coaching management 15.9

Coaching ManagementS O F T B A L L P O S T S E A S O N E D I T I O N 2 0 0 7

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CONTENTSCoaching ManagementSoftball EditionPostseason 2007

Vol. XV, No. 9

COVER STORY

Making Contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14By converting some of their right-handed hitters into slappers, coaches can expand their strategic options, create new openings for traditional hitters, and help student-athletes reach their fullest potential.

YOUR CAREER

Creating a Buzz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Looking to climb the coaching ladder? To land an interview in today’s highly competitive job market, coaches need a systematic and dynamic strategy.

STRENGTH & CONDITIONING

Balance of Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Helping players work past their natural tendency to be right- or left-handed can improve their proficiency on both sides and develop them into more complete athletes.

ADVERTISERS DIRECTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

On the cover: After learning to slap, Tennessee’s India Chiles raised her batting average from .125 to .437, helping lead the Lady Vols to the title game of the 2007 NCAA Division I Women’s College World Series. Story begins on page 14. Photo by Elizabeth Olivier/UT Athletic Photo.

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LOCKER ROOM Bulletin Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2NCAA bans text messaging between coaches and recruits … One for the record books … Pitching in against cancer … High schools permit metal cleats, colleges question bat speeds … Competition intensifies in cross-division play … Balancing work and family.

Q&A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Clint Myers, Head Coach at Arizona State University, talks about building a winning program, motivating athletes to achieve their goals, and setting priori-ties in recruiting.

SOFTBALL FIELD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36HITTING & PITCHING AIDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41TEAM EQUIPMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46UNIFORMS & APPAREL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47MORE PRODUCTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

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COACHING MANAGEMENT 1

Publisher Mark Goldberg

Editor-in-Chief Eleanor Frankel

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The Coaching Management softball edition is pub-lished in October and December by MAG, Inc. and is distributed free to college and high school coaches in the United States and Canada. Copyright © 2007 by MAG, Inc. All rights reserved. Text may not be reproduced in any manner, in whole or in part, without the permission of the publisher. Unsolicited materials will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Coaching Management, P.O. Box 4806, Ithaca, N.Y. 14852 Printed in the U.S.A

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Ohio State’s Linda Kalafatis believes that coaches may need to gain some perspective on how athletes and parents view tex-ting. “If I was a parent of a high school athlete being heavily recruited,” she says, “I wouldn’t want my child to be available to coaches at all times of the day and night.”

Coaches Respond to Texting Ban

Text messaging was designed as a quick way to exchange short messages using cell phones. But the debate over its role in college athletic recruit-ing has turned out to be any-thing but short, and it shows little sign of ending soon.

After almost two years of dis-cussing the hardships some high school athletes face as the result of text messages from college coaches, the NCAA Division I Board of Directors passed a rule in April forbid-ding coaches from texting recruits. The new rule quickly struck a nerve and 34 schools filed override requests, which forced the board to reconsider its decision.

Although the prohibition was reaffirmed by the board at its

August 9 meeting, the rule will face a vote by the Division I membership at the NCAA Annual Convention in Janu-ary 2008. If five-eighths of the membership agree to override the Board of Directors, the prohibition, which has been in place since Aug. 1, will be lifted. Otherwise it will remain in force unless superseded by future legislation.

One of the difficulties in addressing the problem is the lack of consensus among the groups involved in the dis-cussion—coaches, student-athletes, and administrators. The NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee came out in support of a ban. The Men’s and Women’s Basket-ball Issues Committees both opposed the ban, along with the Football Issues Commit-tee and the Academics/Eli-gibility/Compliance Cabi-net—although some of these

groups were amenable to some level of restrictions.

“Softball coaches are mixed in how they look at text messag-ing,” says Linda Kalafatis, Head Coach at Ohio State University. “It appears to be a generation-al thing—the younger coaches seem to be a little more in favor of it than the more estab-lished coaches. Personally, I have mixed feelings. I think it’s helped establish some recruit-ing relationships, but I’ll work within the environment we have, and I’ll continue to find ways to recruit.”

Even the Board of Direc-tors was less than enthusias-tic about the ban passed in April. NCAA Vice-President Jim Berst told the Associated Press that students played a large role in the decision to prohibit text messaging. But he also indicated that despite approving the ban, the board remained open to other ways of dealing with the issue.

The board “recognized we had a dilemma where student-athletes suggested there were some problems with text mes-sages whereas coaches and assistant coaches wanted it to continue,” Berst said. “I think it recognized there may be other ways of monitoring com-munications in the future, so it’s open to proposals.”

Kalafatis feels that coaches may need to step back and gain some perspective on how athletes and parents view text messaging. “If I was a parent of a high school athlete being heavily recruited, I wouldn’t want my child to be available to coaches at all times of the day and night, especially while they’re in school,” she says. “And if I was a highly touted recruit, I wouldn’t want to get hundreds of text messages.”

There is a middle ground between the current ban on text messages and the previ-ous rule that allowed unlim-ited messaging. Wade Wilson,

2 COACHING MANAGEMENT

Head Coach at Brenham (Tex-as) High School, feels some control is necessary. “Because of the accessibility texting pro-vides and the ability to get immediate feedback,” he says, “I think there has to be some kind of regulation.”

Even with the Division I ban, text messaging will still be part of the recruiting picture for many high school athletes. There continues to be no lim-its on its use in Division II and Division III, although Division II will consider new regulations, including a possible ban, in the coming year.

While most of the attention on the Division I ban has been focused on text messaging, the new rules go beyond it by limiting allowable electronic correspondence—which are not regulated in time or num-ber—to e-mails and faxes. This means use of any other forms of electronic communi-cation, such as instant messag-ing, online message boards, and social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook, is also prohibited. Technologies that have not yet been devel-oped are also included in the ban, and cannot be used with-out specific approval from the NCAA.

NFHS Permits Metal Cleats, NCAA Examines Bat SpeedsFor as long as anyone can remember, the NFHS has not permitted softball players to wear metal cleats. But that will change next season.

NFHS Assistant Director and Softball Liaison Mary Struck-hoff says she’s had a hard time defending the cleat ban for years because spikes are per-mitted in high school baseball. “Softball players perform the same skills—running, batting, throwing, catching—on the same surfaces as baseball play-

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ers,” she says. “It was hard to justify one sport allowing metal cleats and the other not. We have found that whether it’s dirt or grass, metal cleats pro-vide better traction.

“We also suspect some softball injuries, especially ankle sprains and strains, have been caused by plastic cleats that don’t pro-vide great traction,” Struck-hoff adds. “Metal cleats may in fact help those statistics. And they won’t be required, so if folks aren’t comfortable wearing them, they don’t have to. It just gives them another option.”

Struckhoff says that for student-athletes who go on to play in college, where metal cleats are used by most players, this rul-ing will help ease the transition. But she admits there will be a learning curve for high school-ers. “They will almost have to

relearn to run,” she says. “It’s just like picking up any new piece of equipment. You have to work with it first before you really know what you’re doing.”

While metal cleats may cut down on ankle injuries, some worry about other injuries increasing, particularly punc-ture wounds resulting from poor slides. “Sliding technique is a concern,” Struckhoff says, “but we have rules in place for illegal sliding. If a sliding player has a foot up in the air, that’s an illegal slide and that player needs to be called out.”

In collegiate softball, much of the discussion at the NCAA rules committee meeting this year centered on bat certifica-tion. There is concern among coaches that some manufac-turers are producing bats with bat-to-ball exit speeds that exceed the NCAA’s 98 miles

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Advocates expect a high school rule permitting metal cleats will improve traction, decrease injuries, and ease athletes’ transi-tion from high school to college play. Here, purple-clad Boerne (Texas) High School advances over Brenham (Texas) High School on its way to winning the 2007 4A state championship.

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third, like the fence height recommendation, if there’s something out there the mem-bership collectively wants to see changed, the committee wants to oblige.”

In another development, after next season college coaches will only be seeing a new rule-book every other year. “In addition to the cost savings of not printing a new book every year, this will give us a chance to think about what softball needs on a bigger level,” Oberbillig says. “We’ve been talking about additional proj-ects, like compiling a compre-hensive manual for statisticians, and this will create time for us to complete those projects.”

Cabrini Sets National High School RecordAt Cabrini High School in Allen Park, Mich., the 2007 season was literally one for the record books. The Monarchs won the Division 4 state championship for the second year in a row, finishing the season with a 35-0 record, extending their win-ning streak to 74 consecutive games, and establishing a new national record by allowing only one run all year.

Head Coach Debbie Norman still can’t believe it’s true. “As a coach, you don’t think about going undefeated,” she says. “We went 27-6 in 2004 when these girls were freshmen. The players have learned some important lessons since then, and this has been the ultimate reward. I don’t think they understand the impact of their accomplishments, but I am so proud of them.”

Norman gives all the credit to her players. “This group of young ladies is very self-moti-vated,” she says. “A lot of them play for travel teams over the summer, and it’s been a tradition for the girls to attend a local team camp before the season starts. During the winter

they ask my assistant coaches to open the batting cage a couple of times a week, not to mention the speed training and weight training they do on their own. I never ask anything of them in the off-season—they take it upon themselves, and I think it really helped them mature as individuals and mesh as a team.”

The Monarchs’ winning streak reaches back to the 2006 sea-son, when the players had their first taste of what it was like to go undefeated. “When a team from a small area like ours wins the state tournament, it becomes very easy to believe the press clips about your-self,” Norman says. “So before last season began, I started reminding them, per-haps a little too often, that

they hadn’t won anything yet. I didn’t want them to get too excited. But I talked to a few coaching friends who said, ‘If your team is good enough, tell them to go for it.’”

Cabrini had some close games, winning a few 1-0, and Norman says there were a couple of close calls at the plate. Their opponents’ only run came during the first round of the district tourna-ment, following a double play call that went against them. “That run really both-ered them, and will probably continue to,” Norman says. “I told them to let it go, but it was hard for them to take. I think setting the national record at the end of the sea-son may have helped ease the pain.”

In addition to winning the Division 4 Michigan champion-ship for the second year in a row, the Cabrini High School Monarchs of Allen Park set a national record for defense, allowing only one run all season.

per hour standard. “The bats are meeting the standards out of the package as they’re first certified,” says Lynn Oberbil-lig, Chair of the NCAA Soft-ball Rules Committee and Ath-letic Director at Smith College. “But we’ve tested bats that have been in play for a while, and they no longer meet the standards. These findings cer-tainly concern us, and all our coaches have questions about why this is happening.

“Committee members and Amateur Softball Association officials have meetings sched-uled with bat manufacturers to talk about this,” contin-ues Oberbillig. “College soft-ball isn’t as large a market as some may think, but we are the most visible market with games on national television, so manufacturers have an interest in keeping us happy.”

The committee also recom-mends that outfield fences stand six feet tall instead of the current recommendation of four feet. A membership survey distributed to coaches, athletic administrators, and umpires in each of the past three years reported that 83 percent of the surveyed mem-bership wanted to see fences at six feet or taller.

“We use the survey in a few ways,” Oberbillig says. “First, to see how much sup-port there may be for a rule change the committee is con-sidering. Second, if we’ve heard of an issue surfacing, we’ll put it in the survey to see if it’s a few loud voices or a sport-wide concern. And

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For more information on the NFHS rules changes, visit the NFHS at: www.nfhs.org and click on “Softball” under the “Sports” menu.

For more information on the NCAA rules changes, visit the NCAA at: www.ncaa.org and click on “Sports & Champion-ships,” select “Spring Sports,” and click on “Softball.”

Cabrini has been a big fish in a small pond in Division 4 the past two years, but Norman says next year will bring on a whole new set of challenges for the players as they move up to Division 3. “The girls are already talking about next year,” Norman says. “I just want them to concentrate on doing well in our league first, and we’ll go from there.”

Cancer, College, and CommunityWhen Dickson County (Tenn.) High School infielder Kayla Cantrell was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer last spring, the star entered the fight of her life. While the dis-ease eventually cost Cantrell her senior season, her fight galvanized a softball commu-nity and caught the eye of a college coach who wanted to make a difference.

To start the year, Cantrell’s teammates on the Lady Cou-gars wore lime green shoelac-es and hair ribbons in her hon-or, a gesture quickly copied by opposing teams as well. The coaching staff at Dickson posted information on a blog to keep supporters informed about her progress, and the Middle Tennessee Softball Coaches Association created “Pitching In For Kayla,” with teams around the region rais-ing $7,500 for Cantrell.

At Tennessee Tech University, Head Coach Tory Acheson decided to get involved as soon as he heard about Cantrell’s battle. “I read a newspaper article in which Kayla men-tioned that before she got sick, she planned to attend Ten-nessee Tech,” says Acheson, who had seen Cantrell play in a couple of summer tour-naments. “When I saw that, I knew there had to be a way we could make it a reality.”

