Testimonials from across the country consistently rank Cooperstown Baseball Tournaments among the best baseball tournaments in the country, if not #1. Part of this is due to their meticulous planning, organizing the week in careful, thoughtful ways to meet everyone’s needs.
They try to ensure that families all know where to park, how to get from point A to point B, and have information about where everyone is sleeping and eating. They also work hard to provide all kids and teams with a maximum of field time while maintaining a rigorous tournament structure.
For your reference, below is a detailed look at the week’s itinerary:
How The Week Is Structured
Each session runs on a seven-day schedule, Day 1 – Day 7.
For the 2026 calendar, the start and end days vary slightly week to week. Day 1 is always the first date in your session’s range, and Day 7 is the last. Pool play fills Day 3 and Day 4, single-elimination begins on Day 5, the championship and ceremony happen on Day 6, and Day 7 is checkout.
2026 Session Dates
May 31 – June 6
June 6 – June 12
June 12 – June 18
June 18 – June 24
June 24 – June 30
June 30 – July 6
July 6 – July 12
July 12 – July 18
July 18 – July 24
July 24 – July 30
July 30 – August 5
August 5 – August 11
August 11 – August 17
August 17 – August 23
August 23 – August 29
Day-by-Day Guide to the Cooperstown Baseball Tournament Itinerary
Day 1 — Arrival & Orientation
- 2:30 pm — 8:00 pm: Team arrival, Check-In & Registration, Team Photos
- 4:00 pm — 7:30 pm: Dinner
- 8:00 pm: Umpire Orientation
- 8:30 pm: Head Coach/Umpire Tournament Rules Meeting
Prep for Day 1: Make sure each kid has everything labelled on arrival (helmet, bag, water bottle, etc). Coaches, you’ll probably be kept pretty busy with paperwork, and keep the first dinner unhurried, so kids can meet neighbors in the Village. Review lights-out expectations and the morning plan.
Day 2 — Opening Ceremony & Skills
- 6:00 am — 8:30 am: Breakfast
- 8:45 am — 9:15 am: Fire Drill and Team Opening Ceremony Lineup
- 9:30 am: Opening Ceremony/Skills Competitions
- 12:00 pm — 3:30 pm: Lunch
- 3:30 pm, 5:30 pm, 7:30 pm: Game Times
- 4:30 pm — 9:00 pm: Dinner
Prep for Day 2: Skills competitions are a great warm-up to the tournament, which takes the pressure off whole teams and lets players concentrate on just one thing they’re good at or just watch. Then comes the first pool play games after lunch. Depending on when your team gets through the draw, you can use the spare time to get in some Cooperstown pin trading.
Day 3 & Day 4 — Pool Play
- 6:30 am — 9:30 am: Breakfast
- 9:00 am, 11:30 am, 2:00 pm, 4:30 pm & 7:00 pm: Game Times
- 11:00 am — 2:30 pm: Lunch
- 5:00 pm — 8:30 pm: Dinner
Prep for Days 3 and 4: Here’s where motivation and momentum really come into play. Keep everyone on the team informed about game times so they can optimise warm-ups, getting ready, refueling, and so on. Double-check pitching plans and other game plan choices between games. Then, at the end of Day 4, coaches head to seeding while an assistant or parent captain runs showers, laundry bags, and bedtime.
Day 5 — Single-Elimination Begins
- 6:30 am — 9:30 am: Breakfast
- 9:00 am, 11:30 am, 2:00 pm, 4:30 pm & 7:00 pm: Single-Elimination Game Times
- 11:00 am — 2:30 pm: Lunch
- 5:00 pm — 8:30 pm: Dinner
Prep for Day 5: Now it’s time to get serious. You have a lot of information about strategies and what’s popular that year in team strategy. Use that to your advantage in helping the team pivot to do their best in these games.
Day 6 — Sweet 16 to Championship & Closing Night
- 6:30 am — 9:30 am: Breakfast
- 9:00 am: Sweet Sixteen
- 12:00 pm: Elite Eight
- 3:00 pm: Final Four
- 11:00 am — 2:30 pm: Lunch
- 4:00 pm — 5:30 pm: Dinner
- 5:45 pm: Team Lineup
- 6:00 pm: Closing Ceremony
- 9:00 pm: Fireworks
- 9:15 pm: Championship Game
Prep for Day 6: Pack layers and keep the post-lunch window open. If your run ends before evening, then it’s a good idea to stick around for the ceremony, fireworks, and the title game. If you’re still playing, assign two parents to handle food and water runs and let the coaches focus on the game!
Day 7 — Check Out
- 6:00 am — 9:00 am: Team Check-Out
Prep for Day 7: Sweep bunks together, double-check everything. Then, come together for a final team photo, pin count, and maybe go around and name one ‘favorite moment’ from each player.
Why a Pool into Championship Bracket Format?
They designed the Cooperstown baseball tournament with a week-long structure that’s the most fun for everyone involved. This includes primarily the kids, of course, but also the coaches and families.
Pool play for the first few games allows all teams to get a good chance to play through most of the week. This means that even if a team isn’t at its strongest, it still gets a chance to play throughout most of the tournament. However, they then do the single-elimination to championship brackets starting on Day 5 for the second half of the tournament for a strong level of competition.
They’ve found that this is the best balance for a week-long tournament structure.
Seeding, Bracket Math & Rest Strategy
- Seeding meeting follows the last 7:00 pm game on D4. That’s when coaches will find out times and games for their teams if they made it.
- Pitching: Think in 6-9 out chunks across the three days of pool play to balance things out.
- Rest planning: Pack small cooling towels, drinks, or packets with electrolytes, and check on what the kids are feeling between games.
- Recovery rule of thumb: A five-minute walk after meals is often a good move to head off the dreaded post-lunch slump before a 2:00 pm slot.
Where Cooperstown Pin Trading Fits In
Pin trading occurs all the time between games and other events, but there are designated times and places for more concentrated trading moments.
Generally, you’re gonna find a lot of trading going on during pool play and single-elim play when the players don’t have a game scheduled.
Two big tips are to: (1) teach the kids trading etiquette and fairness before letting them run wild. (2) Try to keep some of your custom baseball pins held back and reserved for after a few days of trading is already over.
Quick Gear & Food Checklist That Matches the Timetable
- Arrival (Day 1): Labeled water bottle, sunscreen, blister kit, hoodie for cool evenings.
- Pool days (Day 3 – Day 4): Snack kits that survive heat (jerky, fruit cups, bars), electrolyte mix, extra socks, hand towel, portable phone charger.
- Elimination (Day 5): Fresh undershirt and sliders in a zip bag, two tape rolls, and a copy of the bracket on someone’s phone with alarms set for report times.
- Closing night (Day 6): Team jacket or sweatshirt, lanyard for pins, and a simple plan for a late bite after fireworks or the championship.
Calendar View
Check the calendar view at the bottom of the page to see how the 2026 summer season will look concretely. As you can see, each tournament week (from May to August 2026) starts on a Sunday and ends the following Saturday, making room for the next tournament session.
If you’re syncing travel for families, target Sunday afternoon for arrival and Saturday morning for departure. Provide sufficient buffer times for parents, depending on the distance.
Conclusion
When families look back on the Cooperstown baseball tournament, there are so many different moments that can stand out. But whatever your favorite is, the main thing is that there are memories you can share as a family. This is why it belongs among the best baseball tournaments: a clear seven-day plan that can be the capstone of so many young baseball fans’ journeys. If you follow the itinerary, the rest (games, friendships, pins) will all fall into place.
