A couple of weeks ago, my sons youth baseball team went to the Youth Baseball Nationals in Kentucky. It was an amazing experience for both the kids playing and the parents watching. If you are considering sending your child’s team to the Kentucky Youth Baseball Nationals, then here is what to expect.
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THE YOUTH BASEBALL NATIONALS IN KENTUCKY
The first day, which is a Friday, all the families need to be at the ballpark for registration and opening ceremonies. Watching your child walk through the field with his team and their banner truly is an awesome experience. Of course, if you know me, you know I was tearing up. I just can’t help myself sometimes. They announced the team as they were walking through.
The next four days of the tournament are pool play. Now I am not exactly all-knowing when it comes to any sports, so I didn’t have a clue what pool play was. If you are a little lost when it comes to the baseball terminology, as I, this means the teams play each other to determine which seed they are. So over the course of the next four days they will play five games guaranteed. This will determine where they stand when it comes to final elimination games. In the four days they are there, the team will get one day off.
On your day off there are many things to do. Just for signing the team up in the Youth Baseball Nationals, the kids get free admission to Kentucky Kingdom and also the Louisville Slugger Museum. The family has the option of purchasing discounted tickets in advance for Kentucky Kingdom. If you plan to go to the park, I highly recommend getting the tickets ahead.
Kentucky Kingdom is an amusement park. One part of the park is roller coasters and the other section of the park is a water park. The temperature was in the nineties most of the time we were there, so we definitely took advantage of the water park. When we needed a break from the sun, they had some really cute shows for the family.
The kids also get free admission to the Louisville Slugger Museum. The parents have to pay for themselves but I thought it was reasonable and a very interesting tour. Then, at the end of the factory tour, everyone received a free mini bat. My son and my husband were able to pick from their favorite team and hold a game used baseball bat.
Since we are from Wisconsin, they chose the Brewers and they got to hold Robin Younts game used bat. There was also a gift shop where you could purchase a personalized bat (which of course my son and husband both had to have).
After our day off, the elimination games started. Unfortunately for my sons team, they were eliminated the first game. They still had a great time playing though. Since the game was earlier, we had the whole day to hang out at the pool or whatever anyone wanted to do. My husband stayed back at the hotel with our son and our friends kids and three of us went to tour Jim Beam. That was a very interesting tour to see how they make bourbon.
At the end of that tour we got to sample from any of their bourbons or whiskeys of your choice (up to three). Needless to say, I can’t handle hard alcohol. I ended up giving my third sample to my friends husband. That was a blast! Watching us trying to drink straight whiskey was quite a sight.
Finally, we come to our last day of the trip. We had the morning to sleep in a little since the championship game started at one o’clock in the afternoon. At four o’clock they had skills challenges for the kids. There were catching challenges and another challenge where the kids have to throw the ball around to different positions to see how quick they can be. After this is all done, they choose 1-2 players from each team to play in an all-star game. To sum up the week they have closing ceremonies and every kid that played in the tournament got a ring.
In conclusion, this was one of my sons favorite vacations he has ever been on. There was definitely plenty to do when baseball wasn’t happening and the baseball complex itself was unlike any other I had seen for little league players. We spent a week with all his friends and the families were all amazing. We got to know a lot of people and realized that they are all a lot of fun. If you ever have the opportunity to do the Youth Baseball Nationals, I highly recommend it! It is an opportunity you will never forget!!
THE YOUTH BASEBALL NATIONALS IN KENTUCKY – By Shannon Huibregtse
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