To do that, Acheson offered Cantrell an athletic scholarship to attend Tennessee Tech.

He doesn’t know when or if Cantrell will feel well enough to enroll in school and does not want to put any added pressure on her as she tries to recover, but he describes his invitation to join the Golden Eagles as an “open door” awaiting Cantrell whenever she is ready.

Although the ultimate Holly-wood ending would involve Cantrell suiting up for Tennes-see Tech and homering in a big game, Acheson says her ability to hit and field isn’t why he offered her a scholarship. “The understanding we have is that she’s going to be part of our team in some capac-ity, whether that means she’s a manager, a scorekeeper, or a starting player,” he says, adding that Cantrell had col-lege-level talent before her ill-ness. “Even if she never plays softball again, the person she is and the determination she shows will make our team bet-ter. It’s a win-win situation for

us and we’re excited to be a part of her future.”

Part of the reason Cantrell’s situation hit Acheson so close to home is that last season, his team graduated a player who survived cancer. “Seeing what she was able to accomplish and how being an athlete and being committed to softball helped her overcome the ill-ness was amazing,” says Ache-son. “Having witnessed a story like that, where a player beats cancer, graduates from college, gets married, and experiences all those great things in life ... well, the romantic in me wants to see it happen again.”

Acheson is firmly committed to giving Cantrell an oppor-tunity to continue her educa-tion and remain involved in the sport, and he says the decision was easy. “When you’re in the coaching business, your whole life revolves around trying to win games and be successful,” says Acheson. “But every once

in a while you get a chance to do something just because it’s the right thing to do, and whether it seems logical to any-body else is beside the point.

“The most important thing is that she’s such a fighter,” he adds. “She’s battling this ill-ness with such ferocity that we wanted to give her one more reason to keep fighting.”

Building New RivalriesIn past years, cross-division games in New Jersey’s Sky-land Conference took on the feel of exhibition matches. Since the contests didn’t count toward the conference’s final standings, coaches often treated these games as a break from the already intense divisional competition.

But that changed this past season when, for the first time, crossover games helped

After Dickson County (Tenn.) High School infielder Kayla Cantrell (center) was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer last spring, Lady Cougar teammates and opponents donned lime green shoelaces and hair ribbons in her honor, organizing a series of benefits that raised thousands of dollars to help pay for her medical care.



determine conference cham-pions. Teams in Skyland’s Delaware-East Division played one game against opponents in Delaware-West. Teams in the Raritan Division played opponents from the newly formed Valley Division twice.

With five new teams joining the Skyland Conference last season, league president Carl Weigner says the change was a good way to create built-in schedules for athletic direc-tors. It also helped prepare teams for the level of compe-tition they would see in the state tournament.

“Coaches want to play the best teams they can,” Weigner says. “They know that facing the strongest opponents will make their players better when it comes time for the postseason, whether it’s a county tourna-ment or the state tournament.”

One of those scenarios played out this season when Bridgewa-ter-Raritan High School defeat-ed 2006 state champion North Hunterdon High School during interdivision play. The meeting was a prelude to a state tourna-ment game in which North Hunt-erdon avenged the loss.

“Now, teams can compete against each other in the regu-lar season and end up meet-ing again in the postseason,” Weigner says. “This gives you the incentive to play hard all the time, because there are no easy games in your crossovers.”

Bridgewater-Raritan Head Coach Sandy Baranowski says the new format helped make the season more meaning-ful and added a wrinkle to in-season strategies. “This cre-ates new rivalries between teams that didn’t normally play each other as hard,” she


In New Jersey’s Skyland Conference, where interdivision play now counts in the final standings, North Hunterdon High School recovered from an early season loss to win the conference title.

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says. “I don’t know why we didn’t start this years ago. Now every single game you play, even the crossovers, is critical. Maybe in the past you would sit your starting pitcher, but now so many things can happen because these games help determine the confer-ence champion. As a coach, there is a lot more strategy in how I play my lineups and when to work in the backups.”

The new format wasn’t with-out its detractors. Some coaches of smaller schools in the Valley Division complained about having to play some of Raritan’s larger schools twice. Others believed that schedul-ing two interdivision games gave them less flexibility to play the other teams in the state.

“We had to try it first to see what would happen,” Weigner

says. “After evaluating it, even the coaches and athletic direc-tors realized it wasn’t entirely fair to those small schools, especially in softball where one great pitcher can make a team dominant. After gathering feedback we tweaked the sys-tem it to make it more fair for everyone.”

So starting in the 2008-09 season, all teams in the con-ference will play each cross-over opponent only once. Weigner says the change won’t detract from the Sky-land Conference’s objective of strengthening the level of competition across the board.

“Even having them play each other one time will help those lower teams face good competition and still have a good chance to qualify for the state tournament,” Weigner says.

“Head coaching and early motherhood are often seen as incompatible,” says Gumpf. “There’s a belief that it’s just too hard to do both. I think that’s part of the reason for the decline in the number of female head coaches. But I can say from experience that it is possible to do both well.”

After closing the 2007 season with a Southern States Athletic Conference title, a trip to the NAIA national tournament, and a healthy, happy baby, Rus-sell agrees. “I’ve learned that it is possible to be a success-ful coach and a great mother at the same time,” she says. “With the right planning, you can balance both roles.”

For Russell, the first step in achieving that balance was partnering effectively with her athletic director. “We had a very open discussion that got

Family TiesWhen Emily Russell, Head Coach at Lee University, found out in the summer of 2006 that she was pregnant, she was ecstatic. “I always knew I wanted to be a mother,” Russell says. “I couldn’t have been happier.” After a quick calculation, however, she real-ized her due date was in mid-March—not exactly a slow time. “That’s when I thought, ‘Oh, wow. How is this going to work?’”

Deanna Gumpf, Head Coach at Notre Dame University, could have told her how things would unfold. In Febru-ary 2005, Gumpf gave birth to a daughter. Already the mother of a four-year-old son, Gumpf added an in-season pregnancy and delivery to a full plate of family and coach-ing responsibilities.



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everything off to a good start,” Russell says. “I told my athletic director that my goal was to give the team the same high quality season we would have if I hadn’t been expecting. I wanted him to know that we had the same objective.”

Breaking the news to her team was Russell’s next step, and she approached it cau-tiously. “I didn’t tell my players right away, because I didn’t want them to make assump-tions about what the season was going to be like,” she says. “Early in my pregnancy, I could do all my normal duties, including catching my pitch-ers and being out on the field, so I just focused on getting a great year started. By the time I told them at a team meeting in late September, they had already seen that the season was still a top priority.”

Also important was preparing assistant coaches for added responsibilities. “As my preg-nancy progressed, I started having my assistants make more decisions,” Russell says. “Letting go was difficult at first, but I knew I needed to get them ready for when I would be gone. I had them call pitches and decide when we’d bunt or squeeze. By late February, when I had to stop traveling, my assistants were ready and did a great job.”

Another strategy that worked well was to send an out-of-season head coach on road trips when Russell couldn’t go. “Our volleyball coach drove the bus, handled the money, decided where to eat, and made sure the laundry was done,” Russell says. “I felt comfortable knowing if any-thing came up, she’d be there to support my assistants.”

Both Gumpf and Russell coached until their babies were due—Russell even coached a game on her due date—and both were back to coaching part-time within a week of their deliveries. Both say the pres-sure to return immediately

came from themselves, not administrators, and that given the choice again, they would probably take more time off.

“My advice is not to do what I did,” says Gumpf, who returned to full-time coach-ing two weeks after having her baby by cesarean section. “Coming back so soon really

Two weeks after giving birth in 2005, Notre Dame University Head Coach Deanna Gumpf returned to full-time coaching duties to lead the Irish to their 10th consecutive Big East regu-lar season title and finish the year with a 46-15 record.

feed him during the night, and learning how to care for him.

“You have to expect to get up in the morning not feel-ing your best until the baby starts sleeping more, and that was something I didn’t think enough about,” Russell con-tinues. “It’s a huge physical and psychological transition,

and I think it would have been easier for me if I had been more mentally prepared for how challenging that part was going to be.”

For the coming season, Rus-sell is focused on learning to better balance mothering and coaching. So far, she’s found that communication and plan-ning are the keys to making it work. “Sometimes I have to make recruiting calls from home at night because of time

zone issues,” she says. “At first, I was calling after dinner while my husband took care of our son, and we were missing the only time we could have spent together as a family. So we sat down and worked out a plan, and now I make the calls after they’re both in bed. It’s critical to keep talking about those things with your family.”

For Gumpf, feelings of guilt are the hardest part of balancing her roles. “When I’m at work, I wonder if I would be a bet-ter mother if I was home more, and when I’m home, I won-der if I’d be a better coach if I was at work more,” she says. “When it hits me, I remind myself that I am doing the best I can, and I try to look at real-ity—my children and my team are both doing well. It also helps to talk to other coaches with small kids and realize I’m not alone in feeling this way.”

Gumpf and Russell agree on another thing: If women are going to remain in coaching throughout pregnancy, birth, and mothering, they need to strike an effective balance between family and work. “I recently heard a coach who was a new mother say she was going to step down because she wanted to be a great mother, not just a good moth-er and a good coach,” Russell says. “I don’t believe that has to be the choice. I believe it is possible to be a great mother and a great coach. The more we as coaches subscribe to that philosophy, the more oth-ers will, too.”

“Athletic administrations need to be more supportive with this issue, but it’s also a matter of women’s own atti-tudes,” says Gumpf. “If we project an image of being intimidated by the dual role, administrators will be intimi-dated by it, too. If we’re con-fident we can make it work, they will be too, and instead of looking for problems, they’ll start looking for cre-ative solutions.”


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took a toll on my body. In-season or not, take at least a month off. Trust your staff and let them lead the team.”

Russell advises coaches not to underestimate the chal-lenges of the initial postpar-tum period. “Before I gave birth, I thought, ‘If labor is the toughest physical workout I’ve ever done, it will take me about two days to recover,’” she says. “I didn’t factor in a crying baby, waking up to

CM: How did you turn things around after taking over at ASU?Myers: The first thing we did was address the mental side—we changed expecta-tions. The players had struggled for a few years before I arrived, and I immediately said that our goal was to reach the Col-lege World Series. That surprised some people, but I meant it. I hired some very good assistant coaches, and they handled most of the nuts and bolts of teaching the game, but it all started with those higher expectations.

At our first team meeting, I introduced the staff and said, “We are going to the College World Series. If you don’t truly believe that, then this isn’t the place for you. We’ll honor your scholarship this year, and then we’ll help you find some-place else to play.” Nobody walked out.

With an unsuccessful season fresh in their minds, how did you get players to believe they could meet your goals?We made very clear that it was a new day. We conducted tryouts for every position, so everyone could see we weren’t dwelling on the past. We said we didn’t care who started the year before—the kids who’ll play this year are the ones who work the hardest, who go out and get the job done. It definitely shook up our lineup—at one point during the College World Series, we had five non-scholarship athletes in the lineup.

By doing things like that, I earned the athletes’ trust. You can’t do that just by walking in and saying, “Hey, trust me.”

How’s this for a quick turnaround? In 2005, the Arizona State University softball team finished in the basement

of the Pacific 10 Conference with a 4-17 conference record. In 2006, Clint Myers’s first season as Head Coach, the Sun Devils finished 53-15 overall and made it all the way to the Women’s Col-lege World Series, where they finished fifth. In 2007, the team capped a 54-17 season with yet another trip to Okla-homa City.

Success has followed Myers throughout his career. As a high school baseball player, he helped his team win a state championship in 1970, then head-ed to Arizona State, where his team twice finished as national runner-up at the College World Series. After

graduation, he played A, AA, and AAA minor league baseball before launching his coaching career at Casa Grande Union High School in Arizona, where his teams claimed three conference baseball championships.

In 1980, Myers made the jump to junior college as Head Baseball Coach at Yavapai College. Three years and three Arizona League championships later, he moved on to Eastern Washington University, where he earned a master’s in education. After that, he landed at Central Arizona College, where he racked up a record of 887-235 coaching softball (1986-1995) and baseball (1996-2005).

The following season, he joined the softball program at ASU. In this interview, Myers talks about building a win-ning program, motivating student-athletes to achieve their goals, and setting priorities in recruiting.


Q A& Clint Myers Arizona State University

En route to being named 2007 Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year, All-American Katie Burkhart compiled a 0.90 ERA, broke the conference record for most strikeouts in a season, and set a school mark for most career strikeouts.

You have to lead by example, and when the players see you’re taking the program in a new direction and working hard to get there, they’ll believe in what you’re doing.

For instance, when I started here, my players knew I was coming from baseball coaching, so I told them I’d be learning right along with them. They saw I was enthusiastic and committed, and it helped them buy into our program’s new direc-tion. I didn’t ask the girls to do anything I wasn’t willing to do myself.

