sure how much it is used! Pool, ping pong and access to a local gym take up the free time. A local collegiate team plays (Palm Springs Power) at the stadium so players sometimes go there in the evening to watch games. A couple of former teammates from travel ball live nearby so 2021 has been playing basketball at their high school gym as well.

We think it has been a valuable experience—son is having fun being on his own and we think the first 10 games or so were a good preparation for college by playing with college age players. So there is the full report from Palm Springs—Happy Independence Day everyone and good luck to all those players out there this summer!

My advice would be to hit the gym hard and get bigger faster and stronger and come into the season the best shape in his life. He will be competing with a bunch of "big hairy men" who have no intention of giving up "their" position to some "scrub freshmen".  If you are in Los Angeles there are plenty of places to get competitive games in other than in Palm Springs at 110degF.

My 2 cents that is worth exactly that. Best of luck.

That’s good advice, and certainly something to think about. We didn’t see the opportunity for games this summer, and high school was about 8 games short due to Covid, so this fit the bill for us. The rest of his incoming class is in a similar boat, and the class ahead of him had their college season cancelled, so we know it will be a competitive fall!

LA21 aren't you glad he went to balmy Palm Springs and not someplace torrid like Seattle or Portland?

@BOF posted:

My advice would be to hit the gym hard and get bigger faster and stronger and come into the season the best shape in his life. He will be competing with a bunch of "big hairy men" who have no intention of giving up "their" position to some "scrub freshmen".  If you are in Los Angeles there are plenty of places to get competitive games in other than in Palm Springs at 110degF.

My 2 cents that is worth exactly that. Best of luck.

The gym advice is worth more than 2 cents.  My son played in the same conference as LA21's son and the hitters are expected to be ready to mash. My kid went from leading his league in stolen bases in HS to leading his team in HR during his freshman year of college.  It took a lot of hard work at the gym and a lot of seconds and thirds in the dining hall.