Follow
Donate to HeyBucket.com - Amount:

Welcome Anonymous !

Your Fastpitch Softball Bible
 

TX

Showcase events - Which ones are JOKES

by Ifubuildit » Fri Oct 09, 2009 3:04 pm

Rode hard,

I can assure you that I have no affiliation with any of these organizations. If in fact, what Mark has stated about the D-bat organization and their approach to college recruiting for players is true, then I need to commend them for taking a different approach.

The idea behind select softball is to get players exposed for opportunities in college scholarships should the player want to play in college. The playing field for exposure is uneven and unequal for the independent teams. If the D - bat organization is willing to allow independent coaches to participate with their players in this exposure process . Then I see that as a good thing for the sport of softball in Texas.

This also provides more opportunity and removes some of the politics associated with these college look tournaments.
Ifubuildit
 
Posts: 75
Joined: Thu Oct 01, 2009 9:56 am

by TEXASGLORY » Fri Oct 09, 2009 7:32 pm

rodehardputawaywet, Sorry I forgot to list Whitney Canion at Baylor, I was working on my iphone and was in a hurry so that what I get for rushing.

There is truth to the rumor that working together is going to come forth. IN the very near future, you will see Texas Glory (Adkins) and Texas Fusion working together in an effort to be much more inclusive. We would like to see more of the clubs come together in an effort to make softball better in North Texas. This will take a lot of work and will take a lot of coaches putting egos aside and building for the future. There will be more to announce soon.

Dan Adkins
TEXASGLORY
 
Posts: 75
Joined: Wed Jun 25, 2008 1:52 pm

by rodehardputawaywet » Fri Oct 09, 2009 7:53 pm

TEXASGLORY wrote:rodehardputawaywet, Sorry I forgot to list Whitney Canion at Baylor, I was working on my iphone and was in a hurry so that what I get for rushing.

There is truth to the rumor that working together is going to come forth. IN the very near future, you will see Texas Glory (Adkins) and Texas Fusion working together in an effort to be much more inclusive. We would like to see more of the clubs come together in an effort to make softball better in North Texas. This will take a lot of work and will take a lot of coaches putting egos aside and building for the future. There will be more to announce soon.

Dan Adkins


Great news Dan! The girls of North Texas will be the winners with this cooperation. Hopefully, you and Kevin will be able to bury the hatchet and work together and you can get Ken on the action as well.
User avatar
rodehardputawaywet
 
Posts: 76
Joined: Fri Aug 21, 2009 9:12 pm

by rodehardputawaywet » Fri Oct 09, 2009 8:00 pm

Ifubuildit wrote:Rode hard,

I can assure you that I have no affiliation with any of these organizations. If in fact, what Mark has stated about the D-bat organization and their approach to college recruiting for players is true, then I need to commend them for taking a different approach.

The idea behind select softball is to get players exposed for opportunities in college scholarships should the player want to play in college. The playing field for exposure is uneven and unequal for the independent teams. If the D - bat organization is willing to allow independent coaches to participate with their players in this exposure process . Then I see that as a good thing for the sport of softball in Texas.

This also provides more opportunity and removes some of the politics associated with these college look tournaments.


ifubuildit - I only question it because you have complimented D-Bat multiple times and I have not seen you compliment others. Usually means affiliation. Don't get me wrong, I think Mark is good for the girls, just the same as many other coaches in the area.

I will be critical of those I believe do not have the right intentions and give praise were deserved. If one is around long enough you probably have examples of both.
User avatar
rodehardputawaywet
 
Posts: 76
Joined: Fri Aug 21, 2009 9:12 pm

by Ifubuildit » Fri Oct 09, 2009 9:00 pm

Rodehard,

I know the difficulties of building an organization from the ground up. Mark Mulvaney and D-bat are no different than Dan Atkins and Glory or Ken Graves and the Batbusters or Howard Bancroft and Elite. They all work hard and they try to provide the best opportunity possible for girls. Along with many other independent coaches across the metroplex.

So when I see an organization being attacked or an individual being attacked in a manner that I consider to be slanderous and to the detriment of the game of softball here in Texas, such as the D-Bat organization and Mark Mulvaney have been on this board. I have a right to speak up. I would do the same for any other coach and have on many other occasions. Just not on this board.