What are the biggest differences between coaching softball and baseball?The teaching part of it is really the same. When there’s a ground ball hit to the shortstop, that player has to field it and throw the ball to first, whether it’s a soft-ball or a baseball.

The real difference, in my experience, is that women are more emotional and there’s more drama on a softball team. Everything is pretty cut and dried with guys. So I talk to my softball players a little differently than I did my baseball players, but not drastically. With either gender, it’s just a matter of figuring out how best to motivate people.

What kind of motivational techniques do you use?This past year, the girls got on my back because I was making so many references to the University of Arizona—“Arizona does this, Arizona does that.” They finally

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said, “Coach, they’re our biggest rivals. Why do you keep talking about them?” I simply replied, “Because that’s exactly how we want our team to be.”

Mike Candrea has built a tremendously suc-cessful program at Arizona. For a program aspiring to reach a new level, it’s important to emulate someone like that. Mike is a dear friend of mine, and I’m in awe of all the things he has done for his program. If we want to build a winner, Arizona is a good place to look for inspiration.

How do you divide up the work with your assistants?I had certain responsibilities in mind when I hired my staff. Rob Wagner is our recruit-ing coordinator, and we had coached together at Central Arizona, so I knew what he was capable of doing. The pitch-ers are handled by Kirsten Voek, who was an outstanding pitcher herself as an athlete here at Arizona State. I felt it was important to have another ASU graduate on board, to show that we value tradition. She’s the youngest member of our staff, so we’re mentoring her on some of the finer points of things like recruiting, and she’s learning a lot.

What are your highest priorities when evaluating recruits?First is talent. Everybody is looking for that. Second, and just as important to us, is character. We believe not everyone is meant for every program. We want people who will fit into our team from the get-go, with the right attitude and a strong work ethic.

Judging softball skill is fairly straightfor-ward, but evaluating character takes a different kind of approach. We do our homework on recruits by talking to their coaches and by observing the way they handle themselves during games when they don’t know people are watching them. If you’re paying attention, you can


learn a lot about a player from the way she interacts with teammates in the dug-out and talks to coaches.

Both of your sons, who play profession-al baseball, have worked as volunteer coaches for your Sun Devils program. What was that like?It’s such a special experience. It is quite

an honor to be able to coach with your kids—to sit at a table as equals and evalu-ate a prospect or put together a game plan. When we had our first team ban-quet, I gave my son Casey a picture of the two of us coaching together, and it said, “ASU coaching shirt: $27.95. ASU coach-ing hat: $19.50. Coaching with your son at

“Judging softball skill is fairly straightforward, but evaluating character takes a different kind of approach. We do our homework on recruits by talking to their coaches and by observing the way they handle themselves during games when they don’t know people are watching them.”

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Q A&


ASU: priceless.” That pretty much sums up how I felt.

I’m a big believer in the importance of family, and I hope my players see that and are inspired to think the same way about our team. I’d like us to have the attitude that we’re all in this together, supporting each other, and helping to make each other the best we can be.

How have things changed for college athletes since you were a baseball player at ASU?Today’s kids have a lot more technol-ogy available to help develop their skills. When I played, there was no video to help you work out the kinks in your swing. There are some really wonderful computer programs now that help play-ers analyze their mechanics.

I’m not much of a computer guy, but I can look at a picture and break down a swing. For a hitter, that’s a tremendous advantage, because there’s no substitute for watching yourself swinging. When you’re able to see the things your coach-es are talking about, it can mean a lot more than just hearing their advice.

If you had to sum up your coaching philosophy, what would you say?Fundamentals, attitude, character, and family. Fundamentals are so important because that’s how you win games, and we use repetition until they become second nature. Here I go talking about the University of Arizona again, but one great thing about them is they never beat themselves. They make all the plays they’re supposed to, and that comes from a lot of practice and a focus on the funda-mentals of the game.

Attitude and character fit together nicely, because you have complete control over both. I tell my players, “Be the person you want to be. If you want to be a great softball player, that means working hard, having a positive attitude in the locker room, and being a great teammate.” That ties into the last key, which is family. When players act like a family, they’ll be a lot more successful.

How do you approach goal-setting?We’re not reinventing the wheel—I think everybody pretty much does it the same way. At the start of the year, everybody’s goal is to win the College World Series.

You need short-term goals as a means of achieving that, but it starts with the big goal. I have a unique way of looking at goals with my players. We say our goal is to win our last game. There’s only one team that can say they won their last game of the season—that’s the national champion. You get there through perse-verance, hard work, commitment, and all those things everybody else talks about.

How would you advise high school coaches interested in making the jump to the college ranks?First, don’t be afraid to learn new things. Create opportunities to be mentored by someone you respect, increase your understanding of the game, and always seek to improve your knowledge of strat-egy and technique. If you’re lucky enough to find a college coaching job, don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Sometimes that’s the best way to learn. I’m 55 years old, and I’m still learning all the time.

Most important, you should be passion-ate about coaching. If you’re not, find something else to do. Life is way too short to do something you’re not passion-ate about.

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A


ries,” says Weekly. “She did a great job of putting pressure on the defense and manufacturing runs for our team.”Through aggressive base running and well-placed ground balls, slap hitters can leave a defense reeling and open holes for other hitters to succeed. Today, more and more coaches are making the slap a key part of their offense, dotting the top and bottom of their lineups with slappers. In this article, high school and

Nate Dougherty is an Assistant Editor at Coaching Management. He can be reached at: [email protected].

S A FRESHMAN AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE IN 2004, INDIA CHILES COULDN’T HAVE BEEN MISTAKEN FOR A POWER HITTER. Used primarily for her speed as a pinch-runner, the right-handed Chiles man-aged only one hit in eight trips to the plate, finishing the season with a .125 batting average. But Co-Head Coach Karen Weekly saw potential in Chiles. The left fielder pos-sessed great speed and bat control, and

BY NATE DOUGHERTY

By converting some of their right-handed hitters into slappers, coaches can expand their strategic options, create new openings for traditional hitters, and help student-athletes reach their fullest potential.

MAKING CONTACTalthough she struggled as a conventional hitter, Weekly envisioned the perfect role for her—slap hitter. The summer after Chiles’s freshman season, Weekly began training her to stand in the left-handed batter’s box, take a crossover step to begin running as the ball is delivered, and chop a hard grounder through the hole between shortstop and third base. The results were immediate. In Chiles’s sophomore season, her batting average improved to .353, and in her junior year she was the Southeastern Conference’s second-best hitter with a .437 average. As a senior, she was named SEC Player of the Year and a member of the Louisville Slugger All-American First Team, helping lead Tennessee to the title game of the NCAA Division I Women’s College World Series. “Her performance in the World Series was the key to a lot of our victo-

college coaches discuss how to identify good candidates for slap hitting, how to teach the technique, and how to convert righties to hit from the opposite side of the plate.

From Hitter To SlapperCoaches of successful slap hitters know it takes a special combination of talents to execute a running swing at a 70 mph pitch and make it to first base in less than three seconds. It requires a tenacious batter who’s eager to attack the defense.

“You want a kid who loves to chal-lenge an opponent,” says John Tschida, Head Coach at the University of Saint Thomas. “They’re the types who look for

COVER STORY

After learning to slap, Tennessee’s India Chiles raised her batting average from .125 to .437, helping lead the Lady Volunteers to the title game of the 2007 NCAA Division I Women’s College World Series.


how they can exploit weaknesses. They also can’t be afraid to fail, because if they go up to the plate afraid, they won’t be able to find the extra gear they need.”

When searching for potential slap hit-ters, Tschida also looks for players who will be resilient through the stresses of learning the necessary skills. “I want kids who say, ‘I can. And if I can’t, I will,’” Tschida says.

Once good candidates are identi-fied, they often need some persuasion to adopt the style. For many players, espe-cially those who have never been on a slap hitting team, softball hitting prowess is measured in extra-base hits and RBIs, not ground ball singles. Louis Hoelman, Head Coach at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Md., says this prejudice can make hitters wary of an approach that focuses on reaching base by any means necessary.

“Because they won’t have as many extra-base hits or drive in the winning run, it can be hard for some hitters to switch,” Hoelman says. “Until they see results, they can be stubborn and slow to

believe in the slap.”To help players feel more comfortable

transitioning to slap hitting, Hoelman suggests showing them the success that can come with the strategy. “Point out other players who have made the switch successfully,” he says. “When a hitter gets on base three times in one game and three times in the next game, like a lot of slappers do, they’re going to be noticed. They may not be hitting home runs, but their contributions will more than make up for it.”

When Paul O’Brien took over as Head Coach at Archbishop Spaulding High School in Severn, Md., a team that tradi-tionally favored power hitters, he knew encouraging players to switch to an unfa-miliar style would be difficult. But he also knew that the more familiar his players became with the slap, the easier it would be to convert hitters in the future.

“In a program that’s established itself as a slap-hitting team, it’s easier to con-vince players to try it,” O’Brien says. “Here, it’s been a bit more challenging. But once I get some of the players I’m

COVER STORY

working with now turned around, they will serve as good examples for others coming in.”

Making The Switch Chiles was the perfect slap-hitting

candidate: great ground speed and bat control, aggressive, and right-handed. While players may feel uncomfortable at first, coaches often find that hitters become more productive after making the change.

To identify which right-handed hitters can make the switch, Tschida evaluates their natural swing and base running ability. “Typically, I’ll take a right-handed hitter who doesn’t have great power or mechanics but does have some speed and move them to the opposite side,” Tschida says. “The time spent teaching them proper mechanics for a right-handed swing can instead be used teach-ing them to slap.”

Travis Scott, Head Coach at Angelo State University, uses a similar method. Scott lets batting averages help deter-mine which players he will teach to hit

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left-handed and which he will keep as righties. “A lot depends on how good they are hitting right-handed,” Scott says. “If we have average hitter, say .260 or .300, who has the speed, we will try to move her to slap hitting. But if she’s a good hit-ter, anywhere above .350, we won’t mess with her. If she’s streaky, we might have her try both. In certain situations, like with no one out or leading off an inning, we’ll have her slap. But if she’s batting with runners in scoring position, we’ll let her swing.”

Those without much softball experi-ence can also make good candidates. Hoelman finds that at the high school level, right-handed newcomers with good speed can bring a clean slate into the batter’s box. With enough work, even right-handed hitters with previous experience can learn to swing naturally from the left-handed batter’s box.

“If I have a kid who doesn’t know much about softball, it’s just as easy to put her on the left side as the right side,” Hoelman says. “For players who already have some softball experience, it is just a


COVER STORY

matter of working until they feel as com-fortable in the left-handed batter’s box. All it takes is one bobble or hesitation by the defense for them to reach base.”

Mental aspects shouldn’t be over-looked when switching a hitter to slap-

ping. The player must be willing to put in long hours and countless swings to gain the level of comfort needed to progress to more in-depth drills.

“It’s tedious, mundane work because there are only a few skills to learn, but slap hitters need to practice them over and over and over,” Weekly says. “You need a player with the patience and work ethic to take thousands of swings from the tee to get comfortable hitting left-handed.”

Coaches must also remember that even right-handed hitters who can barely reach the warning track may see themselves as power hitters. “You have to groom them emotionally,” says Linda Wells, former Head Coach at Arizona State University.

“You have to clearly explain that this move will pay some real dividends over time.”

To keep players on track, there are always examples like Chiles—athletes who improved greatly after the transi-tion. “One thing I like best about teach-ing at the high school level is that when you watch the Women’s College World Series, there are always players who recently made the change to slap hitting and are already great at it,” Hoelman says. “That makes me unafraid to switch

Mental aspects shouldn’t be overlooked when switching a hitter to slapping. The player must be willing to put in long hours and countless swings to gain the level of comfort needed to progress to more in-depth drills.

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any of my athletes, because I know it’s being done successfully at the highest levels. I tell my players they can see results almost immediately, and they can be really great after a year.”

Teaching The SlapFor many coaches, the thought of

teaching a movement as intricate as slap-ping can be intimidating. But Weekly says breaking the motion down into its basic movements makes it very easy for players to learn.

“When you start out, keep it simple,” Weekly advises. “Some coaches make it too complicated by teaching players to take multiple steps as part of their footwork. Slappers need to learn how to cross the left foot over the right foot in the box for the motion. That’s it.”

Perfecting the slap can be made easy for your players as they slowly build the needed skill set. “For those who are just learning, their ability level has to meet your challenges,” Tschida says. “If they don’t see themselves as being any good, start them off with easier challenges. That’s why we use a progression of drills, starting with a swing standing still and progressing to live pitches. You want that kid to get fired up and motivated to keep trying, so you need

to slowly add challenges that allow her to see how she’s improving.”

When working with new slap-hitters, Hoelman starts with the kinds of drills players may have performed when they first learned to hit. Hitting off a tee allows athletes to focus on the crossover step before worrying about making con-tact with a moving ball.

