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Scholarship Opportunity

by Dave
Thursday, June 25, 2009

Permanent Link:  Scholarship Opportunity

For Love Of The Game

by Dave
Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Labels: college, relaxation

Permanent Link:  For Love Of The Game

Thor, The Viking Bandit - index page

by Dave
Monday, June 22, 2009

• Part 1 - rec play through high school.
  
  
• Part 2 - experiences as a college player
  
  
• Part 3 - experiences as a professional pitcher
  
  
• Part 4 - future including high school coach, private pitching instructor, and some longer-term possibilities

Labels: national pro fastpitch

Permanent Link:  Thor, The Viking Bandit - index page

Thor, The Viking Bandit - part 4

by Dave
Monday, June 22, 2009

I couldn't be more excited!   I can't wait to share my knowledge and love of the game to a new group of girls.   It's a new challenge for me, which I love, and I'm going to learn a lot.   I know we're going to have a solid and deep pitching staff, but my only real expecations are that the girls learn a lot, that they have fun, and that they are in every game and play to win.

I actually kind of look forward to it, because I think I can help the girls learn a lot.   I've learned so many life lessons through softball, I want to pass those on to my team next year.   It's not going to be easy, but great things rarely are.   And yes, high school girls are drama no matter how you slice it, but these girls are going to get a big head start on other girls their age.   I don't put up with drama, so they are going to learn to keep that off the field, and hopefully learn how to cope with things better while at the same time becoming more accountable for their actions.

Coaching college has never really been something I've wanted to do.   I don't want to say it will never happen, but it's not a big dream of mine.   This coaching job kind of found me.   I have 5 pitchers I work with that will be at Cal High next year.   There was some drama with the coaching staff this year, and they ended up losing both their coaches just after tryouts.   So for a week, their team didn't have a coach.   So the players I work with were trying to get me to coach them this year.   I tried, but I couldn't free up my schedule enough to be able to do so.   However, the man who agreed to coach the team this year said he wasn't going to do it next year.   My girls got the idea in my head, and it grew and grew on me, so I finally applied and got the job.

I don't know how long I will coach at Cal High for, but I'd like to say a few years.   I really want to try to build a program there, because there are a lot of softball players in that area.   I really want to give the girls there a glimpse of what college life will be like, but more importantly, I want to teach them to work hard, be accountable, and teach them life lessons that will help them later on no matter what path they choose.   Like I said before, I don't have any real dream of being a college coach, but never say never.

I think that high school coaches should stick to high school ball and let their players play for whoever they want for fall/summer teams.   I will encourage my players to find summer teams to play for, but it's obviously not mandatory, and it's really not meant for everyone either.   I feel like if you're a high school coach, you should stick to high school and the things you can control, which is your high school team.   Let the kids do as they please, they need to be happy.

At this point in my life, it's really hard for me to say.   I am very passionate about both areas of study, and can see myself pursuing both.   My plan right now is to apply to different schools, once I have money to pay for school, and see where I get accepted, then go from there.   There are many, many things I'd love to study.   We'll see which doors open up for me.

I love doing private lessons, and I have been lucky enough to be financially comfortable.   I wouldn't say that I have a lucrative job or anything like that, but I can pay the bills and still save up a decent amount of money.   I know that by coach high school I will lose money, but that's not the most important thing to me.   I love being a part of a team, and it's a new challenge, so it's totally worth it to me.   Plus, I can reschedule my lessons so I don't lose too much income either.   I think I'll be fine.   I try to live life by experiences, not by necessarily doing what is going to bring in the most money.

I go back and forth between wanting a family.   I love kids, I love watching the girls I work with succeed, and I think being a parent would be an amazing thing.   But, there's also the part of me that wants to travel the world, help people in all sorts of different situations, and that's not a good environment to raise kids in.   If I do end up having kids, I want them to be active, but it'll be their choice what sports and activities they do.   I would love it if I have a daughter that played softball, but I don't expect her to share my passion.   She's a different person, I want her to decide her passion.

Pretty much the same thing, I'd want them to play whatever sport or activity they are passionate about.

That would depend on a lot of things.   What are their long term goals?   How are their grades?   What other activities are they involved in?   Are they successful and having fun in their sports?   I think that as long as their grades are good, they are free to make their decisions on how they want to approach sports.   I made my choices, I want my kids to have the same opportunity.

• Part 1 - rec play through high school.
  
  
• Part 2 - experiences as a college player
  
  
• Part 3 - experiences as a professional pitcher
  
  
• Part 4 - future including high school coach, private pitching instructor, and some longer-term possibilities

Labels: coaching, high school, national pro fastpitch, parenting

Permanent Link:  Thor, The Viking Bandit - part 4

Thor, The Viking Bandit - part 3

by Dave
Monday, June 22, 2009

A: "People have been calling me Thor since high school.   I am 3/4 Norwegian, so I definitely have Viking roots, just don't know a lot about them.   I know tons about the mythology, though."