Usually when I see this sort of thing on the net it generally involves an organization gaining or loosing money. So the best thing to do is slander or attack the orgnaization. Smear the reputation and that will keep the parents away. I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have seen that in play here in North Texas. On many different levels other than the internet. ;)
Ifubuildit
 
Posts: 75
Joined: Thu Oct 01, 2009 9:56 am

by rodehardputawaywet » Fri Oct 09, 2009 9:44 pm

I see your point and I am fighting for the same things.

The important thing for me is the girls have as many opportunities as possible. I don't care about the jersey! Div I or Div II, it does not matter, it is all money for education.
User avatar
rodehardputawaywet
 
Posts: 76
Joined: Fri Aug 21, 2009 9:12 pm

by Fusion Gold » Sat Oct 10, 2009 7:00 am

Coaches that want to help get your kids recruited here is my advice, take it for what its worth, I'm sure some of the haters will start blasting me but here is my take on it.

Go to the exposure tournaments that have the most college coaches listed. It will be very difficult for you to get exposure at a tournament that has over 75 teams, and around 10 college coaches on the list (because they won't all be there).

Work harder and harder to make your team better, push your players to work harder and harder. Focus more on getting your team ready to play and compete in the summer, that’s when the kids really get recruited. The ASA Gold qualifiers are THE PLACE to get your kids seen IF you have done everything you can to make them better, stronger, more determined, etc.. Your team will stand out like a sore thumb to the college coaches because they are there; every qualifier has way more college coaches than most showcases. And they would rather see your team compete for something that matters.

Our team has worked hard and been fortunate enough to qualify for ASA Gold Nationals in 2008 and 2009, we will be one of just a small handful of Gold teams that actually qualified for Gold Nationals in either year, much less both but I can promise you we will still be on the back fields, at the worst times, etc.. However, the college coaches will be there, they will be at our games. I am in the same boat as most of you, I am not in the good old boy club, and believe me when I say this, I DON'T WANT TO BE. But in the end when our team gets those times/fields and the college coaches know that out of a hundred teams only 4 or 5 of us made it to Gold Nationals then who looks foolish when we are on the old run down complex at 8am on Sat and again at 5pm on Sunday?

We are going to be working with Glory Adkins Club and Mark Blackford and we have been bringing college coaches to our practices and scrimmages, we are putting ideas together and we are going to put a showcase of some sort on next fall that will be similar to what the Batbusters and Ken Graves is already doing. Keep it small, competitive and very affordable.

The other thing about that is that we don't want to make this a good old boy showcase; we want to help kids get recruited regardless of what uniform they wear or who they play for. We are working to change the fastpitch culture in North Texas. WE WILL NOT HOLD A SHOWCASE THAT IS SET UP TO RECRUIT PLAYERS AWAY FROM YOUR TEAMS, we are going to host one that will benefit the coaches that are fed up with the way things have been done around here and who are tired of getting their kids recruited away from them at these type of events (showcases and "clinics").

If you need any help or guidance from any of us that have been where you are and you would like to be a part of the change as we move forward, please don't hesitate to contact myself, Dan Adkins, Ken Graves or Mark Blackford.
Slade Maloney
Texas Fusion Gold
Cell: 214-783-5054
Email: Slade@fusionfastpitch.com
http://www.fusionfastpitch.com
User avatar
Fusion Gold
 
Posts: 45
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:06 am
Location: Irving, TX

by 0to60in2.5 » Sat Oct 10, 2009 7:49 am

Well said. On another note, kids from independent teams can get recruited if they do the work. Good grades, good profile, contact the coaches via email and phone, be assertive. I talked with a coach recently who found a 'diamond in the rough' because the kid had made contact with him and showed interest. You just are not going to get noticed sitting on your hands and attending a showcase.
User avatar
0to60in2.5
 
Posts: 48
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 6:15 pm
Location: Texas

by TulsaEliteGold » Sat Oct 10, 2009 6:43 pm

If you & your players & their parents all do their homework, you can get your kids and team the same kind of respect as the teams who are the Good Ol' Boys as you call them. But you have to spend less time worrying about why things are how they are and more time on figuring out how to get your kids the same opportunities.

The Sheltons, Bancrofts, Graves, Adkins etc didnt get there by becoming instant success, someone had a vision of what they wanted and they busted their butts and built their team-teams-organizations into what they are today.

I do agree with Slade about figuring out how to make your team more competitive will attract a lot more coaches. If you want to attract a lot of coaches attention, figure out how to consistantly play deep into the Brackets at the Gold Qualifiers. The teams playing on Sundays in the Qualifiers are going to attract attention. Especially when you can do thsi at the Territory Qualfiers with 80-100+ teams and many, many coaches.