“If you’re starting off with a station-ary ball, it’s easier to concentrate on the other aspects,” Hoelman says. “They can focus on their footwork first and make sure they have the step-back, step-forward before they think about hitting. After that, I’ll move to a short toss over the plate with a wiffle ball so they can see how the ball comes out of my hand.

“Instead of having them use a bat, I put a glove on their left hand and have them follow the ball into the glove with their eyes,” Hoelman continues. “If they can do that, they can follow it all the way to their bat. As the old saying goes, ‘Bunting is catching the ball with your bat.’ Slapping is the same way. If they can catch the ball on their bat, they’ll be able to place their hits correctly.”

Many players who are just learning to slap make the mistake of turning their left shoulder toward first base as they

make contact with the ball. This can lead to misplaced hits and ground outs, but can easily be avoided by focusing on the correct footwork.

“When they do the crossover step, I want the left toe pointing directly toward the plate,” says Steve Miner, Assistant Coach at San Diego State University. “As a rule, when a player crosses over, it’s natural for that left toe to turn and face the pitcher. Have them focus on keeping it facing the plate instead, which keeps their shoulders and hips back so they can hit toward the hole between shortstop and third base.”

Because ball placement is one of the most important aspects of slap hitting, Tschida borrows from billiards to teach his hitters. “When we’re doing drills off a tee, it’s very important to show them how best to aim the ball,” Tschida says. “So we’ll put a dot on the ball, like one you’d use when shooting pool. I want the dot facing directly opposite the shortstop hole, and through their motion the bat has to hit the dot directly. If it doesn’t, they’re going to pull the ball toward the pitcher or drive it down the line.

“The other thing I’ll do is take a sticker of a pair of eyes and put it at the point on the bat where they need to

If you ask five coaches how to defend against the slap, you’re liable to hear five different answers. But all will agree that covering the hole between third base and shortstop and putting pressure on the hitter are two of the best approaches.

“There are all kinds of goofy defenses people play, where they shift in position because the slapper isn’t able to hit hard slaps and can’t take advantage of a second base-man playing 30 feet in front of her down the middle,” says John Tschida, Head Coach at the University of Saint Thomas.

If a team faces a one-dimensional slapper, an extra infielder can help guard against hits while keeping base runners in check. “On defense, we’ll play a slapper straight up for the first at-bat to see what happens,” says Steve Miner, former Head Coach at Madison (Calif.) High School, who begins work ths season as an assistant coach at San Diego State University. “If she’s strictly a put-it-on-the-ground slap hitter,

I’ll take the outfielder who plays infield the best and move her behind the pitcher. I leave right field open because most slap hitters who also hit for power won’t hit it that way.

“If there’s a runner on first, this helps cover against the steal and allows the shortstop to focus on the batter,” he contin-ues. “It plays games with the hitter, who reacts by trying to aim the ball to right field, which forces her to do something she’s not comfortable with.”

With all the possible infield formations to combat the slap, coaches shouldn’t neglect their outfielders. “A lot of coach-es know how to shift their infield when facing a slap hitter but don’t do enough with the outfield,” Miner says. “You can really, really squeeze the outfielders. I teach them that when they see the batter take a crossover step, they should start charging. This helps take away any bloopers that get over the infielders’ heads, and even though you might get burned once in a while, it generally works well.”

DEFENDING AGAINST THE SLAP18 COACHING MANAGEMENT

COVER STORY

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EQUIPMENTCOVER STORY

make contact,” he continues. “Whether they’re drag bunting or slapping, they want those eyes to point directly at their target. If those eyes are facing the short-stop, that’s where the ball is going to go. If they’re facing the third baseman, it will go there.”

Tschida knows there’s only so much

he can teach his slap hitters, so he encourages them to learn by watch-ing each other as well. “Every hitter is unique, especially when they’re learn-ing the different styles of slapping,” Tschida says. “So I’ll have four or five slap hitters stand behind the cage dur-ing batting practice. I’ll put a tee in

front of each of them, not necessarily to hold the ball but to make sure they keep the bat head in. Going through the motions together helps get their timing down.

“I’ll have them do the same thing before they come to the plate,” Tschida continues. “If you watch the top teams,

their on-deck hitters are in unison with the hitter at the plate, working on breaking the pitcher’s timing.”

There is no one correct way to slap. Some players use a shuffle step as they leave the box, and others a more pro-nounced crossover. Some choke up on the bat while others may have better

control with lower hands. Picking a single approach for all

your athletes can be counter produc-tive. “The more I try to teach slap hitting, the more methods I realize are effective,” O’Brien says. “Instead of picking one technique and sticking with it for eternity, the wisest coaches look at all the different approaches being used and incorporate all the variations. Being open to the whole variety really helps your players, because what works for one might not work for another.”

Getting RealSlapping a ball off a tee is one thing.

Connecting when the defense is bear-ing down and a pitch is whizzing by is another. To fully develop your slap hit-ters, they need to undergo a “trial by fire,” where they can move past mechan-ics and understand how to use their skills in a real game.

For O’Brien, that means insert-ing slap hitters into the lineup while they’re still learning. “It’s important to get them into a game to work on it,” he

“I’ll have four or five slap hitters stand behind the cage during batting practice. I’ll put a tee in front of them, not necessarily to hold the ball but to make sure they keep the bat head in. Going through the motions together helps get their timing down.”

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COVER STORY

says. “They need to see live pitching to realize the slap is more effective than they might think. They need to prac-tice reading the defense to know where those holes are going to open up.”

Game situations can help slap hit-ters understand when a soft drag bunt might be more effective than a hard slap between the shortstop and third base. Coaches can help this process by explaining strategies and encouraging batters to open their eyes to better see the game around them.

“The key for hitters is to be in con-trol and know when to use each of their weapons,” Tschida says. “By watch-ing video of game situations, they can see where holes are opening, so when they’re up to bat the next time it will be easier to recognize.

“A lot of times, slap hitters will start a pitch intending to slap, but the pitch is bad and as they follow the ball into the catcher’s glove they lose focus on what the defense did against them,” Tschida continues. “It’s important to teach them to look up quickly after a pitch to see how the defense is aligned. I tell my players that’s the game talking to them, and they have to stop and listen.”

By using variations on the slap, hitters can keep the defense guessing. “A lot of times I’ll have players show bunt before they slap, or even fake bunt then fake slap,” says Tschida. “Having them swing away at a pitch can throw the defense off. Even if the hitter misses completely, the outfielders will step back.”

These variations can be especially effective when the defense knows a player will be slap hitting and tries to key in on her. “Against a good defensive team that’s trying to shut down our slappers, we’ll hit more of a power slap over the infielders,” Hoelman says. “The key is using different decoys, like a fake drag bunt to bring them in, then pulling back and slapping.

“Also, I recently began teaching all my slappers to take full swings,” Hoelman continues. “I usually have my first two hitters stand in the left-handed batter’s box, and if the first baseman starts in, I’ll have them swing away. That keeps the defense on its toes and opens up the slapping game.”

Aside from creating openings to exploit, slap hitters can make it more difficult for the defense to keep track of base runners. “If you’ve got a runner

on first, a slapper can hide her from the catcher,” Tschida says. “The catcher knows the runner is flying off the base, but can’t see her until the second or third step. With a runner on second, you can have her steal when the third base-man is charging the ball, and a lot of times that leads to the catcher throwing to an empty base and the runner getting a free run.”

At times, slap hitters will inevitably fail. They will misplace hits and ground

out, pop up, or fail to beat out a throw. But coaches agree that sticking with the slap and continuing to pressure the defense will produce great results in the long run.

“Slap hitting is like penicillin,” says O’Brien. “If you just keep going with it, it’s going to be effective sooner or later. It forces the defense to make difficult plays. And even if they can make those difficult plays in the early innings, they’ll have to keep making them all game long.” ■

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You’re reading the morning newspa-per or casually scanning the coaching job boards, and you see it: your dream job. You’re at a point in your career when your experience and skills fit all the requirements. You’re excited. You think about picking up the phone to tell the school’s athletic director that you’re the perfect person for the job.

But then you ask yourself: Is that the right way to go? How do you land an interview for a coaching job you desper-ately want?

The competition for coaching posi-tions can be fierce, and getting noticed is not easy. For some jobs, hundreds of resumes will arrive on an athletic direc-tor’s desk, and only a handful of appli-

a go-getter, but not as a loudmouth. You want to follow directions, but also show that you can exceed expectations.

That’s why the first step in the pro-cess is to learn exactly how to apply for the position. No matter how you found the job opening, always check the institution’s Web site for the official posting. This description will tell you where to send your resume and pro-vide any special instructions, like whether

Will Reece is the Founder, President, and CEO of Next Level Consulting, which assists coaches at all levels in personal branding and communications. He is also a former coach and athletic administrator, and can be reached through his Web site at: www.nextlevel.us.

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cants will be interviewed. How you pro-ceed over the next few days is critical.

Your goal is to create a buzz about yourself with the athletic director and hiring committee members. You want to gather momentum so the committee will be excited to learn more about you. To do that, you need to follow a system-atic approach to keeping your name in front of decision-makers throughout the application process.

Initial Contact The number one factor in landing

that interview is how you present your-self. The trick is to be aggressive while also showing that you’re a team player. You want to stand out from the crowd as

YOUR CAREER


Looking to climb the coaching ladder? To land an interview in today’s highly competitive job market, coaches need a systematic and dynamic strategy.

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way you want—rather than being blurred by lines on an old fax machine or jum-bled because an administrator opened your text file with the wrong program.

Check the tracking information, and three days after your materials arrive, make a follow-up contact. Send an e-mail inquiry asking whether your materials have been received and letting the search committee know they can call with any questions. E-mail is instant and the con-tact person can read it as their schedule permits. It also opens up an easy line of communication if they have any addition-al questions for you. If you call instead, keep your conversation brief while com-municating the same message.

Presenting Yourself On PaperTraditionally, applying for a job requires

you to send in your resume and a list of references. However, in today’s world of coaching hires, that isn’t enough. To make yourself stand out, you need to present a polished description of your philosophy and accomplishments. The best way to do this is by compiling a portfolio.

they’re willing to receive e-mails or phone calls. If the posting says no phone calls and you call anyway, you are definitely not starting out on the right foot.

If phone calls are permitted, you should contact the athletic director (or the appropriate hiring person) as soon as possible. Prepare a 30-second pitch that quickly highlights why you are a good can-didate for the job. Tell them who you are, what position you currently hold, one or two professional accomplishments, and your intention to apply for the job. If the person on the other end of the line is receptive, ask how long the process will take, then close with a positive, confident statement. If you can’t reach the athletic director by phone, then leave a 30-second voicemail message or send a brief e-mail.

Here’s an example of an appropri-ate phone message: “Mr. Smith, this is Jane Jones. I am currently the assistant coach at State, and I am calling to let you know of my interest in your head softball coaching position. We have been very successful at State. This past year we won the conference championship and were

ranked in the top-20 in the nation. We have consistently recruited the top stu-dent-athletes in the state. I am sending my resume and references, which should reach you later today. I look forward to having an opportunity to share my vision for your softball program with the search committee.”

What are some tips for this initial con-versation? You want to be positive and upbeat, but not obnoxious. You should come off as confident, but not cocky. And you want to be honest—if things work out, this athletic director will be your next boss, so represent yourself truthfully throughout the process.

The day you make contact with the hiring school, fax or e-mail a copy of your resume. Follow that up by sending any additional materials, with another copy of your resume, via overnight mail. The value of sending overnight (or second-day delivery) is that recipients generally turn their attention toward overnight deliveries before opening regular mail. And by sending a printed resume, you can be assured everything will look the

YOUR CAREER

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Each hiring process is different from the next, and some can be downright quirky. At one school, coaches may be hired solely by an ath-letic director who is eager for as many references as possible. At another school, a hiring committee may be used, with very strict rules on what information is allowed.

To deal with the nuances, try to find out as much information as possible about the process. What is the timetable? Who are the members of the search com-mittee? How will the decision be made? What type of coach is the school looking for? Why did the former coach leave?

Getting this information is not as difficult as it may sound. Usually, you can find an inside connection who will be able to provide you with answers. You may know a coach who knows a coach at the school. You may be able to call the coach who is leaving. Or one of your ref-erences may be able to ask these questions for you.

If not, it helps to establish good communication with the athletic director’s staff. Generally, you will have contact with them in the follow-up process. If handled

professionally, these people can be a great source of information.

It’s especially impor-tant to find out how the hiring decision will be made. For example, if student-athletes’ parents make up a good chunk of the search committee and have a final vote, you’ll want to include something about working with parents in your philoso-phy statement. If the departing coach was let go due to poor academics by his athletes, add something about your student-athletes’ academic achievements in your portfolio’s highlights section, or even directly on your resume.