A: "My adrenaline always starts pumping as a game starts, or as I enter a game.   I usually go out there and just try to turn my mind off, so I sing along to the music playing (usually one of my pitching songs) and just let my body work the way I've trained it.   I settle right into my routine, and things just fall into place for me now, which allows me to stay relaxed and aggressive as I'm throwing during a game."

A: "During pre-game, I just like to have fun.   Having fun and goofing off has become more and more important to me as I get older.   I used to be very serious and kept to myself, but I'm not like that now.   When I'm on the field, I'm in my warrior mode - very serious, very aggressive, kind of anti-social.   And I used to not be able to turn that off.   But I've learned to turn it off before games, and when I'm in the dugout.   Having fun, laughing, and goofing around helps my mental game by letting my mind relax, just like my body gets to relax between innings.   I try to treat every inning the same, but the three most important innings in my eyes are the first, last, and any inning after my team scores runs and gets a huge momentum shift.   But even still, I just approach it as one pitch at a time, one batter at a time, one out at a time.   You can't live in the past or the future, just the present."

A: "I am a totally different person off the field than who I am on the field.   On the field I am a warrior and much like your daughter who you compared to Clemens.   I'm not necessarily angry, but I have no problem drilling a player, and I love to stare down batters after I strike them out.   I am out there to beat them at their game, to make them look bad.   I'm not going to pitch to their weakness, I will throw my best pitch and dare them to hit it.

Off the field, I'm easy going, aloof, and goofy.   Still driven, but it's not outwardly noticeable.   Total opposite as when I'm on the field."

A: "Of course I wish girls and women had the same opportunity!   That's why I love playing in the pro league right now.   Our goal is to create that situation so that future generations of softball players can make a living playing this game.   I know I'll never be able to, but I want to help create that opportunity for girls later on, and I'm happy that I still get to play.   I don't think girls will ever make the same, or even close to, what MLB players make, but I'd love to see a situation where women could just be professional athletes, and not have to coach or have another job on the side."

A: "I don't know if I would want the NPF to have the same financial success as MLB.   I think the MLB is completely out of control, but it would be so nice for our league to be able to make money at the end of the year, for the players and coaches to make a decent living.   There's nothing more that I could ask for than to play in a park with 30,000+ people watching.   That's got to be such an amazing feeling.   Our game is amazing - it's totally different than baseball.   The women in this league are amazing athletes and people, and we all deserve the same attention from the media and the public as the men do.   I try to do everything in my power to help equalize things for this league, but there's only so much one person can do.   If I could snap my fingers to achieve that, you better believe I would."

A: "I attribute pretty much all of our success last year to our team chemistry.   It was unbelievable.   We all got along, but even better was at the end of the season, during our hot streak, we never questioned whether or not we would win.   We just knew.   We just didn't know when we'd push the winning run across.   And much of the time, we had late come-from-behind victories.   The dugout was calm, there was never any panic or added pressure, we just knew.   Everyday, someone new would step up with the big hit.   The whole experience is really hard to describe to someone who wasn't a part of it, because it was so unique."

A: "There are two things that I would really focus on.   First, we need national TV coverage.   Plain and simple.   If fishing and poker can make ESPN, the NPF should be able to make ESPN.   Secondly, we need to market ALL the players in the NPF.   Not just Jennie, Cat, and Monica, who are all busy with the national team.   We need to market other players - non-Team USA members who are at every game for their team, who are big players on their team.   We need more known faces in the league, because people, fans don't usually associate with a team, they associate and connect with players.   That's why we need to market players more."

A: "Losing is definitely an important training tool.   It teaches you how to be stronger mentally, but shows you your own weaknesses and what you need to do to be successful.   There have been hundreds of experiences that have made me the player I am today.   Everyday I try to learn something new, try to make myself better.   Jim's comment (see part 1) might have been the biggest turning point for me, but it sure hasn't been the only one."

A: "I love that girls can just go out and play.   With youth and high school, it's not about recruiting, it's about going out there and just playing your heart out for your team/school.   I love that.   However, I hate all the safety standards.   I cannot stand face masks, especially for fielders, but I don't like them on batting helmets either.   They teach girls to be scared of the ball, rather than teaching them to have better reactions and to not be scared of the ball.   There's absolutely no way a boy of ANY age would ever show up to baseball practice with a mask.   What's the difference?   It's ok for a boy to get hurt, but not a girl?   No.   There's no difference.   When you play the sport, you're an athlete.   Treat girls like athletes, not like dolls that can't get hurt.   If you don't want to get hurt, don't play sports."

