Baseball, Apple Pie and Technology

I promise this is my last report on my week spent up in Cooperstown, NY, at the Cooperstown Dreams Park tournament. You would think that a game as old and tradition-rich as baseball would not really be spruced up by modern technology. But you would be wrong. The folks who run Cooperstown Dreams Park have taken advantage of the latest technology to really enhance the experience for not only the players, but for their families at the facility and extended friends and family all over the world.

RELATED: At 100 years old, Fenway Park brims with new technology

Take me out to the ballgame, with 4G

First let me give you a little background, in case you are not familiar with the Cooperstown Dreams Park baseball tournament. Built into the mountains and valleys of beautiful upstate New York, in the capital of baseball, Cooperstown, NY, Dreams Park hosts 13 weeks of baseball tournaments each summer. From the first week of June through the end of August, 104 teams per week come to play ball at Cooperstown. The players and their coaches live in a village which is not accessible to anyone not but players and coaches. All of their meals and interactions are with the other players and coaches in town that week.  

There are 22 baseball fields, each with its own seating area for parents and fans. For every four fields there is a concession stand selling a variety of food and drinks. There’s also a large merchandise shop, a photo ordering area and a bat store, selling custom engraved baseball bats. 

Cooperstown Dreams Park was and is the dream of the Presutti family. From their website:

Cooperstown Dreams Park was built to bring my father’s dream, of giving every player in America a chance to play in the legendary home of baseball, Cooperstown, NY. to reality. It then became our family’s vision, to honor my father and his five brothers who played baseball and served their country.

Cooperstown Dreams Park and the American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame have accomplished what was once a dream. As seen through the eyes of coaches, players and parents for all of the reasons this park was built, it is truly an inspiration to all of us.

Cooperstown Dreams Park offers our players a chance to succeed, to savor their moment in the spotlight and to feel the excitement of success. We promote a healthy spirit of competition, while at the same time always maintaining traditional values and integrity of the game. Many coaches and parents have described their week at Dreams Park as the highlight of their child’s life. It is that spirit that has made Cooperstown Dreams Park the “Crown Jewel of Youth Baseball.” We take pride in keeping the tradition of America’s game, baseball, in its purest form.

Beginning with our opening ceremony, you can feel the energy and excitement of the cultural exchange and life enrichment. More than 1,200 teams come together for pin trading , orientation, eating together, skills competitions, and the excitement of the tournament. As the competition builds, all 22 fields coming to life, with home runs, diving catches and heroic saves. This is the beginning of a player’s dream, becoming his own hero. To be inducted into the most prestigious Youth Baseball Hall of Fame, and receiving the coveted Hall of Fame Ring, the highlight of this experience leaves every player with a great sense of pride, dignity and accomplishment, through the traditional values of faith, family, country and baseball.

But enough about baseball, let me tell you about the technology. You would think that in an area this big, having ubiquitous Wi-Fi might pose some problems. Not the case. Both the public Wi-Fi and private network were at full strength at every point in the park. The public Wi-Fi was easy to connect to, and was fast as well. There is more than Wi-Fi, though, in how they use technology at Dreams Park. Almost everything is stored on servers and accessed via the web. 

How do you find out when your team is playing? What field they are on? How did the other teams do? It is all on the web updated by the minute. Weather a problem? Dreams Park has all of the latest doppler information available. If they have to delay, move or reschedule, it automatically gets updated on the website.  

They have action photographers on each field taking shots. All of the photos are uploaded to a database that is searchable by team and date. You can store your favorites, have them printed, and even edit them, all right from workstations at the photo booth.

If friends and family back home want to see your player in action, many of the games are streamed live via the web. It was pretty amazing having family back home share in watching your son’s game.

All in all, technology has been built in to every aspect of the experience at Dreams Park. I am sure Abner Doubleday, when he invented baseball right there in Cooperstown (not really true BTW), could not have imagined how technology would improve the experience of enjoying America’s pastime.