Since coaches are used to competition, many spend a lot of energy trying to find out who else is applying for the job. This is not a good use of your time—and it’s cer-tainly not as important as finding out about the search process. All it leads you to is trying to discredit another candidate, which will ultimately reflect poorly on you.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK

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al life in your portfolio, but employers are not permitted to ask follow-up ques-tions relating to it and cannot use it to make their hiring decisions.

Career Highlights: In this section, list your professional accomplishments. Include individual and team honors, awards, records, and other important information. Some coaches say they are reluctant to list honors because it will seem like they are tooting their own horn. But the truth is, if you’re not high-lighting your accomplishments, nobody else will. Rest assured that listing these achievements in your portfolio is infor-mative and not conceited.

The first step in formulating your high-lights section is to compile an exhaustive “brag” sheet. List every piece of positive recognition you have received through-out your playing and coaching career. Then include those honors in your port-folio that are most relevant to the position you are seeking. Also, be sure to include the accomplishments of your players. If you had a player named conference MVP, you as a coach played a role in developing


YOUR CAREER

Today’s athletic directors want coaches with a vision and a professional image, so that’s how you need to present yourself. You need to accurately communicate your successes and beliefs. You need to come across as a multi-dimensional coach with a personal brand.

Your portfolio should be broken down into three sections: biographical infor-mation, career highlights, and coaching philosophy. Strive to make your infor-mation clear, well organized, and easy to read, and make sure there are no gram-matical mistakes or typos.

Biographical Information: This is the section that most resembles a traditional resume. It should contain: education, playing experience, coaching experience, other related work experience, member-ships in professional organizations and on committees, and any significant volun-teer work. It usually works best to list your information chronologically, starting with the most recent position.

First and foremost, be absolutely cer-tain that the information in this section is accurate and truthful. There have been

several highly publicized cases in recent years of coaches “beefing up” their infor-mation and subsequently losing their jobs when the truth came out. Today we live in a society where information travels around the world in the time it takes to click a mouse. The chances of getting away with misrepresenting yourself are slim.

If you have an established career and track record, you should simply list your past positions and dates. However, if you have limited work experience, add a couple of lines describing the duties and responsibilities at each of the positions you have held. This will impress upon potential employers that even though you may not have extensive work experi-ence, you have had the opportunity to start building a quality skill set.

You should be aware that including personal information is not required. In fact, employment law prohibits those hir-ing from asking candidates about their personal lives. Personal items include your birth date, marital status, family background, and health issues. You can include information about your person-

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(and possibly recruiting) that player.Think about how to “spin” your

achievements. To be clear, you should never include information that is not true, but sometimes you can present the facts for maximum impact. For instance, you may have led your team to a respect-able 16-14 record in your first season. But you can also compare that record to previous years to show improvement. Let’s say the team finished 4-26 the sea-son before you got there. That means you accomplished a 300-percent improve-ment in your first season.

You can also use this section to fill any holes in your resume. For example, if you have only worked at the NCAA Division III level and you are applying for a job in Division I, include some information on how your experiences have prepared you to work at a Division I school.

Philosophy: It is important to have a coaching philosophy that is detailed, organized, and well written. I suggest breaking down your philosophy into tech-nical and program approaches. A techni-cal philosophy consists of how a coach

feels the game should be played. This may include offensive and defensive strat-egies, and your practice and strength and conditioning philosophies. A pro-gram philosophy includes all the factors that go into building and maintaining a championship program, such as motivat-ing athletes, team building, academics, fundraising, recruiting (at the college level), discipline, and public relations.

The position you are applying for will dictate whether to include your phi-losophy in your portfolio. Generally, if you are applying for a head coaching position, it is important to include an explanation of your philosophy. If you are applying for an assistant coaching position, it’s not appropriate to include your personal philosophy. As an assistant coach you will be expected to implement the head coach’s philosophy.

Extra Touches: If you have the resourc-es, you can add visual elements to make your portfolio stand out. Using the coach-ing example mentioned, you might include a bar graph showing four wins before you arrived and 16 wins the next

YOUR CAREER

season. This gives readers a visual image that jumps off the page.

Photos are another way to high-light your accomplishments. Let’s say you’re an assistant softball coach at the NCAA Division I level and have recruited several All-American athletes. To send a powerful message, you could include a full-page picture of one of these athletes with a tagline that says: “Recruited to State by Coach Jones, Jana Smith went on to be a three-time All-American.”

If you have written recommenda-tions from well-known coaches, it can be effective to add a section of quotes from these people. You could even add small photos of the coaches to accompany their quotes.

Bringing In The Big GunsOnce you’ve made initial contact and

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whom you played, or a coach you met through networking.

You should ask two or three of these people to call the athletic director (or whomever is the contact person) to rec-ommend you for the position. Arrange these calls to come on consecutive days so the contact person is hearing about you each day. And be sure to send a copy of your resume so your references can refresh themselves on the details of your career before they call.

Selecting those who will call is of the utmost importance. Many young coaches approach “big name” coaches they might have had a 10-minute con-versation with at a clinic and ask them to call. This generally backfires. The coach doesn’t know you well enough to answer questions the athletic director might ask about you. He or she may actually end up recommending another candidate with whom he or she has a personal rela-tionship!

Choose coaches or administrators who know and respect you. If there are specific points you would like them to bring out, discuss them in advance. For

example, if this would be your first head coaching job, ask them to talk about your leadership skills and how you are ready to take on a higher profile position.

Think of anyone who would strike a chord with the contact person. If you know a coach who has a relationship with the hiring athletic director, you have an ideal scenario. If the contact person is not an athletic administrator, then it may be beneficial to have someone in a similar position at your current institution call on your behalf.

High school coaches often ask me what it takes to jump to the college ranks. This is a tough move to make, and bring-ing in the big guns is critical. Working camps, attending clinics, and volunteer-ing at events are all important steps to build relationships with college coaches. When networking, look to build authen-tic relationships. If you are trying to make friends just to move up, you will only end up hurting yourself.

This type of jump often necessitates more than two or three phone calls from successful coaches who can recommend you. And in addition to their phone calls,

you should have a long list of references available by mail, e-mail, or fax.

Playing It CoolAs you make your way through this

process, there are two more tips to keep in mind. One, make sure to time your approach: Make contact, send in your portfolio, follow it up, and bring in the big guns, in that order. This timetable ensures decision-makers will be hearing your name throughout the process.

Two, don’t become a stalker. If you or your references call too many times, you run the risk of inundating the deci-sion-makers. Although being persistent is a great trait for a coach, being overly persistent could be a real turn-off.

Play it cool and use a systematic approach that keeps your name in front of the search committee, while respect-ing their time and the job they have to do. Play up your strengths and come across as a confident, savvy coach who knows how things should be done. ■

Versions of this article have appeared in other edi-tions of Coaching Management.

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O YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME you tried to do something athletic with your nondomi-nant hand? For me, it was shooting a layup left-handed as a kid. It was a disaster.

That was my introduction to lateral dominance, and I’m still intrigued by the concept today. Technically, lateral domi-nance is the preference for one extrem-ity or a half of the body over the other. It is a fancy term for saying someone is right- or left-handed—but it means a lot more than simply identifying which hand a person writes or throws with.

Unless they are ambidextrous, every athlete is more proficient with one side of their body than the other. In soft-ball, a player’s dominant hand is one of A

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An infielder will benefit from having superb coordination on both sides of her body, allowing her to move well to the right and the left.

Another clear reason for addressing lateral dominance in training is that if an athlete progresses through her career only using the dominant limb or the dominant side, she runs the risk of over-use. Through repetitive stress, a structur-al or functional imbalance can occur and lead to injury or impaired performance.

Vern Gambetta is the President of Gambetta Sports Training Systems in Sarasota, Fla., and a frequent contributor to Coaching Management. His daily thoughts on training athletes can be viewed on his blog at: www.functionalpathtraining.blogspot.com.

D BY VERN GAMBETTA

her defining characteristics. Pitchers are either righties or lefties and batters stand on one side of the plate or the other. It’s also a huge part of game strategy. But lateral dominance plays a role in so many other aspects of the game, and overcom-ing the preference to favor one side can lead to performance enhancement.

Why Is It Important?There are several reasons why lateral

dominance is important in training your athletes. The most obvious is that an underdeveloped limb or side of the body can limit performance. No matter which arm your fielder is throwing with, if she can move both arms and both legs with equal proficiency, she gains an advantage over the athlete who cannot.

BALANCE OF POWER



Helping players work past their natural tendency to be right- or left-handed can improve their proficiency on both sides and develop them into more complete athletes.

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cises for several sports, I’ve observed heightened awareness and improved coordination on the dominant side after having worked the nondominant side. Janis Lusis, former world record holder and multiple Olympic medalist in the jav-elin throw, is right-handed, but he used to end each throwing workout with 10 to 20 easy-effort left-handed throws. He said the exercise helped hone his balance and coordination. Obviously this needs to be studied further, but I am convinced there is merit to the concept.

Development Of DominanceTo understand the larger concept of

lateral dominance, it’s helpful to exam-ine it as it relates to growth and develop-ment. In this field, laterality refers to the conscious awareness that there are two sides of the body. Through movement experience during growth, children become increasingly aware of their right versus their left side and develop patterns of dominance. Between the ages of five and seven, these patterns really begin to reveal themselves, although research has

I’ve seen plenty of pitchers with overuse injuries in their pitching arms.

But there are also some less obvious reasons why you should pay attention to this concept. In particular, it is often the nondominant side that performs the function of deceleration. Think about your shortstop running toward second base to field a ground ball, stepping on the bag, and throwing to first to turn a double play. As she approaches the base, she uses her dominant leg to position herself for the throw. If her body is off balance as she makes her approach, her nondominant leg will play a huge role in decelerating and stabilizing her body. If that nondominant leg needs to shift at the last second to avoid a base runner sliding in, it needs to be strong enough to do so safely and effectively. Otherwise, performance will suffer and injury may result.

There is also the idea that training the nondominant limb may improve per-formance with the dominant limb. This concept is called bilateral transfer. For example, an athlete who has one leg in

a cast can do strength-training exercises using the non-injured leg to help keep the injured leg strong. The technique has been used in rehab for years and the positive implications are obvious.

The question is, can it also work for performance enhancement? We are talk-ing about the same body and the same nervous system, so logic tells us that it should work when training a healthy ath-lete. Unfortunately, no research has been conducted on the concept. But anecdot-ally, I have found it can be effective.

When I was the Strength and Con-ditioning Coach for the Chicago White Sox from 1987 to 1996, we experimented with having our pitchers play catch using their nondominant arm the day after they pitched in a game. Their dominant arm was usually pretty sore from pitch-ing the day before, so we wanted to work their opposite arm and take advantage of bilateral transfer. The results were hard to measure, but those pitchers who com-mitted to the exercise liked it and felt it helped their dominant arm.

Having used bilateral transfer exer-


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shown that a preference for use of the right or the left hand is not permanently established until age nine or 10. Foot preference, however, seems to be estab-lished by age five.

Therefore, the ideal period for chil-dren to develop bilateral movement is during the so-called “skill hungry years” of six to nine. This does not mean that we should train young athletes to be ambidextrous—not at all. Rather, we are simply attempting to develop nondomi-nant limb skills with the goal of enhanc-ing the efficiency of the entire body.

How does this concept work neurologi-cally? In motor learning, as in all learning, the brain needs to receive information in order to develop. The body provides that information to the brain, which processes the data and turns it into signals that trigger the appropriate movements. The brain has two hemispheres: the logical left brain, and the right brain—what I call the perceptual side. Optimal learning occurs when there is rapid communica-tion between both sides. The term for this is cross-lateral control.

One book on the subject that really opened my eyes is The Dominance Factor, by Carla Hannaford. This book approaches the concept of lateral dominance from the viewpoint of a learning disabilities spe-cialist, but the implications for sports per-formance enhancement are intriguing. Hannaford goes beyond just identifying dominant arm—she identifies dominant eye, ear, and foot. She also talks about how these dominance patterns interact to provide information to the brain.

An obvious way these ideas cross over to athletics is examining how a dominant eye affects the way an athlete tracks a ball. A more subtle concept, however, is how dominance patterns affect the manner in which an athlete learns. It can be very helpful to know if an athlete processes information better using auditory cues or by receiving visual cues, or if processing complicated feedback will be difficult.

The book also made me think about how important it is for all areas of the brain to be in sync when processing information. According to Hannaford, “The optimal learning state is one of

whole-brain integration. In this state, both hemispheres are equally active all the time, thus accessing all sensory infor-mation and effectively communicating, moving, and acting on information.”

As coaches, we know that our most effective practice sessions occur when an athlete is totally focused, with every muscle of their body eager to respond to stimuli. The more we understand how the brain works, the better we can train our athletes to achieve this focus. If therapists can teach students to overcome disabili-ties rooted in certain brain dominances, we can teach athletes to overcome lateral dominance and enhance performance.