A: "Oh man, I'd probably say my senior year at Cal.   I was just in a zone all year, and I had a blast.   I would choose this time because I was really successful, but it was the first year I really felt like I was a complete pitcher, I wasn't just a rise/curve pitcher.   I had a drop and a change up, and I have never felt so comfortable on the mound."

• Part 1 - rec play through high school.
  
  
• Part 2 - experiences as a college player
  
  
• Part 3 - experiences as a professional pitcher
  
  
• Part 4 - future including high school coach, private pitching instructor, and some longer-term possibilities

Labels: national pro fastpitch

Permanent Link:  Thor, The Viking Bandit - part 3

Thor, The Viking Bandit - part 2

by Dave
Sunday, June 21, 2009

A: "I actually got recruited before things really started to change.   I didn't start getting recruited until my senior year in high school.   I got on a great summer team that went to all the big recruiting tournaments and we managed to get on good fields at those tournaments which helped.   But the only reason coaches came to watch me, a scrawny nobody from Seattle (aka softball Siberia at the time), was because my dad and I sent out hundreds of emails to dozens of coaches around the country.   We sent out email after email, not letting coaches forget my name, so that they would put me on their list of players to watch.   And from there, everything just fell into place."

A: "Recruiting is a very stressful and tiring process, but definitely worth every second once you sign with a school.   Being from Seattle, no one ever really recruited up there.   So it wasn't until after my junior year, with my summer teams that coaches started to notice me and pay attention.   The height of it was definitely in the fall of my senior year in high school, during all the showcase tournaments.   For being from Seattle, I actually got a lot of attention from colleges, especially schools back east.   But I was set on the PAC10, and I'll be the first to admit that I got really lucky to be able to play for Cal."

A: "Growing up as a kid, my dream was to always play for a PAC10 school.   Specifically, I wanted to play for Stanford.   I actually went on a trip to Stanford, and then found out afterwards that the school wasn't going to admit me.   When I was looking at colleges, I wanted to go to a school that had great academics, as well as a top 25 caliber softball team.   That's what was so attractive about Cal - they are the #1 public institution in America, and their softball was a perennial top 25 program.

There were definitely schools other than Cal that wanted me, that offered me 100% full rides and all the bells and whistles, but their softball programs were up and coming.   I wanted to come into an established program where I would have to earn a spot as a starter, rather than just be handed the ball.   Plus, softball doesn't get any better than the PAC10, and nothing was going to get in my way of playing in that conference."

A: "The WCWS was an amazing experience each time I was there.   The first two times I made it to the series, Cal made it to the championship game, and lost both times to UCLA.   It stung like crazy to lose in the championship.   The experience was a whirlwind, but not so much that I couldn't sit back and enjoy it.   The last time I went, my junior year, we lost our first two games (to UCLA and Arizona), and were out of there really quick.   That was a hard trip to enjoy because it went by so fast.   Even still, it was amazing.   The atmosphere there and the fan support is out of this world."

A: "College definitely flew by.   When it was done, it felt like it had flown by in the blink of an eye.   But while I was there, there were times where it seemed to drag on forever.   I would have loved another couple of years playing for Cal, but at the same time, I'm glad that I've been able to play in Europe and play in the NPF for as long as I have.

Playing ball didn't dimish the college experience in the least - if anything, it made my experience!   Without my team, I wouldn't have had a family away from home, I would have missed out on awesome camaraderie, wouldn't have learned tons of life lessons, and I wouldn't be the person I am today.   No I didn't have a typical social life, but I loved the life that I lived in college.   I had great friends that I had to see every day, and we created bonds that non-athletes can't create."

A: "It's basically the same as in high school.   Softball was always a commitment in high school, and it's the same in college.   When you're used to balancing school and athletics in high school, I don't think it's a bigger adjustment for athletes to go to college than it is for a regular student.   Both parties need to learn how to be accountable, learn how to study, and most importantly learn how to manage their time.   If you can keep up grades and play ball, and still have a little bit of extra time for a social life in high school, you can do it in college.   Just remember that level of commitment and accountability go up, and more is expected out of you.   If you do that, you'll succeed and love every minute of your college experience, and you'll never look back with regrets."

• Part 1 - rec play through high school.
  
