Cooperstown Dreams Park — Local services in Town of Hartwick

A very well-run operation, albeit, not perfect. Nevertheless, pretty good considering 104 teams and however many spectators there were. Review from an umpire for one week.

Food (in the Village): Not great. I guess to be expected since they're feeding ~1000 people/meal, but could be better. Not total slop, but there are better options off-site if you're willing to leave. 3/5 stars.

Staff: Amazing. They've all clearly done this a million times, and they run a well-oiled machine. Everyone was friendly, and they make it all run seamlessly. 5/5 stars.

Barracks: Tight, cramped, no privacy. I can only imagine how much tighter is must be for the teams with people on the top and bottom. I also recommend bringing a power strip or something to be able to charge your phone. Outlets can be scarce. Good bunkmates are important as well, try and find a good cabin without drama. 2/5 stars.

Bathrooms/Showers: Not the cleanest, but not bad. Bring yuor own shampoo if you want that, or soap if you want your own (soap is provided). Towels not provided, bring your own. 3/5 stars.

Complex: Very gorgeous, with an amazing location a mere 15 minutes from the Hall of Fame. Although: it is big, so be prepared to walk, although I understand there are golf carts if someone needs a ride. Clean as well. 5/5 stars.

Viewing Areas: Some fields have hills that you can watch from. Others just have the designated viewing areas, which are inside the diamond itself. Although watch out for foul balls, since you have no way of seeing any come from other fields. 4/5 stars.

Fields: Well-kept, although batters' boxes are not painted onto fields, which did lead to one dispute about someone being out of the batter's box. All fields are 200 ft. fences at 8 ft. heights, so with travel ball bats get ready for a LOT of homers. And I mean, it's all singles and homers. I did 5 games and saw 2 doubles throughout, no triples. So expect a lot or nothing. But the fields are all nice and all have livestream cameras. 4/5 stars.

Competition: This varies a LOT. Some teams are put together just for this tournament, others are just there to have fun and see the Hall. As such, lots of teams are mismatched and you see lots of blowouts (run rule is 12 after 4). Beware of this happening. 3/5 of my games were mercy rules, and I saw plenty more watching games throughout the week. But the good games were real good.

Umpire Experience: The games were all fun to do, even the blowouts. Everyone was nice to me, although umpiring here really does cater to being a returnee. The Baseball Ops people don't make a lot of things clear (ie. where to go for opening ceremony, where to go to be picked up by golf cart to go to games). And they will get mad at you if you don't follow stringent uniform requirements (navy blue undershirt, CDP ball bags, CDP polo, etc.) and other regulations (don't go to field without your partner, even if you're watching a different game). Not the friendliest bunch either. Rest of the umpire staff (at least, the ones I met) were nice though. They do give you two CDP polos, ballbags, hat, a plate brush, and a CDP navy blue t-shirt. That's all for you to take home, which is nice. Golf cart rides to and from the fields are nice and quick. Make sure you know where you are going to be picked up. Pin trading is also fun, expect to be asked several times if you have any pins. Kids seem to love that. Although I will warn you: the park does not pay you for games (even though they have more than enough money). That burden falls on the teams. So, if you get a team you don't previously know, be ready to ask them for money. I didn't have this problem, but be warned. Overall: 3/5 stars for the experience. I am glad I did it. Good teams and a good time.

All in all, I am glad I did this. I'd be lying if I said I enjoyed every single moment, but it was a positive experience. All the kids and parents I talked to said they were having a great time, and in the end, that's what...

In some ways Dreams Park lives up to its billing. Yes, my son and his team had a great time, played lots of baseball, traded pins, and created lifelong memories. But the company that runs this tournament (under new management in recent years) is deficient in several critical areas--competition, safety, and amenities--and needs to make some changes.

Competition: There were about 80 teams playing the week we attended, with top-ranked national club teams competing against teams that are basically still playing at Little League level. Some of the "kids" were HUGE! The starting pitcher in the championship game was throwing 80+ MPH.

The tournament should create divisions--for example, AA, AAA, and Majors--as other tournaments do (or at least create majors & minors divisions). It would be a lot more enjoyable and competitive for all the teams to play against teams at one's level than to have nationally ranked teams dominate the younger/weaker teams.