Training Both SidesI am not saying we should train the

right-handed pitcher to throw left-hand-ed, or devote half our training to develop-ing the nondominant side—that would be a waste of time. Ultimately, most ath-letes must perform optimally with their dominant limbs, so everything we do in training should focus on enhancing skills in those limbs. However, I feel that spend-


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cause and systematically address it. This requires a specially designed program for each individual athlete.

If lateral dominance is not causing major problems but you’d still like to improve an athlete’s nondominant limb proficiency, I suggest adding small doses of nondominant training to their work-outs. Most of this training can be classified as remedial work and can be implement-ed as part of warmup or cooldown. I have



ing a small amount of time training the nondominant side of the body will help achieve this overall performance goal.

The obvious question, then, is when and how much should the nondominant side be trained? The answer depends on the athlete and her training and perfor-mance goals.

The first step is to assess whether the athlete has major problems caused by lateral dominance. You can do this

through observation and testing. Tests should be agility-based and force the athlete to move both right and left.

If deficiencies due to lateral domi-nance are affecting the athlete’s play, find out why they are better at going in one direction than the other. Is it a strength imbalance? Does a prior injury limit their ability to move to one side? Is it a prob-lem with motor perception? To remedy this situation, it is necessary to find the

COORDINATION DRILLS

Practicing synchronization of movement will heighten body awareness and improve coordination of the non-dominant side. Here are some examples of these simple exercises:■■ Perform circles with one arm and punches with the

other. Quickly switch arm movements after about 10 reps.

■■ Jump forward and backward with both arms overhead moving side to side.

■■ Stand in place and rotate the hips clockwise and the head counterclockwise.

■■ Dribble a basketball with each hand using equal effort.■■ Dribble two balls with unequal effort—hard with one

hand and soft with the other.■■ Dribble two balls of different dimensions. For exam-

ple, bounce a volleyball in one hand and a basketball in the other.

■■ Catch and throw with the nondominant arm.■■ Kick with the nondominant leg.

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also found these types of exercises to be good “homework” for athletes to do and can be as simple as throwing and catch-ing with the nondominant hand.

I wrote earlier about getting both sides of the brain to work together. A great way to achieve this is through cross-lateral physical movements—where limbs coordinate with their counterpart on the other side. The simplest form of cross-lateral movement is crawling, done using both arms and both legs. I include crawl-ing as part of every warmup and add a specific crawling module to my core-training workouts. Examples include bear crawls and Spiderman crawls.

For coordination training, I incor-porate work that involves the nondomi-nant side in novel tasks, not just the sport skill exercises. I am not seeking a direct transfer with these everyday exer-cises, but practicing synchronization of movement that heightens body aware-ness and awareness of the nondominant side. These unrelated movements will open neural pathways and wake up the nervous system (See “Coordination Drills” on page 34).

A good place for your players to work toward bilateral transfer is in the weight-room. Obviously, this kind of exercise is not feasible for every workout, but I use it where it fits. The idea does, however, require a whole paradigm shift on the role of strength training toward enhanc-ing coordination and the efficiency of movement patterns. This type of work does not improve heavy lifting, but it is more functional because it develops more useable strength.

For example, have athletes do an alternate dumbbell press instead of a two-arm press with a bar. Lunges and single-leg squats can be used for the lower body. This will facilitate lateral transfer while also achieving standard strength gains.

In core strength and stability training, it is very important to work both sides of the body in a balanced way. This does not take any extra effort—it just means setting up your drills to focus on both sides equally.

It’s also a good idea to examine some everyday things athletes do that affect their lateral dominance. For example, base run-ners always run counterclockwise around the bases. To achieve greater balance, simply have them do a portion of their training—such as their daily warmup and cooldown runs—in a clockwise direction.


Lastly, remember that lateral domi-nance is not just about training left and right body movements, but also about other nondominant patterns of move-ment. Therefore, work the following movement combinations into workouts where appropriate:

■ Right/Left■ Forward/Back■ Up/Down■ Over/Under■ Clockwise/Counterclockwise■ Side and Diagonal.

Training both sides of the body will ultimately enhance total movement skills. Doing so doesn’t mean you have to revamp your practices or workouts, it just requires thinking about going to “the other side” in your program design. It will open new movement territory, enhance body awareness, and help your athletes explore the body’s potential. ■

Versions of this article were previously published in our sister publication Training & Conditioning and in other editions of Coaching Management.



Circle No. 130


Softball Field

Beacon Athletics800-747-5985www.beaconathletics.com

The Tensioned Batting Cage by Beacon Athletics is for indoor or outdoor use. It’s designed to accommodate space restric-

tions, bleach-ers, or stage areas. With its unique three-pulley system, the cage can be raised and

tensioned as needed. It can be put up or taken down in 10 minutes, and no per-manent frame or cable structure remains when the cage is removed. It’s ideal for outdoor use because it can be taken down during inclement weather.

Circle No. 500

BetterBaseball800-997-4233www.betterbaseball.com

BetterBaseball is a total baseball and softball supply house, specializing in nets and batting cages that are cus-tom cut to any size you want. The com-pany provides quick, friendly customer ser-vice. BetterBaseball supplies everything, including bases, plates, mounds, gear, and hardware. All team equipment needs can be found easily online, or you can call the company toll-free for more product information.

Circle No. 501

Colorado Lining888-546-4641www.weather-beater.com

Protect your field with WeatherBeater®’s athletic covers. The company’s prod-ucts include field covers, sideline cov-ers, infield shields, windscreens, event flooring, gym floor covers, custom logo

printing, and more. WeatherBeater, by Colorado Lining, has more than 28 years and half a billion square feet of experience converting plastics for vari-

ous industries. For literature and more information, call today or visit the com-pany online.

Circle No. 502

DiGeronimo Aggregates888-593-0395www.hayditegame-on.com

Game-On is a sports field soil condi-tioner that will not break your budget and will provide excellent results. It is a lightweight, expanded-shale product that absorbs more than 20 percent of

its weight in water. Game-On is more durable than clay products and tends not to break down into fine particles. The Game-On product line also includes Game-On Red top-

dressing, Game-On warning track mix, and Game Dry drying agent. Game-On is available both in bags and in bulk.

Circle No. 503

Game-On hits a home run with Game-On Red topdressing. Game-On Red has a brick-red color and gives your field that professional finish-ing touch. It offers a more consistent bounce, and the deep red color allows your infielders to see the ball more easily. Game-On Red is available in bags and in bulk.

Circle No. 504

Earth & Turf Products, LLC888-693-2638www.earthandturf.com

The Earth & Turf MultiSpread 200 spreads a variety of materials—top-dressing for lawns, golf courses and athletic fields; crumbed rubber; infield mix for baseball and softball infields; chips on pathways; and salt-sand or grit on side-walks and driveways. Its capac-ity is 15 cubic feet, and its spread width is up to 60 inches. It’s available with ground drive or hydraulic

drive, and the 200 model can be pulled easily by a variety of tow vehicles, including ATVs. An optional loading chute facilitates loading from buckets up to 66 inches wide. An available wing kit for the rear shield permits easy control of the spread pattern width and direction.

Circle No. 505

Fair-Play Scoreboards800-247-0265www.fair-play.com

Fair-Play baseball and softball score-boards are designed around essential

game infor-mation. They give you the must-have statistics, as well as options that benefit fans, players, and

coaches. Some of these options include an at-bat indicator, pitch speed, field time, and areas for sponsor or team sig-nage. When it comes to softball, reading the situation is an integral part of the game. Catch the spirit of Fair-Play.

Circle No. 506

Many parks and recreational facilities accommodate multiple sports on the same field. The most common question is, “How can I get a score-board that will provide adequate game information for all events?” Multi-use fields are a Fair-Play specialty. From soft-ball to soccer to lacrosse, these unique environments call for a scoreboard that can change with the seasons. Whatever your sport, Fair-Play Scoreboards manu-factures a complete range of products to score, time, and display.

Circle No. 507

M.A.S.A., Inc.800-264-4519www.masa.comwww.sportsadvantage.com

M.A.S.A. has welcomed the new Fence Guard Lite to its family of fence guards. Fence Guard Lite is priced for the tight-


Softball Field

est budgets. It protects against chain link fence injuries, increases fence vis-

ibility, and can add beauty to any field. With the addition of Fence Guard Lite, M.A.S.A. now has three grades of fence guards: Premium,

Standard, and Lite. All three feature exterior-grade UV-resistant polyethylene

construction that is maintenance free and designed to produce the longest-lasting fence caps available. Call or visit the company’s Web site for more information.

Circle No. 508

M.A.S.A. carries a large selection of heavy-duty White Line Markers that are constructed for a lifetime of use. The company’s All Star Pneumatic Wheel version is its top-selling liner, with dura-ble construction and unique features to meet even the toughest demands. For

more than 20 years, White Line Markers have been respected as some of the most accurate and durable markers available. Call a M.A.S.A. representative for knowledgeable expertise to help you

choose a marker that’s best for your organization and budget. For more infor-mation, visit the company’s Web site.

Circle No. 509

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Joyner_CM1507.indd 1 8/28/07 10:34:34 AM

Circle No. 131


Softball Field

Pro’s Choice800-648-1166www.proschoice1.com

Rapid Dry drying agent quickly wicks excess water away from your softball field and helps improve soil consis-

tency. It’s not a dusty powder,

and its granules are perfectly sized for both stability and absorption. Rapid Dry’s sand-like texture even improves footing on slippery surfaces. Just pour it on any wet spots and get back in the game, fast. When you need a game saver, you want Rapid Dry drying agent in the lineup.

Circle No. 510

Pro’s Choice Red infield conditioner is designed to meet the challenges of wet, dry, or compacted infields. This legendary product is the first choice of professional groundskeepers for build-ing and maintaining winning softball fields season after season. It manages the moisture on your field, keeping it in top playing condition. Pro’s Choice Red infield conditioner is the all-star veteran of the Pro’s Choice lineup.

Circle No. 511

Beam Clay®800-247-BEAMwww.beamclay.com

Beam Clay® offers FenceGuards™ protective covers for chain-link fenc-ing. FenceGuards are available in six colors—safety yellow, dark green, red,

white, blue, and orange—and in premium, standard, and lite

grades. These heavy-duty, UV-resistant polyethylene covers protect players from chain-link fence injuries and pro-vide a neat and distinctive look for fencing. FenceGuards come in cartons of 10 eight-foot pre-drilled sections and include UV-resistant ties for securing every two feet to the fence.

Circle No. 512

Promats800-678-6287www.promats.com

Z Clip attached Field Wall Pads from Promats are constructed of 3/4-inch-thick exterior-grade (sealed) plywood and

3-inch-thick high-impact foam. They’re covered in 16-ounce high-UV vinyl. This style of wall padding can

be used on concrete, masonry, block, or wooden walls. Because the vinyl is stretched tight and stapled to the back side of the plywood, this product is ideal for applying advertising copy or logos directly to the pad surface.

Circle No. 513

Qualite Sports Lighting, Inc.800-933-9741www.qualite.com

Qualite’s factory-wired, pre-aimed, pre-assembled lighting systems allow for easy on-site assembly and reduced installation costs. Choose the Gold Series, ProSeries™, or International—each one offers unique characteris-tics to solve a facil-ity’s specific light-ing needs, and all systems are backed by one of the best 10-year warranties in the business. These systems provide excellent spill light control with optimum field lighting. Standard remote ballasts are used for all these systems, and the patented MDS allows you to conduct important safety tests from the ground with the power turned off.

Circle No. 514

SPI Nets, Inc.866-243-6387www.spinets.net

SPI Nets’ full-service net building facil-ity offers top-quality nets at unbeatable

prices. The com-pany stocks and custom builds a wide variety of nylon and poly

batting cage nets, protective screens, and deflective barrier netting products. All custom nets are guaranteed to be of the highest quality, and built in the USA to meet all your needs. Call SPI Nets toll-free or go online to learn more.

Circle No. 515

Universal Sports Lighting217-648-5201www.uslnet.com

The baseball field at the LaPlata County (Colo.) Fairgrounds features a Universal Sports Lighting system that

maintains 50 footcandles of light in the infield and 30 footcandles in the outfield. Following IES design criteria, this field has a system that can pro-vide consistent levels of light through-out its lifespan. The lighting system is environmentally sensitive—it includes internal controls that provide out-standing spill and glare control.

Circle No. 516

Stabilizer Solutions, Inc.800-336-2468www.stabilizersolutions.com

Stabilizer Ballyard Products designed the Hilltopper product line specifically for the game of softball. The Hilltopper family is a leader in all-weather field amend-ments. These products shed water from the playing surface and are dust-free. They do not require water for installation or mainte-nance. This innovative line includes the Hilltopper Mound & Homeplate Clay, Hilltopper Infield Mix, Hilltopper Warning Track Mix, and Hilltopper Conditioner. Whatever your style of play, Hilltopper delivers.

