A Field of Dreamers

Location

Park City, Utah is nestled in the Wasatch Back, 32 miles east of Salt Lake City. At an altitude of 7,000-feet, its' the town we've called home for the past 13 years.

First and foremost, Park City is a ski town - but high school Baseball mecca? That's way down the list of sports and things to do in this Winter Wonderland.

With an average annual snowfall of 411-inches, the winter season cuts like a knife through the heart of the 3A small school baseball season – always determined to make sure a home game is rarely- if ever played before the seniors graduate in May.

In our first year of high school baseball (2006-07), our home games were moved to a community college in Salt Lake City – for the entire season.

Our first home game of the year was actually the first game of summer ball – in June.

But it's not fair to lay the blame on just the weather for Baseball's tenuous existence in Park City: In reality - there's just too much else to do while we wait for the snow to melt off the field.

While most of America hunkers' down to get through the Winter season, residents of Park City embrace winter like few other communities in America - participating in activities ranging from skiing, snowmobiling, cross country skiing, ice fishing, snowshoeing, ice skating, hiking, ice and rock climbing, swimming, ski jumping, luge, bobsled and more. Making matters even worse for Baseball, even if one were to grow weary of the winter season, Moab and Southern Utah offer a range of activities from camping, hiking and climbing, mountain biking, and off-road motorsports – just 4 hours south of Park City.

Despite the challenges of climate and all the things to do, our Baseball program continues to thrive, and that's only due to the stubborn and determined effort of a handful of community organizers who refuse to give in to the realities of Winter.

As testament to their efforts, Park City has put together an impressive 20+-win seasons the past two years; won our region 3 times since 2009 and gone to the state tournament each of those same years.

Best of all, since 2009, we've placed an impressive 12 players on scholarship to play college baseball.

While few would deny that Park City Baseball is for the hearty-few and determined, the program continues to prosper, and the opportunities to play baseball in college remain very strong.

If high school baseball players can become recruited playing in this environment, players can get recruited to play college baseball in any environment.