Team Mizuno

[mstree323]

As the other post had devolved in to something that i will not represent the organization in, i decided to start a new one here.

Team Mizuno exists because there are things better done with a number of teams. Things like leasing facilities, negotioating offseason speed and agility programs, leveraging coaching knowledge between teams, purchasing apparrel and equipment, all these things when pooled provide a real benefit to the teams that participate.

Team Mizuno is selecting teams primarily based upon coaches. There are many ways to be "successful" and put some ribbons up on your site. The coaches on the call back list have done this, and have done so with a group of girls that has stuck together over time and has gotten better. That's what coaching is about, making the girls you have better. This is difficult on a few fronts -- you have to be able to keep everyone happy enough to stick around, and you have to able to motivate, educate, and relate to the ladies to help em realize their potential.

NT Rampage and Coach Greene will be Team Mizuno 99. The improvement in the rampage over time is obvious to anyone who has been around awhile. My older daughter picked up back in 06 or 07 with a team of a bunch of em -- they couldnt spit in a bucket back then. Their longevity and improvement over time is a tribute to Coach Greene's ability to teach the game, and these girl's drive and dedication to learn it.

Things look promising for a 12u team coming on board that i would say all the same things about and ya'll would agree. Hopefully, that deal can be announced this weekend. Another team that has long-term "success" -- done the right way.

The 14u team looks like it may be a new team. Started with a high school coach and former D1 player with a wealth of knowledge and experience to share with the young ladies looking to learn the game.

In fact, all of those teams have women on staff with experience coaching and playing the game at a high level. I think this is important. Softball looks like baseball, but it's not. And dealing with a dugout full of young women isnt like dealing with a field full of guys.

We have been contacted by even older teams, i dont know any of them but I have made some calls about their coaches. These may or may not happen. I'm working to get finalized what i know about before starting too much of a fact finding expedition. More important than the number of teams or ribbons up there is that they start with coaches and teams that will perform and represent the organization well over the long run.

What does it mean to "compete at the highest level"?
You cant always win, but you can prepare like you're gonna. We wont be skipping the state tournament cause 3 girls have a birthday party to go to. We wont be skipping weekday practices for glee club. We will have access to quality coaching, facilities, equipment, and training to allow the girls to realize their potential. We will push ourselves and prepare for long-term success.

Mizuno teams will be required to travel to face statewide and and national competion. Will they all be A teams? will it be ASA, USFA? will they be playing up? They'll do whatever pushes each of em to be better and to have fun while they do it. If you got a pair of flamethrowers and big sticks at 4, 5, and 7 -- go play A nationals, play up an age to get ready for it. Have fun and be all you can be. If you dont, go play where you are challenged, learn the game the right way, get to that point next year. Push yourself, Work hard and have fun while you do it. Then go roll it out against competition from all over and see how far you've come.

Fundraising opportunities will be provided to assist the teams through a concessions deal at cowboys stadium, clinincs put on by the organization, and tournament hosting. This week for example, there are 4 concession dates available. Last time we worked a high school event there we made over $1000. You can see the opportunity there available to teams who can put in a couple of days a month.

Hope this clears up some of the mystery and quells some commotion.

I wont respond to anymore inflammatory, derogatory, or just nonsensical posts. If you have questions though pm me or email me. I will respond to any and all legitimate questions just as quickly and honestly as possible.

Thanks to all who have contacted us so far. I look forward to hearing from the rest of you and seeing you at the tryouts.

Marty Streetman
Rampage
mstreetman@collincountytx.gov

[justawatcher]

Unfortunately, that doesn't really clear up any of the mystery except for the fact that you confirmed the 99 Rampage will be the 99 Mizuno team. We're all aware of the success of the Rampage. While that's all well and good, what about the parents with older girls who may be interested? Most of the parents with older daughters know the coaches, former players, etc. out there as well as who is credible, who isn't. There's a lot more important things that parents of older players concern themselves with outside of the fact that you won't miss state tournaments for birthday parties. The families who are serious about softball are way past that 10U nonsense. Organizations that are successful are top to bottom, not bottom to top. One thing in common with the successful big organizations in the area is that they have an established Gold team. It almost appears as if the focus for Team Mizuno is on the younger teams. This will be a concern for the parents with older players. I think that's probably where all of the fussing and commotion has come into play. The parents of younger players who this is their first time through, frankly just don't know any better. All of the items you mentioned are awesome and it sounds like you have a great philosophy. For the younger teams, that's great. It would be helpful though if you elaborated more on what you're doing and what relationships you have established that will help the older girls get D-I scholarships. At the very least, it would be nice to know who is involved with the organization beyond 10U/12U. Maybe it's the intention to grow the 14U teams into Gold over time. From my personal experience, this makes it extremely hard to recruit players in the younger groups because you're not establishing credibility from the older teams. It's kind of a vicious circle actually because you struggle to compete without the personnel, yet you struggle to get the players if you're not truly competing.

