warning - boys of summer is a nightmare

Everyone's circumstances are unique to themselves, also taking into account what they are trying to get out of the Spring/Summer/Fall seasons. For us, playing against the local best is important. Identifying who the best are for each age group and finding out where they are playing makes sense. Some people recommend BOS, others trash it. So what's the deciding factor for deciding on this and other venues? The one where the better competition resides.

You will have different people bashing different leagues.

NJBL: Good Price, horrible fields, low competition

FABL: Don't even deserve to be mentioned

BOS: Priced high for what you get, scheduling a nightmare, competition good at certain levels, no organization.

BBH: Pricey,fields being done over, has lights, restaurant, bathrooms, batting tunnels, offers free practice time for teams now and chance for rainouts lessens with the turf fields.

You guys decide

Based on your commentary, can I assume that you have ties to BBH? To be fair and balanced: (1) BBH's management of the lights left a lot to be desired. Having to suspend play in the middle of a game for 20-30 minutes was an annoyance. Why were they not responsive to correct this problem at any time during the season last year? Does that speak to their disconnected mindset? How do we feel confident that this mindset has changed for the better? (2) The artificial turf and pitching mounds on the big fields were in disrepair last year, am I to believe that this issue is resolved? (3) Many of the spectator seats by the fields were damaged and unusable, and the outside bathrooms were not properly maintained.

Is the same All-Pro crew still in place to run this facility? I think we all can agree that they did not do a good job last year. Its not asking too much to expect better communication and responsiveness.

All in all, there is no clear choice without a strong leap of faith that BBH will proactively make an effort to rise to its potential.

BOS plays at premier facilities. They rent all of the college fields and the fields are pristine. Cost for NJBL is $870 and you find and maintain you own field. Most of the fields are very poorly maintained. Cost for BOS is $1700 and you play on the best fields LI has to offer. Cost for BBH is $2700 - BBH has to make up there minds if they are a tournament location or a league location. The league schedules are horrible because they must work around the 15 tournaments that take up many weekends at BBH. BTW - PAL is only $1600 including umpire fees and plays at PAL, and Moriches complex.

IN my opinion.

NJBL is for 8u to 12u has the most teams and choices of divisions. If your team is strong enough at 11 or 12 PAL is an excellent option.

BOS is by far the most competitive league from 13-18u - It has destroyed the FABL league and offers so much more. They have all of the national bids for teams that are interested in National tournament play.

BBH - expensive, nice fields, horrible scheduling - Very mixed competition.

PAL - Cheapest game in town. You get what you pay for...

If you live in nassau county The LIBA is a strong option. You need a home field though and the fee is only around 650.00 You play very good compettition from queens, nassau and brooklyn. This only works though if you live in nassau county.

The above 2 postings pretty much tells the story. Thank you very much for your input. Can any team register with BOS, or is it by invitation?

I have played in BOS, FABL, BBH & NJBL.

FABL: Low level teams, horrible umpires & fields.

NJBL: Mostly dirt infields, kids used as umpires.Scheduling very good.

BOS: Great fields with great teams in 16 & older. Schedules never solid and always changing constantly.

BBH: Great facility, scheduling issues last season (but they mergered with BOS, didn't they). 11 & 12U VERY Competitive. 13 & older has much better competition than NJBL & FABL.

Just my HONEST opinion, with no ties to anyone.

I played in those leagues. NJBL is the best by far for the price. BOS is a scheduling nightmare and the fields can be very disappointing. There were some good fields but also some poor ones. BBH was the same as BOS with offsite games frequently so the facility didn't matter. Highest price out there with the least to offer.

Oh well. My hopes of arriving at a clear cut answer has just gone out the window. There are real and potential downside pitfalls to each venue. Why are so many fields in such bad shape? Even our local high school field is an embarrassment. I have a good idea of the better 15U teams, what about 14U. Wherever they go, we'll follow.