Q Where will practices be held?
A The plan is to hold practices in the West Chester Area. We are still working out field space logistics for that area. If we cannot get fields in West Chester, we will do a mix of practices in the Lionville and Avon Grove areas
Q Where will we practice in the winter?
A. We are still looking for winter space. We want to find something that is cost effective and meets our needs for player development.
Q. How much will this season cost?
A. We are looking at a $2000 cost for the fall, winter, and spring/summer season.
Q. I looked at the Lionville Lightning FAQ’s 2017-2018. The price listed there is approximately $1200. Why is it more expensive for this team?
A. We plan on renting more field space (outdoor and indoor) for practices and plan on playing in more tournaments than estimated for the $1200 cost.
Q. What do team fees cover?
A. Fees cover the cost of game uniforms, practice uniforms, equipment bag, tournaments, practice space (indoor and outdoor), practice equipment, and softballs. Coaches do not get paid. Catchers gear is not covered.
Q. What does your schedule look like?
A. We are looking at practices two days per week and one day on the weekend when we are not playing games or tournaments. We plan on. 3-4 tournaments in the fall, one or two indoor tournaments in the winter, and 8-10 tournaments in the spring/summer. This is a total of 12-16 tournaments over the course of the year.
Q. How long do practices typically last?
A. Weekday practices will typically run 2.5-3 hours in duration. Weekend practices will typically run 3-3.5 hours in duration.
Q. Are you a 501C3 organization?
A. Yes
Q. Do you allow for corporate donations? If so, do you allow for player sponsorships and how much of the corporate donation goes to the player?
A. Yes we allow for corporate donations, 80% goes to a player with the remaining 20% going to the team.
Q. What kind of fundraisers does the team do?
A. We will perform a variety of fundraising over the course of the year. We are going to look for someone to be the head of fundraising to firm up the plans for the year. Some activities we have done in the past include hoagie sales, tee shirts sales, super bowl boxes, purse bingo, and lottery ticket sales just to name a few.
Q. Do you disclose team finances (expenses and fees) to the parents?
A. While we don’t send a report out, any parent can review the financial records with our team’s treasurer, Jim McHugh. We do not hide the financial records from the team.
Q. What age will the team register at?
A. We plan to register as an 12U team.
Q. What classification will the team register as?
A. The team will register as a B team this year and most likely as an A team for the 2019-2020 season.
Q. What tournaments will the team participate in?
A. The team will participate in B level and open tournaments. We plan on participating in states and nationals in the spring/summer season. Most of the tournaments will be within driving distance; however, there will likely be a few overnighters.
Q. What is the philosophy/focus for the 12U ‘07
A. Our focus for the upcoming year will be on player development, not on winning tournaments. We expect to win a lot of games but our primary focus is on getting the girls better. We will be a young 12U team and will compete in several very competitive tournaments in an effort to face challenging teams.
Q. Why should we pick this team over another competitive travel team?
A. Our core philosophy in player development along with experienced coaching staff sets up apart from many other programs. In addition, one of our coaches serves as the strength and conditioning coach which is a key part of our training program. His certifications include PT, MSPT, Cert. ART
Q. What experience do the coaches have?
A. One of our coaches played professional baseball and another has played college baseball as a catcher. Both bring a significant amount of knowledge to the staff. Our coaches have nearly a half century (42+) of combined baseball and/or softball coaching experience.
Q. Who is in the coaching staff?
A. The head coach is Dusty McKeown. The assistant coaches are Lino Santinelli, Jim McHugh, and Greg Masiko.
Q. What is your philosophy on playing time?
A. Each girl will likely get playing time every game. There may be exceptions to that based on different situations (missing practice, resting for next game, poor attitude, etc). The better players will get more time. That being said, playing time is earned. It is a privilege not a right.
Q. My daughter is a pitcher. How much pitching time will she get?
A. Pitching time as with playing time will be earned. If she becomes the best pitcher on the team, she will get a lot of innings. If she is the 4th best pitcher then her innings will reflect that.
Q. Do you require pitchers to use a specific pitching coach? Do you have a specific pitching coach you recommend?
A. While you are not obligated to use the teams pitching coach there will be periodic opportunities at practice where our pitching coach will be there to work with the pitchers. If you have your own coach you do not have to have your daughter join in. We recommend Jenn Balint, who is our teams pitching coach. She has coached several premier pitchers in the area, is currently the pitching coach for West Chester University. She also coached her daughter who is a Division I pitcher for Oregon.
Q. Do you have a specific catching coach?
A. One of our assistant coaches played collegiate baseball and will serve as our team catching coach. We also plan on bringing local college coaches and players in to work with our catchers periodically.
Q. Why are you only taking 2007 birth year players?
A. Our goal is to keep the girls together for two years in order to build a “Team” not a group of individuals that play softball together. We want the girls to grow and develop together and be ready to compete at an even higher level in 2019-2020.
Q. How many players will the team carry?
A. We are planning on carrying between 11-12 girls for the season.
Q. How many players on the team are returning players? How many are pitchers?
A. This is a new team developed from a core group of eight girls from a very successful 10U team. We have three pitchers returning and are looking for a fourth.
Q. How long has this core group of girls been together?
A. This will be the second year for these girls to be playing together.
Q, What did the this core group of girls accomplish?
A. This group was a first year travel team that finished in the top two or three in most of the tournaments they participated in. They had a record of 53-16-3 (34-12-3 spring, 19-4 fall) during the 2017-2018 season. The team won the Big Vision Oktoberfest and Spirit Fall Harvest Qualifier tournaments in October and were the Gold Bracket Playback Champions in the PA Softball Memorial Day Madness Tournament. The team finished second in both the USSSA PA State Championship and USSSA East National Championship tournaments. The team also finished in 3rd place at the Diamond Nation Jennie Finch Spring Invitational.
Q. What positions are you looking to fill?
A. We are looking for a pitcher, a couple catchers, and a position player or two.
Q. Does the coach’s daughter play? What position does she play?
A. Our staff consists of five experienced coaches who all have daughters on the team. The girls play different positions but do not get preferential treatment. If a player is better, they will get more playing time.
Q. How will I know if I have been selected?
A. The head coach will reach out to you either by phone or email to notify you of the decision.
Q. I want to try out for other teams. When must I respond if I am offered a spot?
A. We require an answer within 48 hours along with a $300 deposit.
Q. What are your expectations for the player outside of practices and games?
A. The coaching staff expects the girls to work on improving their skills at home between practices/games and during down time between the seasons. The coaches will periodically give “homework” for the girls that they are expected to complete. We expect the parents to support and help the players complete the homework. Failure to do the work at home will be obvious to the coaches and playing time could be impacted.