[mstree323]

Could be. Probably not for everybody. If you're looking for an established 18u gold team it's not the place for you.

We have no affiliation with Team Mizuno Gold and no teams or tryouts planned in that age group.

[Pitts23]

I am a Rampage/Team Mizuno 99 Parent.....

My DD is one of the pitchers that Marty works with, my DD has played with Glory (great bunch of kids and Rickey is a good guy and very Compassionate Coach for young ladies to have as a coach) in 10U and a team currently doing ok for their first year in 12U (Legend)..."what's up Gary?"

I can say that, without a doubt, this has been the best possible Coaching Staff for my DD to be around at her young age...with the way that Marty runs the pitchers, and with Billie (former player, and Brian (former Player), and with DG ( who took his sons select baseball teams to National recognition for a long stretch) working with these young ladies to get them to do what they know will put them in the best possible position for my DD to get where she needs to get, i put full trust in these moves....

Like Marty said, this is a move to establish something positive, because they all see and know where these young ladies can go...and you can only start with what you have...and i know for a fact, that the Coaches we have running this show, that they will not do something unless it will succeed...and from what I have observed, all ducks are getting put into rows right now for an organization of success...but for now, just keep playing and see where the girls let themselves take themselves with great atmosphere, and Good, respectable, but demanding coaches, who love these girls like they are their own, but they understand moves they need to make to get to the places that are stated as goals for this New Organization!!

My DD loves this group, and especially the demands that are places on her to perform, and know she better bring a lunch to practice...

Look forward to the future guys, keep it up!!

Jason Pittsinger

[justawatcher]

Could be. Probably not for everybody. If you're looking for an established 18u gold team it's not the place for you.

We have no affiliation with Team Mizuno Gold and no teams or tryouts planned in that age group.

No, I'm not looking for an 18U Gold team. That was not my point. Just an oldster pointing out some of the footholes a lot of these organizations fall into even though their heart is in it. Good luck to you all.

[pbj2000]

Could be. Probably not for everybody. If you're looking for an established 18u gold team it's not the place for you.

We have no affiliation with Team Mizuno Gold and no teams or tryouts planned in that age group.

No, I'm not looking for an 18U Gold team. That was not my point. Just an oldster pointing out some of the footholes a lot of these organizations fall into even though their heart is in it. Good luck to you all.

I agree with JW...but also point out that all of these organizations that have made it...started somewhere with one or two teams...it just takes tons of hard work to build a reputable organization. good luck TM

[onedownonetogo]

Why does North Texas need another organization and what will you do that isn't being done by the Texas Glory, Texas Elite, FW BB, etc. from 10u to 18u Gold? Until that question is answer, this trainwreck will continue.

[SlapLeather]

There have been some great points mentioned and I think JW said it best about grooming a 14 or 16U for a couple of years before tackleing Gold ball. I think it is important to build a solid Team of girls that can go out and compete at that high level that we all talk about. If the right philosophy and work ethic is established which generates results, it will normally bold well for the younger groups as well. When girls learn how to sacrifice themselves for the TEAM, amazing things begin to happen. I don't think the plan is to just throw together a 16U team or older to just get some girls recognized and possible scholarships. The plan is to build very solid teams that learn to win by doing whatever it takes for each other. This is how the older teams should be developed IMO, because we have all seen what happens when teams are just thrown together and never really get the chance to grow together. Each team/org has it's own way of getting the best out if it's players and we feel that we have a pretty game plan of how to do just that.

[justawatcher]

I guess if I were to start an organization, I would consume an independent 18U team much like Mizuno is doing with the Rampage-A team with some potential that could benefit from the bigger name and organizational efforts.

The biggest problem I see with building an organization from the bottom up OR simply having an independent team is that as soon as these younger teams reach some level of success, they begin to lose players to the organizations that are cranking out scholarships. The Rampage in my opinion is a future poster child for this scenario. Once those parents of all those great players begin to realize there may be a future beyond 12U tournament ball for their DD, and they begin to get exposed to these organizations that can make that happen, they will leave. Just my two cents, but you've got to have something to offer these kids down the road if you expect them to buy into your program.

[onedownonetogo]

The teams are are just thrown together without any opportunity to grow together include: Worth Firecrackers, OC Batbusters, Gold Coast Hurricanes and our very own Texas Glory Gold (Shelton) and Texas Impact Gold. No loyalty. No history of playing together. Just a collection of enormously talented players who come together for a year or two and then move on.

Good luck, but nothing you have mentioned is anything different than what is being pitched by every single organization out there. . . right now you happen to have a collection of enormously talented 10u players. We'll see how long that lasts. You should've stayed under the radar for another year or two.