My reccomendation (for whatever its worth) is to focus on figureing out what works for YOUR TEAM. Dont' worry about all the negative stuff. I promise you if you build YOUR TEAM'S REPUTATION, the coaches will come no matter where you play. Heck, we play at 4 different complexes next weekend in Plano and I will gurantee you we will have Major D1 coaches at every game we play.

My Story-
I started my team in the fall of 2007, just 2 years ago, and can guarantee you that myself, my kids and their parents worked our butts off to get where we are today. We havn't qualified for Gold Nationals, for whatever reasons (mainly my rookie coaching mistake of trying to carry too small of a Roster to cover injuries & trying to depend on 1 dominant pitcher instead of a rotation) but I can guarantee you we have earned the respect of almost every team that has Qualified from our Region the past few years and built a reputation as a top team that can compete with anyone.

We have also proved that if you work hard and do the right things, your kids can get recruited by top schools. But it didnt happen by going to showcases hoping that some coach would happen to stop by and we didnt start off playing on the main fields. Our first year at Ronald McDonald, we didnt even know there was a main complex. We actually asked to keep all our games at 1 place so we wouldnt get lost. We were at the far away fields, but the TD gave us the address ahead of time and a schedule of our game times.... That's all I cared about. We also played in the Colorado Sparkler the first summer that everyone claims no major coaches attend, but we had Big 12 and SEC coaches at our games because they knew exactly where we were going to be playing.

Here we are 2 years later and have had the following recruits:
Callie Parsons 2011 D1 University of Oklahoma (Verbal)
Taylor Woodall 2011 D1 Oklahoma State University (Verbal)
Bailee Cartwright 2010 D1 Northwestern State University (Verbal)
Javen Henson 2010 D1 University of Oklahoma (Verbal)
Jeneva Nelson 2010 D1 Lipscomb University (Verbal)
Shelbi Redfearn 2010 D1 Baylor University (Verbal)
Tarra Underhill 2010 D1 University of Central Arkansas (Verbal)
Kelsie Armstrong 2009 D1 University of Central Arkansas
Amy Graham 2009 D1 Oklahoma State University
Stephanie Brewer 2009 D1 University of Arkansas
Hannah Martin 2009 D2 Drury University
Cayce Coleman 2009 D2 Northeastern State University
Faith Lund 2009 D2 University of Arkansas-Monticello
Christen Kirchner 2009 D2 Dominican College of NY
Katrina Loy 2009 NAIA Rogers State University
Kasey Britt 2008 D1 University of Central Arkansas
Shana Westover 2008 NJCAA D1 Chattanooga State Tech
Maddelyn Fraley 2008 NJCAA D1 Northeastern Oklahoma A&M
Kacie Ryal 2008 NJCAA D1 Northeastern Oklahoma A&M
Christa Johnson 2008 NJCAA D1 Carl Albert State College
Jeff Filali
Asst Softball Coach
Butler Comm College - 25+ D1 Signees since '11
www.butlergrizzlies.com

Founder/GM/Coach
Tulsa Elite Softball - 130+ College Commits since '08
www.tulsaelite.org

eM: jeff@TulsaElite.org
Ph: 918-951-7142
User avatar
TulsaEliteGold
 
Posts: 210
Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 1:07 pm
Location: Tulsa, OK

by oldskool » Wed Oct 14, 2009 7:58 am

TEXAS WAS WELL REPRESENTED at the recent ASA 18-under Girls’ JO GOLD
National Championship in Oklahoma City, Aug. 3-9.
The field of 64 teams contained 11 teams from Texas with the highest finisher
(1)Texas Glory-Shelton of McKinney, which tied for 13th (3-2). Texas (2)Impact Gold of
Houston tied for 17th with a 2-2 record while (3)Houston Power and (4)The Texas
(5)Challengers Gold of Helotes shared 25th place with 2-2 records.
Four Texas teams were among those that tied for 33rd, and included Texas
(6)Ecliose Gold of Hockley, Texas (7)Glory Gold (Beard) of Mesquite, and the Texas
(8)Hawks Gold of Conroe, each 1-2.
The remaining two Texas teams, (9)Texas Blaze of Round Rock and (10)Texas Express
Gold of Katy, were eliminated in two straight games and tied for 49th. ❏


Wasn't there thirteen? Who did they dismiss as a Gold contender? Or did you have to score some runs to get recognized?
oldskool
 
Posts: 36
Joined: Thu May 22, 2008 7:29 am

PreviousNext

Return to TX

cron