SOFTBALLISLIFE

More Pressure to Perform

softballislife — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 07:47:57 +0000

Over the last 4 months after coming back from attending the Fireworks Softball Showcase tournament in Colorado, I really noticed the push to perform and to get the players into as many showcase tournaments possible. As college tuition gets more expensive, the pressure to perform at these showcase tournaments gets greater. Some teams in California play over 100+ games in a year, WOW! Is that necessary? Some coaches and parents think so. The demand to find that player with softball talent and smarts becomes increasingly tougher for college coaches. We are finding players verbally committing to college softball programs in their sophmore year. College coaches are taking a big risk in hoping that the player who committed early will blossom into a blue chip athlete. There are so many showcase tournaments out there to play in these days. Which one do you have to attend?

This Weekend’s Softball Tournament

softballislife — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 03:14:03 +0000

For those of you who have a chance to play and mingle with the SoCal Pumas this weekend, it would be interesting and informative for you to find out a little about what they do in California, and what kind of cost the players are responsible for. The knowledge you might gain can help you understand how competitive club softball is and how much harder we have to work. I’m always learning by one simple action, asking. No Shame!

Helping Hawaii Kids with Recruiting

softballislife — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 03:31:43 +0000

The college softball season is over and coaches from around the country w embarking on their recruiting trek. Everyone looking for that all-american pitcher, home run hitter, diamond in the rough. Well, in Hawaii, we have a lot of diamonds in the rough for the lower tier programs. The hard part is the kids in Hawaii aren’t aggressive enough, not persistant. I’m trying to work with a few programs in introducing our kids to them. It’s been tough. Gotta keep trying.

And Away She Will Go

softballislife — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:04:53 +0000

One of my players that has been with my club softball team for 9 years has accepted an offer to play softball for the College of Southern Nevada. Although it is a JC, it’s an opportunity for her to go away to the mainland and do something different, experience life away from home, and start a college education paid by someone else. Kudos to her. After all, all we parents want is for our kids to pursue a college education wherever it may be.

The Recruiting Process

softballislife — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 07:18:07 +0000

I love helping players with the recruiting process. I always learn something new about coaches and what they are doing these days. Every school has different needs and wants. Sometimes it’s very difficult for the kids to tell if the coaches they talk to are being honest or is it just a sells pitch. Honestly, now there’s a trait I look for in people. As a coach, I’m also honest about the level of play that my players can play in college. I try to let the parents know what to expect in college and the different levels of play. I know everyone would like to play DI softball, but more than likely most of the players will fit better in a DII and DIII program. There are lots of good academic schools at the DII and DII level. After all, academics is what they also should be looking for in a school. I’m currently working with some players in Hawaii that are looking to play softball in college somewhere. I’ll keep you posted on the process and results.

Softball In The Off-Season

softballislife — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:40:31 +0000

A lot of parents would like their kids to keep on working out even after the season is over so that they can keep on getting better. It’s a good idea, but you have to give your kids some rest and give them a life outside of softball. I see a lot of kids play all year around and get burnt out by the time they are seniors. Please make sure that it’s your child that wants to play or work out all year long and that they want that scholarship to play college ball. Recently, a friend’s daughter flew up to a junior college to play softball and after the first day, she flew back home. I just thought of all those years traveling to the mainland for recruiting tournaments, all that money spent! Just remember, it’s their life and they need to be happy with what they are doing and where they are doing it. Good luck.

Practice, Practice, Practice

softballislife — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:49:10 +0000

Players who practice more will more than likely get better faster than players who don’t practice a lot. Simple thought right? Well, not so. Coaches can only do so much at practice because of the time limits. Players who want to improve faster need to work on their skills at home on the off-practice days. I remember having a catcher who wanted to work out on the weekend in the off-season all the time. She ran on the sand at the beach at 7:00 am for 1 hour on Saturday’s, worked out on her defensive skills on Sunday for 2 hours. What did she get in return? A 90% paid for scholarship to Northwestern Univertsity. Her single mom saved over $120K in tuition money.

So why do parents blame coaches for the non-success (if there is a word like that) of their child? It’s always easier to put it on someone else than to do some work yourself. If you want your child be the best she can be, then you need to invest time into your child. My dad built a backstop for us at home so that we could practice at home, he helped coach all of us in baseball (3 boys). He made batting tees for us, did whatever he could so we could get better. Parents always tell me that their daughters need game time to get better. True, but in competitive club ball, they first need to get to practice all the time and on time, work hard on their skills during practice and on off days. Thats’ whats going to get them on the field more often than not. The ones that do that will most likely succeed. Doesn’t it work for academics also? The kids that study more at home get better grades?

New OJO Website

softballislife — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:09:17 +0000

We now have a new Oahu Junior Olympic (OJO) websitewebsite for our fastpitch community on Oahu and for anybody out there interested to find out what we are doing in Hawaii. This website will include our league schedules and rules, field maps and calendar of events. We are also including information that is in our league handbook in .PDF format so that you can print in anytime. Just go to the HANDOUTS section of the webpage for printable information.

Let me know what you think. It’s an ongoing process and hopefully by the beginning of next year we will also have a tournament registration page, etc.

Basics of Batting

softballislife — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:40:56 +0000

If you are just starting to coach a young team of 10U and 12U inexperience players, take a look at this video below by Crissy. She explains the very basic technique of hitting the ball off a batting tee. The one hitting tool that you must have is a batting tee. I carry one in the back of my truck all the time. If the player cannot hit the ball off a batting tee, what makes you think they are going to hit a ball that’s moving! I have high school players on my 18U team and I still make them hit off the tee. Such a simple explanation on how to hit the ball.

more about “Basics of Batting“, posted with vodpod

Recruiting Hawaii Players

softballislife — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:52:48 +0000

Hawaii has a lot of talented kids with skills but lack exposure. Gladly, more teams are venturing out to recruiting tournaments in the mainland. We need more contacts with interested coaches.