USA Jr Men - The "Wow" Factor

The "Wow" Factor: Boys Fastpitch Style

By Doug Lindaman, dlindaman@hotmail.com, September 24, 2003

Walking to the top a hill and reaching the berm which overlooks the training site below, shouts of "Awesome, man", "Sweet" and "Oh wow" could be heard from the group of  24 boys who got their first glimpse of what is arguably the finest facility of its kind in the country.

The setting was the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California and the occasion was an ASA/USA Softball Junior Men's Development Camp in late August.  The camp was the first in a series of events leading up to the International Softball Federation Junior Men's World Championship in 2005.
 

The boys, who ranged in age from 14-17, were understandably excited at seeing the regulation field, secondary practice infield, four batting cages and four pitching stations below them.  Their excitement was heightened when they reached the bottom of the hill, put on their spikes in the dugouts and walked on the field for the first time.  As the infielders marvelled at how well manicured it was, one of the outfielders was overheard to say, "Check it out, dude, this is just like playing on a putting green!"

The U.S. Olympic Training Center, originally built on the rugged range ground in the outskirts of the rapidly-growing suburban San Diego city of 150,000 people, contains facilities for track and field, archery, canoe and kayak, field hockey, soccer and other Olympic-level sports.  The softball facilities are used exclusively by USA Softball to evaluate, select and train the four national teams:  junior men's, men's, junior women's and women's.  During the four day camp, the players and staff stayed in the apartment-style dorms, ate the fabulous selection of food in the dining center and bought lots of souvenirs at the visitors center as a rememberance of their experience.
 

But the real work for these young players was on the field.  The head coach of the junior men's national team, Tim Lyon of South Jordan, Utah and his assistants Gary Mullican of Aliso Viejo, California and Scott Standerfer of Charleston, Illinois gave individual instruction to each of the players, worked with groups of players by defensive position and conducted controlled scrimmages.  National team selection committee member Doug Lindaman of Ackley, Iowa assisted the coaches in on field activities and evaluating player performance.  National teams director Ronnie Isham, from the ASA office in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma was also in attendance to oversee the operation of the camp.
 

The camp itself was a culmination of events which began months earlier.  In December Lyon and Lindaman conducted a USA Softball skills clinic, for boys only, in Sioux Falls, SD.  That clinic, with assistance from the Greater Sioux Falls Boys Fast Pitch Council, drew male athletes from South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska, some of whom didn't have fastpitch experience but were intrigued at the thought of representing their country by playing on a national sports team.  From that clinic, a number of potential players were identified and after Mullican and Standerfer were selected as assistant coaches a month later, a process began to monitor the progress of these players.  Several pitching prospects were placed in a players pool after the  Sioux Falls clinic and since then, they have sent videotapes on a monthly basis to Coach Mullican.  He evaluates their mechanics, provides suggestions for improvement and makes sure each pitcher is conforming with international pitching rules in their delivery.  Additionally, the coaches utilized their extensive network of fastpitch contacts throughout the country to locate other young players who are playing in men's leagues or who are baseball players that have fathers and other relatives who have played fastpitch.

When tournament time rolled around, the USA Softball staff continued to actively search out young talent.  Coaches Lyon, Mullican and Standerfer and committee member Lindaman attended the ASA Junior Olympic Nationals in Sioux Falls.  Once again they conducted a boys-only clinic for all the teams the night before the tournament began and then scouted talent among the 46 teams which participated in the six age categories of the tournament.
 

Plans were also in place to evaulate at the ISC youth event but their tournaments in the 16-under, 14-under and 12-under age groups were cancelled because of a lack of entries.  However, at the ISC 19-under tournament in Michigan, Tom Stasik, another USA Softball  national team selection committee member (who is also the Michigan ISC commissioner)
evaluated the age-eligible United States players.  Lastly, Lyon and  Standerfer made a presentation to the ISC youth development committee at their meeting in Kimberly, WI.
 