  
• Part 2 - experiences as a college player
  
  
• Part 3 - experiences as a professional pitcher
  
  
• Part 4 - future including high school coach, private pitching instructor, and some longer-term possibilities

Labels: college, NPF

Permanent Link:  Thor, The Viking Bandit - part 2

Thor, The Viking Bandit - part 1

by Dave
Sunday, June 21, 2009

A: "In Little League I was considered a top player/pitcher from the time I started until I quite LL after 8th grade.   But on my summer ball teams, I was never really considered a dominant player, let alone pitcher, until I was much older.   I think probably during my sophomore year in high school my summer teams started realizing that I was one of their better outfielders, but I only got a few innings to pitch here and there.   Really it wasn't until my senior year in summer ball that I was considered a top pitcher for my team.   I'd always been on teams where the pitchers were coaches' daughters.   But it just fed my fire that much more to go out and prove to everyone that I could pitch with the best of them.   The best thing that ever happened to me was that I was told I'd never be good enough to accomplish my dream of pitching and dominating in the PAC10. "

A: "I think, so far, the most memorable years I've had in softball were my junior season with my high school team, senior (HS) season with my summer team, senior year at Cal, and last year with the Bandits.   It's funny, because those were hands down the best team years we've had, judging by win loss standards, but I think that's due to the same reason those are my most memorable seasons.   Each team I mentioned had that chemistry that coaches always talk about achieving, and that players/teams dream about achieving, especially my summer team the WA Ladyhawks - that was a really special team.   We were small, but had great talent and love for the game, but you couldn't separate us from each other.   We never got in tiffs, no one ever talked bad about someone else, and we all loved being around everyone on the team.   We always played for each other, and we always played for the love of the game.   That's what made those years so memorable and so successful."

A: "First off, the most important thing is that their daughter is having fun.   I see a lot of girls playing because their parents want them to, and they end up resenting the game which is a really sad sight to see.   Having fun is the most important aspect of the game, regardless of what level they're playing at.

Secondly, when someone tells you that you can't achieve something, or that you'll never be good enough, don't use that as an excuse to settle.   Use that as a reason to work harder, to show everyone that you can be good enough, that you can succeed.   It's so easy to take the easy path and just give up - but it's SO much more rewarding to work harder than everyone else and to reap the benefits in the end.   Even if you don't reach your goals, you know you outworked everyone, and you know you gave it your best shot.   You'll never have any regrets that way."

A: "Throwing and catching.   Hitting wins games, but defense wins championships.   Close games always come down to who has a better defense, who doesn't make the error that cost the game.   Proper throwing and catching techniques make up most of the game.   With hitting, it's great to have a nice swing with a lot of power, but even if you don't have that swing, you can find a way to get on base.   With throwing and catching, if you don't have the right mechanics, it makes it really difficult to get outs, which is what you need to win."

A: "I think if I could do it over again, I would have tried to keep playing at least one other sport.   But when I look back, I don't regret my decision.   I enjoyed volleyball and soccer, but I wasn't passionate.   Not only that, I was in band, marching band, national honor society, and I was helping coach the middle school softball team as well as doing weekly pitching clinics.   So I had a lot going on, and school was always really important to me, so I couldn't let my grades slip.   I would have loved to been able to keep playing another sport, but I wasn't willing to give anything else up, and something had to give.   And besides, I have many years left to get back into volleyball and soccer, and all the other sports I want to try."

A: "I didn't really play varsity my freshman year.   I was a swinger, and I got the minimum amount of innings to letter at varsity, but most of my freshman year I pitched JV.   I was SO mad when I didn't make varsity, but looking back, I'm glad I didn't because I got a lot more pitching time in JV than I would have at varsity, which made me better in the long run.   The only other sport I played for Shorecrest was volleyball my freshman year, which I played on the frosh team."

A: "I fully believe my coach when he said I stunk worse than skunk poop.   It's hard for me to remember how bad I came back, but I know that I was REALLY disappointed in myself.   I'm sure Jim, my coach, also said what he said to try and light a fire under me.   From that point, and not making varsity 2 months later, I never wanted to be that person again.   I finally just had enough of people telling me that I wasn't going to be good enough, that I couldn't make the cut and my focus just shifted.   From then on, I threw a minimum of 4 days/week, usually 5-6 days, and most workouts were an hour and a half long.   It wasn't enough for me to just workout.   I spent the first half hour of my workouts on basic mechanics, but after that the majority of my workouts focused on spins and getting my pitches to move.   I was a perfectionist, and expected perfect spin on all my pitches.   I knew I would never throw very hard, so that was never a focus.   I wanted to have three different speeds between all my pitches, but more than that, I wanted/needed all my pitches to spin and move.   With pitching practices and team practices, I probably averaged about about 10 hours of practice/week.   But more than the time I put in, which was really important, I credit my growth as a pitcher more to my focus on details, spins, and the small things that got me the success I ended up with.   I lived and breathed by the quote, 'Champions do uncommon things, things that are boring and tedious to others.'"

• Part 1 - rec play through high school.
  
  
• Part 2 - experiences as a college player
  
  
• Part 3 - experiences as a professional pitcher
  
  
• Part 4 - future including high school coach, private pitching instructor, and some longer-term possibilities

Labels: national pro fastpitch, pitching

Permanent Link:  Thor, The Viking Bandit - part 1

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