Safety: The lack of multiple divisions also contributes to safety problems at Dreams Park. Because the 12U tournament is held in the summer (after the May 1 age cutoff), many 13-year-olds do play against 11-year-olds. The difference in size, skill and strength among these players can be significant. There are no bat restrictions (other than no wooden bats), which is crazy and creates highly unsafe conditions for playing on small fields. The exit velo off some of the bats was scary. One of our younger players (though plenty skilled and experienced) took a ball to the face and lost several teeth. It was horrifying and made us all (including the opposing team) just sick to the stomach. Turns out that serious injuries like this (especially to the head) occur frequently at Dreams Park--as the ER doctors at the local hospital will tell you.

The park does not have an ambulance unit on site (I heard they used to). Instead, they rely on staff "medics" who respond (pretty slowly) on golf carts. They did not respond adequately or quickly enough to the injury we all witnessed. Parents were freaking out as he lay bleeding on the field and we waited for the medics. When the medic cart arrived, they tried to get the injured player to walk off the field on his own--even though he couldn't. They then took him to their first aid center where it took at least 45 min before they called an ambulance. One person working in first aid center didn't even know how to call for an ambulance. Inexcusable--not to mention a total legal liability.

Amenities: In addition to needing to have an ambulance unit on scene and more qualified first aid workers, the park really needs to improve the food services for the kids. Food was generally poor quality (see other reviews) and often was unavailable following late games. Meal workers told our coaches "Well, you should have eaten before your game." DP prohibits outside food, so parents had to check out the whole team to take them to get them a decent meal. There's no excuse for this given the $2K parents are paying for their kids.

The concession food was awful, too. After placing my order, they plunked down a 2-hour old piece of pizza on the counter. It looked like plastic, and I told them I didn't want to eat that. I had already paid, though, and they wouldn't even refund me. Never ate there again after that.

Some of the staff were helpful--such as the cart drivers. But many of the staff were not very knowledgeable. Several said "it's my first week here" when we asked them pretty basic questions.

Parents have to run the scoreboard themselves. When the scoreboard controller broke, the staff couldn't figure out the problem. One of the dads on our team ended up fixing it himself.

In short, families considering the CDP tournament should go into the process with eyes wide open. Many, many people told me that it is not the same tournament it was 10 years ago under Coach Lou, the...

Just leaving tournament today. Don’t expect the hype to be realized. But expect a good experience for your kid. Consider alternatives.

You will probably end up going, but be prepared. It’s odd and apparently going down hill. One of the longtime umps even told us that the quality has gone down since being sold. A few things to keep in mind.

The team that won was a national team put together only to win this tournament. Amazing team and those kids were the best. But Championship game was 15-1 and ended in 4 innings. The team that lost, The Bombers team from California, deserve to be winners IMO and I hope they realize the accomplishment. They were the most competitive team vs 98 percent of the other 103 teams present. National teams should play in appropriate tournaments, not a coming of age 12u tournament as marketed.

Teams that hit win. As much as the 190 ft fields may excite you for the home runs, there is a price. it’s just not competitive baseball. There are no doubles or triples. Only singles and home runs. For 50/70 ball players the fields are just too small. It’s novelty baseball. But when your kid hits a homer you can pay 50 per ball to have it engraved. At 2k per player, this should given.

Health and welfare. Poor. They do not provide a water source for kids in 95° temperature. Instead charge five dollars for a bottle of water and don’t even recycle.

Showers. Weird, creepy, and my kid said “felt like someone was watching me”. I’m sure they were fine but he was a bit Sketched.

For the amount of money they pull in I think it’s time to provide a shower option that is private enough to not “require” a kid to wear a bathing suit.

Fairness. They love their rules, but there are no consistent rules for sportsmanship. They will ban a kid from the tournament for the slight flip of a dropped bat, but let a team’s kids run wild at 3am preventing the same kid from sleeping.

Overall the hype does not meet the experience. The quality does not match the cost. But most kids don’t realize it. So do it, but set the bar low. The best part was being able to participate with an amazing team and group of parents. The time with them was worth the cost.

Just keep in mind that there is another tournament in town, All Star Village. Read other reviews from people who have done both. Dreams Park is not the...