Putting all of this information together resulted in invitations being extended to the 24 players from nine states who attended the camp in Chula Vista.  A number of players had to turn down invitations because of high school football practices, but they will be included in future development camps.    While it was a new experience for many of the players to attend a camp such as this (and for some, their first time flying), it was a new experience for their parents as well.  When an invitation was made to the parents of a player on the 16-under national championship team at the ASA nationals, the parents didn't think they'd be able to send their son because of the expected cost of flying, ground transportation, accomodations, meals, etc.  Upon hearing from the committee member that ASA paid for all the expenses associated with the camp, they were surprised and quickly accepted the offer on behalf of their son.

In fact, since junior age softball for boys and girls is not affiliated with the Olympics, no United States Olympic Committee funds are available for this purpose.  All activities related to finding new talent, running clinics and camps such as this one are paid using ASA/USA Softball funds.

After the camp, assistant coach Standerfer summarized the hitting he observed:  "It was enjoyable watching the metamorphisis of some of these young hitters.  Some of the quicker lefthanded hitters jumped in the cage and worked on slap hitting and bunting.  Then when they transferred that to the main field, it was amazing to see how quickly they could get down the line.  The power of some of these 16-17 year olds is simply awesome to watch.  Overall, after the first day jitters were over, the hitters settled in and were pretty impressive.  There's much to be done in some of the finer points such as pitch recognition, strike zone discipline and situational hitting but with the level most of these guys can play at, it's just a matter of seeing enough live pitching".

In assessing the progress made by the pitchers and catchers, assistant coach Mullican liked what he saw:  "I am very excited about this group of young men.  The amount of time, sweat and dedication that these pitchers and catchers have displayed is truly amazing.  Beginning from this day and where this team is now and where we end up will be a tribute to these young men's work ethic.  Pitchers in the pool have been working hard at refining their mechanics to conform to international rules while providing video updates on a regular basis.  The communication process has been nothing short of outstanding".
 

Head coach Lyon has worked very hard in laying the ground work for a vastly improved national team, as compared to the one he took to the last ISF junior men's world championship in Australia in 2001.  He knows the work that lies ahead but is quick to credit his staff as well:  "Overall the camp was very successful.  The experience of having the players at the U.S. Olympic Training Center was very positive.  All the players there worked very hard.  We are moving in the right direction towards our goal of returning to the medal round at the junior worlds but we have a lot of work ahead of us.  My coaching staff has done a great job.  They have put in a lot of hours to find these kids and teach them.  They deserve a lot of credit".
 

Although some softball administrators are eager to downplay the significance of the USA Softball national team programs for both the men and boys, the participants at the camp were very excited to have the opportunity to potentially put on the red, white and blue of the USA in representing their country in international competition and helping to revive interest in male fastpitch within the United States.  As one 15 year old camp participant from the Midwest stated: "It was a huge honor to be a part of this great camp.  I came out with a better knowledge of the game and improved my skills along the way.  It was a great experience and the friendships made will last a lifetime.  It is great to know that there are people who are trying to keep this great game alive.  I hope I'll have a chance to attend more camps and maybe someday play for the USA."
 

Here is a breakdown by state of the players who attended the camp:

Arizona--Beau Brooks (Chino Valley)

California--Robert Donley (Templeton), Jacob Hamby (Templeton), Carl Miller (Taft), Curtis Leavitt (Acton), Evan O'Reilly (San Luis Obispo), Dillon Thiele (Stockton) Colorado--Nick Santos (Pueblo)
 

Illinois--Camden Decker (Aurora), Payton Cloe (Pana)
 

Iowa--John Kelly (Chester)

Minnesota--Brian Malakowsky (Wells) South Dakota--Kyle Davis, Jason Loe, Bryan Supik, Adam Wudel, Jason Yttreness (all from Sioux Falls)

Utah--Matt Bezzant (Cedar Hills), Braden Walker (Pleasant Grove), Devin Walker (Pleasant Grove), Riley White (Lehi) Wisconsin--Alex Kuen (Kimberly), Andy Mathews (Cameron), Don Potting (Somerset)

Jr. Men's World Championships:

Summerside, Prince Edward Island, Canada, June 22 to July 1, 2005.