bluegrass

The only schools I'm personally aware of that go to Florida (and this is Lexington schools) have the trip completely paid for by the booster club. Now, where does the money come from in the booster club? It comes from fundraising or out of a parent's pocket if they choose to not participate in fundraising. The players even get meal money every day. I've never known of a kid not being able to participate or travel. I can't imagine a coach saying that kids have to come up with money out of their own pocket. Now, for families that would like to attend that's a different matter of course. It is understandable that some players will end up down there without family present. Of course, some players are playing right on their home field without family support. There are always unfortunate circumstances that surround highschool athletes of all sports. One difference between the boosters of larger schools vs those of small schools/communities is the available fundraising of course. It's much more difficult for a school of 400 kids in a small community to have many options.... at least not the options of a school of 2200 in a city of 350,000.

Traveling south is a great thing if a booster club can accomodate the dollars needed. The trip not only offers competition that a team won't normally face, but provides a bonding experience that is unmatched. That closeness hopefully happens not only with the players, but the group of parents too if everyone is lucky and puts forth some effort. I think it's a great experience for players and their families.

Excellent comments!! What fans see and what scouts might see can be two totally different reports.

It isn't a new field. Several years ago, they moved the back stop back and redid the dugouts. Added restrooms in a separate building and put in a new window in the concession stand. Over the past couple of years, they've redone some seating and cleaning up outside the field. The field has always had a lot of charm, even compared to all the new fields in Lexington.

http://www.lafayette.fcps.net/athletics/baseball/ Lafayette HS in Lexington. This shot was before some additional improvements over the last few years. The field has an "old time" feeling to it. The green building beyond the field is their indoor facility.