Circle No. 517


Softball Field

cost savings. Its heavy-duty aluminum construction, easy portability, and col-lapsible design make it the perfect back-stop for any level. Measuring 18’ W x 12’ H x 22’ D, the Big Bubba collapses to only five feet high. Its unique dolly assembly at the rear and 16-inch pneu-matic wheels make relocation simple.

Circle No. 520

Circle No. 133

TXI/Diamond Pro800-228-2987www.diamondpro.com

Diamond Pro offers a complete line of professional groundskeeping prod-ucts: infield conditioners, calcined clay, mound and home plate clay, bricks, marking dust, and infield and warning

track mixes. The company offers fast and conve-nient delivery. Diamond Pro’s vitrified red

clay infield conditioner is available in bulk nationwide, and is easy to handle and apply. Truckloads are available in 10-, 15-, and 24-ton loads that save you both time and money. Create an all-around safe and professional infield playing surface for your team.

Circle No. 518

Soft Touch Bases866-544-2077www.softtouchbases.com

Soft Touch “progressive release” bases are designed to flex and absorb energy

as a player slides into the base. In the case of uncontrolled slides, the “progressive release” action allows the base to flex until enough force is applied to “pop” the base free from its mount, unlike a stationary base.

Circle No. 519

Vantage Products International800-244-4457www.vpisports.com

VPI offers the Big Bubba professional portable batting cage. The Big Bubba is

one of the leading choices for high school, college, and

professional baseball and softball pro-grams—and is available at considerable

Untitled-1 1 2/1/07 2:22:22 PM

Circle No. 132

Check out

www.AthleticBid.comto contact

these companies.

Batting TunnelsProtective Screens • Field Equipment

Custom Netting • Outfield Screen8410 Wolf Lake Drive, Suite 106

Memphis, TN 38133-4049 800-244-4457

Untitled-1 1 7/21/05 9:52:22 AM


P R O D U C T S D I R E C T O R YCIRCLE COMPANY PAGE CIRCLE COMPANY PAGENO. NO. NO. NO

542 . . Adams USA (Chest Protectors/Leg Guards) . 46

541 . . . Adams USA (Knee Guard) . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

537. . . Adams USA (product launch) . . . . . . . . . . 45

535 . . ATEC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

500 . . Beacon Athletics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

512 . . . Beam Clay® . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

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501. . . BetterBaseball (nets and cages) . . . . . 36

549 . . Boathouse Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

558 . . Cardinal Publishers Group . . . . . . . 48

538 . . Cho-Pat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

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506 . . Fair-Play (baseball/softball) . . . . . . . . . 36

507 . . Fair-Play (multi-use) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

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526. . . GameMaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

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550 . . girls got game (Russell Jersey/Short) . . 47

557. . . Goldner Associates . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

530 . . Grand Slam Pitching Machine . . . . . 43

547. . . I-ON Eye Trainer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

527. . . Joyner Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

508 . . M.A.S.A. (Fence Guard Lite) . . . . . . . . . 36

509 . . M.A.S.A. (White Line Markers) . . . . . . . 37

528. . . Master Pitching Machine . . . . . . . . 43

554 . . Maxsport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

521 . . . Measuring Plate (AKH Sports) . . . . . . 41

525 . . Muhl Tech (Advanced Skills Tee) . . . . . . 42

524 . . . Muhl Tech (training equipment) . . . . . . 42

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529 . . EZ Tee (PIK Products) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

544 . . Power Systems (Bola Trainer) . . . . . . . 46

545 . . Power Systems (L-Bands system) . . . . . 46

510 . . . Pro’s Choice (Rapid Dry) . . . . . . . . . . . 38

511 . . . Pro’s Choice (Red infield conditioner) . . 38

513 . . . Promats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

514 . . . Qualite Sports Lighting . . . . . . . . . . 38

531 . . . RevFire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

546 . . Ringor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

552. . . Russell Athletic (game jersey) . . . . . . . 47

553 . . Russell Athletic (New Knicker) . . . . . . . 47

548 . . ScorePAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

519 . . . Soft Touch Bases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

515 . . . SPI Nets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

532 . . Sports Attack (Hack Attack) . . . . . . . . 44

533 . . Sports Attack (Junior Hack Attack) . . . . 44

534 . . Sports Tutor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

517 . . . Stabilizer Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

539 . . Stromgren . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

516 . . . Universal Sports Lighting . . . . . . . . 38

520 . . VPI Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

502 . . WeatherBeater® by Colorado Lining . 36

522 . . Zingbat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

A D V E R T I S E R S D I R E C T O R YCIRCLE COMPANY PAGE CIRCLE COMPANY PAGENO. NO. NO. NO

101 . . . Adams USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

127 . . . Beacon Athletics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

132 . . . Beam Clay® . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

114 . . . BetterBaseball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

107 . . . Cardinal Publishers Group . . . . . . . 13

108 . . Diamond Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

124 . . . Dutch Mill Bulbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

120 . . . eFundraising.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

103 . . . Fair-Play Scoreboards . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

113 . . . Fastball Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

102 . . . Game-On Field Conditioner . . . . . . . 4

110 . . . GameMaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

100 . . girls got game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IFC

126 . . . I-ON Eye Trainer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

131 . . . Joyner Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

106. . . M.A.S.A. Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

123 . . . Master Pitching Machine . . . . . . . . . 28

138 . . . Maxsport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IBC

109. . . Measuring Plate (AKH Sports) . . . . . . 16

125 . . . Muhl Tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

134 . . . Nemo’s Speed Hitting Program . . . 41

139 . . . PIK Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .BC

111 . . . Pro’s Choice Field Products . . . . . . 17

119 . . . Promats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

104. . . Qualite Sports Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . 8

129 . . . RevFire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

116 . . . Ringor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

105. . . Russell Athletic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

118 . . . ScorePAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

130 . . . Soft Touch Bases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

117 . . . SPI Nets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

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121 . . . Sports Tutor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

122 . . . Stabilizer Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

112 . . . Universal Sports Lighting . . . . . . . . 19

133 . . . VPI Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

128 . . . WeatherBeater® . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

136 . . . Zeeni . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

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Hitting & Pitching Aids

AKH Sports, Inc./The Measuring Plate888-406-4347www.hplate.com

The Measuring Plate is perfect for all levels of play in baseball and softball. It’s simple to use and has a lightweight

double-wall design. It is ideal for pitch-ing practice and warmup anytime and anywhere. Pitcher/catcher camps and clinics for all ages can benefit from

the Measuring Plate, and it can add a new dimension to indoor training and off-season practice away from the field. Advanced uses include flat practice (soft-ball pitching), pitching rehab (all levels), and private instruction and training cen-ters. It features rugged UV- and weather-resistant HDPE plastic construction with adjustable 60’ 6” fiberglass tape.

Circle No. 521

Zingbat866-ZINGBATwww.zingbat.com

Zingbat™ offers the Trainer Series product line. This economically priced version of the regular Pro Series

Zingbat is ideal for youth players. The Trainer Series teaches batters basic swing mechan-ics. The Composite Zingbat Trainer is available in one length and weight (30 inches, 17 ounces), while the

aluminum Pro Series can be custom-ized to meet your team’s specific length and weight requirements. Call today for a free instructional CD or video.

Circle No. 522

Fastball Sports281-398-4329www.fastball-sports.com

Are you wearing out your game-day pitchers by having them throw too much

batting practice? Have you ever wished your hit-ters could take a lot of swings from a pitching machine without destroying their sense of tim-ing and hitting mechanics? If so, use the J-Mo: Jugs Pitching Machine’s fast-

pitch motion attachment. It makes a Jugs softball pitching machine throw like a live-arm pitcher.

Circle No. 523

Nemo’s Speed Hitting Program

PHONE: 503-848-7889 ONLINE: www.CoachNemo.com

Karen LinderHead Softball CoachKent State UniversityMid-American Conference 2006 Tournament Champions,Eastern Division Champions two of the last three years

Endorsed by:

• Nemo Bat• Videos• Hitting Tee

Available for Clinics

#1New Product of the Year

Award

Nemo_CM1509v2.indd 1 9/27/07 10:08:01 AM

Circle No. 134

Check out www.AthleticBid.com to contact these companies.



Muhl Tech888-766-8772www.muhltech.com

Muhl Tech Baseball & Softball offers equipment to make your practice time more productive. Since 2001, the

company has been devel-oping a line of “skill-spe-cific” training equipment that gives hit-ters instant feedback

with every swing. The products are designed to withstand heavy use during high school and college team practices. Muhl Tech also offers its own line of batting cages and screens, sold direct to save you money.

Circle No. 524

Why is the Advanced Skills Tee used by more than 2,000 high school and college programs? You get instant feedback with every swing. Its unique forward arm and outside barrier help

develop a nice swing path and keep the hands inside the ball. The tough polyurethane construction will give you years of worry-free use. Try one this season, and if you don’t like it, Muhl Tech will buy it back.

Circle No. 525

GameMaster800-646-4225www.gamemasterathletic.com

The new and improved Instructo-Swing was developed to help hitters practice and learn how to swing a bat the correct way. When train-ing with the Instructo-Swing, the good habits

bars help the hitter to develop the correct swing path to the ball. The new angle adjustment feature helps develop the type of swings that produce line drives, hard ground balls, and fly balls that carry.

Circle No. 526

Joyner Technologies, Inc.770-867-1957www.AllstarBP.com

Joyner Technologies received the American Baseball Coaches Association’s 2007 Best of Show award for its techno-

logically advanced Allstar Ace 5000®. This programmable multi-pitch video simulator features Sports Tutor’s HomePlate pitch-ing machine and

SurePitch synchronization system, making it an ideal fastpitch training tool. Coaches can choose from a wide variety of pitch types with different speeds and different locations, and also film their own pitch-ers. This video simulator is easy to oper-ate with a remote start/stop and simple

Untitled-3 1 3/16/06 1:18:32 PM



setup. Attractive lease options are avail-able to accommodate all budgets.

Circle No. 527

Master Pitching Machine, Inc.800-878-8228www.masterpitch.com

The Iron Mike pitching machine features a throwing arm that lets batters see a full wind-up before the ball is pitched,

allowing them to better develop the fundamen-tal skills used when facing a live pitcher. This capability makes the Iron Mike the preferred pitching machine of professional

and amateur players and coaches. All machines are self-feeding, include a remote control, and carry a manufactur-er’s warranty.

Circle No. 528

PIK Products Corp.877-845-7845www.pikproducts.comwww.baseballtrainingaids.com

The patented EZ Tee is lightweight, durable, and portable. The legs fold for EZ storage—no more clunky home

plates. Use it with a golf-size Wiffle™ ball for sharpening hand-eye coordi-nation, or with a baseball or soft-ball. The friction collar makes for EZ adjustment. The rubber topper is flexible so it won’t damage game

bats. It allows the hitter to strike the ball more cleanly, so the tee stays upright. The EZ Tee was voted Best New Product at the 2007 American Baseball Coaches Association show.

Circle No. 529

Grand Slam Pitching Machine800-GRAND-SLAMwww.agrandslam.com

Grand Slam is one of the most effec-tive pitching machines for working batters’ hand-eye coordination. Its self-

feeding res-ervoir holds more than 60 golf ball-sized Wiffle® balls and allows bat-ters to take 50 swings in five minutes. Each pitch is guaranteed to hit the strike

zone. It’s ideal for indoor training or outdoor use—all you need is 16 to 20 feet of free space. Forty-eight balls and a lifetime warranty are included.

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turn of the dials, the machine can throw fastballs above 60 mph, risers, drops, right-handed and left-handed curves, screwballs, and knuckleball changeups. At 75 pounds it easily fits into a compact car, even a Mini Cooper.

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Sports Tutor800-448-8867www.sportsmachines.com

The HomePlate Triple Softball program-mable pitching machine can simulate any pitch that batters are likely to face. It can throw a 70-mph riser, a 50-mph drop pitch, a curve, and a slider with only seven seconds between pitches. Store up to eight dif-ferent pitches in each of the eight different programs. Pitches can be thrown sequentially for specific hitting drills, or randomly to simulate game conditions. Choose the auto-feed model, which holds up to 40 12-inch dimpled soft-balls, or the hand-feed model, starting at $4,495.

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Athletic Training Equipment Co., Inc. 800-998-ATECwww.atecsports.com

Used by hundreds of college and pro teams to maximize practice time, the ATEC Rookie throws fastballs and changeups at variable speeds up to 55

mph. A power-house for defen-sive drills, the Rookie rotates 360 degrees left-to-right and boasts 120 degrees of verti-cal pivot, allow-ing coaches to throw realistic

liners, grounders, pop-ups, and flies accurately and repetitively. The Rookie carries a five-year limited warranty and is available in two models: standard and battery-operated.

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RevFire866-414-3040www.revfire.com

Easier to use than a radar gun, the RevFire measures the spin of pitches as well as the speed. Adopted by col-

lege teams and clin-ics across the coun-try, coaches report dramatic results—pitchers throw a more effective breaking ball when they receive spin rate feedback. The RevFire is quickly becoming standard equipment among

high school programs, private instruc-tors, and serious pitchers. Go online to learn more.

