Avoid Champions Park at All Costs
If you’re looking for a softball or baseball tournament facility, steer clear of Champions Park in Newberry, FL. This facility is a disappointment from start to finish.
The park itself is located 20 miles west of Gainesville, in the middle of nowhere. Newberry is a tiny town with very limited amenities – just a Circle K and a Dairy Queen. So if you need to grab lunch or dinner, you’ll have to drive 35 minutes back to Gainesville.
The park may have 16 fields, but they are all subpar. The infields are turf, while the outfields are a mix of grass and dirt. The transition between the two surfaces is jarring, causing many players to trip and stumble. The fields are also crammed too close together, making it a dangerous obstacle course to navigate between them.
It’s clear this park was either underfunded or the owners simply don’t care about providing a quality experience.
Speaking of dangerous, the field setup is a disaster. There’s no overhead netting, so spectators have to be extremely cautious to avoid getting hit by foul balls. In fact, the park prohibits fans from setting up chairs along the base paths or behind the backstops – there’s simply not enough room.
The backstops themselves are laughably close to home plate, leaving umpires practically sitting in the batter’s box. And the overall facilities are run-down and poorly maintained. It’s clear this park was either underfunded or the owners simply don’t care about providing a quality experience.
Avoid Champions Park at all costs. If you want to enter a softball or baseball tournament in the Gainesville area, there are plenty of better options. This place is an absolute mess that no team should have to endure.
Champions Park
24617 SW 30th Ave, Newberry, FL 32669
Champions Park Rating: 1 – Single.
PARK RATING SYSTEM
- 0 – Strike Out: Lowest rating; Avoid the park.
- 1 – Single: Not up to par; Good luck at the park.
- 2 – Double: Has potential; County and/or City Parks & Rec department could easily improve.
- 3 – Triple: Not a bad park; Could use some additions and upgrades to make it a great park.
- 4 – Home Run: Park that is excellent; Great fields, family friendly, and well taken care of.