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Sports Attack 800-717-4251 www.sportsattack.com

The Hack Attack softball pitching machine has a unique three-wheel

design that provides complete ball vision, lifelike timing, and pinpoint

accuracy. Simply adjust the wheel-speed dials to throw fastballs above 80 mph, risers, drops, right-handed and left-handed curves, screwballs up and in to right-handed and left-handed hit-

ters, and knuckleball changeups. This machine is a professional training tool designed for college and serious high school athletes.

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The Junior Hack Attack softball pitch-ing machine from Sports Attack is designed to develop serious young play-ers. Its exclusive three-wheel vision allows the hitter to see the ball clearly, just like with a live pitcher. With a quick

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NEW Product LaunchTRACE® Softball

Catcher’s GearUnique features:

• Chest protector has a Memory Foam front to absorb ball impact and Thermo Foam backing

• Removable extended breast protection and shoulder pads

• Adjustable backstraps with leather reinforcement at stress areas

Benefi ts for the user:

• Antimicrobially treated CoolMax™ lining • Available in three sizes: adult female, young adult

female, and youth female• Available in four colors: scarlet, royal, black, navy

Adams USAwww.adamsusa.com800-251-6857

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Bicep/Triceps CuffUnique features:

• Patent-pending cuff affords protection from overuse injuries to individuals performing repetitive lifting

• Applies pressure to the upper and lower portions of the bicep and triceps to spread out the stress and directly pull on the muscle at-tachments


• Helps reduce the likelihood of developing tendon-itis or tendonosis in the upper arm

Cho-Pat800-221-1601www.cho-pat.com

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Stromgren Polar Gear™Cold Weather Shirt

(model 1258RLP)

Unique features:

• Antimicrobial fabric• Specially designed cold-weather pitching shirt with raglan sleeve and mock turtleneck• Compression sleeve fabric reduces arm and elbow fatigueBenefi ts for the user:

• Helps reduce muscle vibration, which can help reduce fatigue

• Available in black, royal, and navy stock colors with many sleeve color choices

• Available now at team sporting goods dealers and at Stromgren’s online store

Stromgren Supportswww.stromgren.com800-527-1988

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Nemo HittingTeeUnique features:

• Innovative hitting tee with unique brush design

• Allows batters to practicehitting inside, outside, and middle pitches

• Easy to use and adjust


• Provides instance musclememory feedback

• Prevents bat barrel drag• Corrects excessive downward swing plane from

the shoulder to the contact position.

Nemo Speed Hitting Programwww.speedbat.com888-717-7742

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Team Equipment

Adams USA800-251-6857www.adamsusa.com

The Trace 46000 Easy-On Easy-Off Sliding Softball Knee Guard offers flex-ible knee protection. It is versatile and

durable, with a player-friendly CoolMax™ lining and breathable foam that’s treated with antimicrobial Bac-Shield™. The patented “keyhole” side design allows for superior flex-ibility without restriction of movement. Heavy-

duty polyester/spandex covers 3/8-inch foam for superior protection. There’s no need for shoe removal to put this unit on, and it’s machine washable. Four color options are available.

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Adams USA’s new Chest Protectors and Leg Guards are stylish and treat-ed with antimicrobial Bac-Shield™. Available in six colors and four sizes from youth to adult, these protectors and guards are ergonomical-ly designed for a superi-or fit. The Memory Foam front protector absorbs ball impact, removable and adjustable shoulder pads add protection, and open-cell foam with a CoolMax™ back liner provides moisture man-agement. Lightweight, adjustable back straps enhance the custom fit. There’s extra ankle and instep protection on the guards, Bolistic mesh on the wings, and adjustable back straps for even more comfort. Removable and wash-able Memory Foam with a CoolMax insert on the guards provides moisture management.

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Betterbaseball.com800-997-4233www.betterbaseball.com

Want to save even more on great products at the Betterbaseball.com Web site? Try the new Easy Auction feature. Each item

up for bid is described in detail and a product image is shown. Get fantastic deals on everything from bats and gloves to windscreens and practice balls. Go online to learn more, and you’ll be plac-ing bids in no time.

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Power Systems800-321-6975www.power-systems.com

The simple, effective Bola Trainer is hands-down one of the best eye-hand coordination training devices on the

market. It’s great for softball players who want to develop lightning-fast reactions, ambidexter-ity, coordination, spatial awareness, and balance. Basic to advanced moves can be mastered with these two one-pound foam balls connected by a 36-inch bungee cord.

The Bola is suitable for all levels and comes with a training DVD.

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The L-Bands system from Power Systems is an innovative tool to improve speed, balance, control, and agility by promoting activation of the hip flexors to produce a faster stride. Condition and train the muscles to exert maximum effort. Bands help the athlete remain in an efficient run-ning position while using the leg muscles to generate force and power during runs and agility drills. Adjustable nylon thigh and foot straps are connected by resistance tubing that’s available in three lengths depending on the athlete’s height.

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Ringor Corp.877-274-6467www.ringor.com

Ringor’s women’s Diamond Star is specifically designed to be the ultimate softball shoe, blending durability, com-fort, and lightweight performance. The

Diamond Star is available in a metal spike and a non-metal TPU model. Mid-high models and Pro-Tec-Toes

models are also available. The Diamond Star is the perfect team choice, with 10 color options: red, royal blue, maroon, black

(pictured), green, white, navy blue, purple, orange, and pink.

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I-ON Eye Trainer877-3-HIT NOWwww.i-ontheball.com

The I-ON Eye Trainer improves per-formance at the plate. Developed by an optometrist, the I-ON adjusts to block peripheral vision during soft-toss and tee work. The feedback and results are immediate--athletes experience improved muscle memory, better hand-eye coordination, and development of the less dominant eye. This product is endorsed by Todd Helton and comes with an instructional DVD containing recommended drill work.

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ScorePAD Sports, Inc.678-270-4001www.scorepad.com

ScorePAD Sports is a software compa-ny whose signature product is a system called ScorePAD. With ScorePAD, you can score baseball and softball games on a Palm OS device or Windows-based PC. You can also create and post per-

sonalized Web pages for your team’s player sta-tistics, box scores, score-

cards, play-by-play narratives, and spray charts. You can even print reports con-taining more than 300 statistics and share them with players and their fam-ily members.

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TestimonialUniforms & Apparel

Boathouse Sports800-875-1883www.boathouse.com

Boathouse Sports offers everything your team needs to look its best, from high-quality uniforms to warmups, train-

ing and travel suits, multiple styles of team jackets, and even classic sweats. Choose from three different fabrics: Tech-Mesh for a lightweight feel and maximum moisture transfer;

Clima-Guard for loose-fitting perfor-mance without restriction or interfer-ence; and Sport-Dazzle.

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girls got game866-600-9905www.girlsgotgame.com

You believe in women, and so does girls got game. The company offers performance-driven products for softball players who take their game seri-ously. Products include uniforms, footwear, team wear, equipment, and accessories. In-stock items ship the next business day, and customized items ship in two to four weeks. See the quality for yourself—call today to order a sample.

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girls got game offers innovative uniform styles, top-quality branded products, uncompro-mising performance, fit, and function, and service that’s second to none. girls got game is a leading choice for competitive wom-en’s softball teams across the country.

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Russell Athletic678-742-8750www.russellathleticteamsports.com

New for spring 2008, Russell Athletic is introducing a revolutionary performance

game jersey made with Stretch Power and Ventilator technology. The Stretch Power fabric allows the jersey to move with

the athlete’s natural motion, increas-ing mobility. The Ventilator technology allows for airflow to keep the body cool. This jersey was designed specially for females—shorter sleeves and a tapered body improve freedom of movement.

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The New Knicker soft-ball pant, available for spring 2008 from Russell Athletic, has a low-rise waist and hits under the knee. This stylish new game pant, constructed with a double knee that extends to the bottom opening, has a two-snap closure and an elastic waistband.

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Maxsport866-246-8881www.maxsportusa.com

There are champions at every level and high school players demand the best. Maxsport apparel allows players to be in a posi-tion of strength. Maxsport’s tech-nology includes a four-channel fiber woven into the garment. This innovative con-struction rapidly transports mois-ture from the skin to the outer layer, where it dries four times faster than cotton. This is impor-tant—wearing a Maxsport garment allows athletes to use less energy, stay better hydrated, and keep cooler while maintaining a competitive edge.

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Many Colleges and Universities Choose PIKPIK Products manufactures baseball and softball training aids for players at

all levels to develop hitting, throwing, and fielding. The company’s products include Swift Stik, Grand Slam Pitching Machine, Head Down Trainers, EZ Tee, Arm Strong Pro, and Arm Strong Basix.

All products are guaranteed to improve players’ ability. Here’s a list of just some of the programs that have used PIK’s products:

University of TexasUniversity of FloridaStanford UniversityDePaul UniversityFlorida A&M UniversityFlorida Atlantic UniversityUniversity of MinnesotaGeorgia Tech UniversityAuburn UniversityLouisiana State UniversityUniversity of AlabamaMississippi State UniversityUniversity of Notre DameUniversity of VirginiaUniversity of MichiganMichigan State UniversityUniversity of IllinoisUniversity of TennesseeUniversity of OregonFlorida State UniversityPurdue UniversityKennesaw State UniversityKent State UniversityBall State UniversityButler UniversityDartmouth UniversityYale UniversityWest Virginia UniversityOklahoma State UniversityUniversity of KentuckySouthern Illinois UniversityThe College of WoosterRipon CollegeQuinnipiac CollegeBroward County Community CollegeUniversity of ArkansasUniversity of South CarolinaUniversity of North CarolinaArizona State UniversityUniversity of Arizona

PIK ProductsP.O. Box 2108Norwalk, CT 06852877-845-7845Fax: [email protected]

adidas Mesh Game Jersey and Low Rise Belted

Pant

Game Pant

Softball Game Jersey

Russell Conquest Racer

Back Jersey and Short

Vindicator jersey

Maxsport


Calling CardsHere is what these companies are most known for:

“Creating a safer place to play” with protective wall padding.

www.promats.com

Providing top-quality field materials, maintenance equipment, and technical assistance.

www.beaconathletics.com

Fair-Play designs and manufactures quality scoreboards, message centers, and accessories.

www.fair-play.com

A leader in innovative, quality sports training equipment.

www.sportsattack.com

Daktronics is a world-leading designer and manufacturer of scoreboards and displays.

www.daktronics.com

A leading provider of sports and recreation coverage.

www.kandkinsurance.com

Fully customizable tackle twill uniforms with the One Price Promise.

www.prolooksports.com

Accept “No Substitutions” for quality sports products.

www.adamsusa.com

High-quality, affordable topdressers and linear aerators incorporating “simple, well-built” design.

www.earthandturf.com

More Products

Dutch Mill Bulbs, Inc.800-533-8824www.dutchmillbulbs.com

Dutch Mill Bulbs is a profit machine. Devoted to fundraising since 1960, the company has extensive experience,

and feedback from its customers has helped shape and fine-tune its highly successful, extreme-ly profitable, no-risk

fall and spring flower bulb fundraising programs. The low-priced, guaranteed-to-grow bulbs are an easy sell. Groups earn a minimum of 50-percent profit on each item sold. Tabulating orders and calculating profit is a snap. Let Dutch Mill Bulbs help make your next fund-raiser the most profitable ever.

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eFundraising.com866.235.9660www.efundraising.com

eFundraising offers a truly unique and highly effective online magazine fundraiser that can help your team or

league reach its fundraising goals quickly and easily. The program gives you a free Web site and online magazine store, with all the tools you need to easily

reach supporters from coast to coast. Go to eFundraising.com/magazines to get started. It’s completely free, and you get 40-percent profit on all sales.

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Goldner Associates, Inc.800-251-2656www.goldnerassociates.com

Goldner Associates has been a leading supplier of medals, pins, and patches

for 40 years. The company can create custom designs in any size or shape, and stock items are also available.

Looking for an item with your team logo? As a top-50 distributor, Goldner offers a full line of promotional prod-

ucts, including team caps and T-shirts, trophies and awards, fundraising items, giveaways, and much more.

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Cardinal Publishers Group800-296-0481www.wishpublishing.com

The Female Athlete: Train for Success by Michael Bradley, Matt Brzycki, Luke Carlson, Chip Harrison, Rachael Picone, and Tim Wakeham is now available

from Wish Publishing. Six experts in the field of strength training and athlete develop-ment have come together to create this comprehensive and user-friendly guide to enhancing female athletic performance.

It includes chapters on coaching and motivating the female athlete in the weightroom, the principles of strength development and strength training for the multi-sport athlete, and much more. Call today to order your copy.

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Contact your local team dealer or call 877.845.7845 www.pikproducts.com

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coaching management 15.9

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