Teams being sponsored by an organization is nothing new.

At the highest levels you have USSSA running the USSSA Pride, which just won its second straight NPF championship. ASA/USA, of course, produces the National Team which competes internationally.

Down at the club level, PGF doesn’t have a team that it runs although several elite coaches like Gary Haning, Bruce Richardson, Bret Denio, Marty Tyson and Richard Shea are on the board of directors and President Dan Hay is a championship winning high school and club coach too.

Then there’s the TC Stars, which is run by Triple Crown Sports based in Ft. Collins, Col.

From a business standpoint, the three 18u teams administered through Triple Crown Sports provide invaluable insight to the organization about how the world works at high-end fastpitch tournament settings and gives event producers, coaches and players a first-hand look at what’s working—and what isn’t—when it comes to successfully placing athletes with universities and colleges.

That’s of considerable use for a company that runs national events like the TC/USA Nationals, held in Georgia this summer, and the Colorado Sparklers/Fireworks tournaments around Independence Day which had nearly 800 teams competing in over 3,000 games to make it the largest softball event of its kind.

But if you look past the numbers, the Stars’ rosters are made up of players who have a specific plan for their own future, which is to get an education while continuing to suit up for softball, and it covers the broad spectrum of D1 programs to community colleges.

This past season, the Stars had 24 seniors in action and all 24 signed to play in a college setting. A year ago, it was another perfect placement record at 16-for-16.

“I heard about them a long time ago, when I was playing 12U,” said Trinity Harrington, a freshman pitcher for Colorado State who played on the Stars 18U Gold team and won three Class 3A state titles throwing for Valley High School. “My coach’s sister’s daughter had played for them, and they all spoke well of the Stars. They played a lot out of state, and they wanted to bring out the best player they could from each girl. That was very important to me.”

Triple Crown CEO Dave King and fastpitch director Elliott Finkelstein take an active role in considering what type of school a given student-athlete might feel most comfortable, but it’s not like the girls get to hide behind the TCS rolodex.

Players are told to initiate their own conversation with the college coaches when rules allow, which turns out to be another step in developing maturity and composure. King follows up by filling the role of no-nonsense advocate, sharing his insight as to the player’s attributes as well as anything that needs more commitment and attention.

“When I was a junior, Dave sat me down, and we talked about where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do. It opened my eyes as far as me thinking about how far I wanted to take it,” Harrington added. “I loved (the TC Stars), and it did so much for me, took me to different places.”

Half of the 24 players who signed college scholarships starting this fall are head to D-II campuses, three each going to Adams State (April Riggins, Alysia Schultz, Morgan Zanski) and Regis (Melissa Heronema, Delaney McGinn, Kayla Staab). Berthoud standout Kendall Baker plants her flag out west at the University of California-San Diego, while seeing the Atlantic Ocean will require just a short cab ride for McKenzie Murray (St. John’s, D-I) and Raina Galbiati (Tufts, D-III).

In 15 years, the Stars have produced more than 170 players who went to a collegiate fastpitch program, with 47 signing on to a D-I school.

“All the girls there had something in common. They wanted to play in college, and on other teams I’d been on, we weren’t on the same track,” said Hanna Thollot, who will be playing at Augustana (Ill.) after competing on the 18u squad coached by Sarah Sullivan, a TC Stars alum who played at Colorado State from 2007-10.

“That’s where I learned a lot about how hard I had to play and to fight for my spot, so I wasn’t sitting on the bench and losing playing time to someone else. It’s a professional setting (with the Stars), structured practices where you get your stuff done because you’re not there to mess around. The coaches were TC players, too, and they were mentors to talk to because they’d been through what we were going through.”

Several TCS players already playing at the next level put together excellent seasons for their team. Nickie Blue was a 1^st team all-SEC freshman selection while pitching for South Carolina; Brittany Younan was freshman of the year in the Patriot League and made the all-league 2nd team for Boston University; and Pauline Tufi earned a place on the 1^st team all-Conference USA freshman team for Louisiana Tech.

From the smaller schools, Morgan Colburn was first-team all-Heartland Conference for Lubbock Christian; Kinsley Mason was a second-team choice at Pensacola State College; and Morgan Thonhoff was rookie of the year at Langston College.

Here’s a list of TC Stars players signing to play college softball starting in 2014:

• Mikalah Artzer (Niwot) – Kansas Wesleyan (Kan.)  NAIA (KCAC)
• Kendall Baker (Berthoud) – UC/San Diego (Calif.)   D-II (CCAA)
• Kylie Barnard (Thornton) – UC/Colorado Springs (Colo.)  RMAC D-II
• Carrie Clark (Erie) – Black Hills State (S.D.)   RMAC D-II
• Courtney David (Longmont) – Colorado NW Community College
• Raina Galbiati (Boulder) – Tufts University (Mass.)  ECAC D-III
• Lauren Groff (Fort Collins) – Black Hills State (S.D.)  RMAC D-II
• Laura Hanna (Fort Collins) – Northeastern (Colo.)  JUCO
• Trinity Harrington (Greeley) – Colorado State (Colo.)  MWC D-I
• Melissa Heronema (Westminster) – Regis University (Colo.) RMAC D-II
• Katrina Hunt (Longmont) – Kansas Wesleyan (Kan.)  NAIA (KCAC)
• Jenna Jordan (Fort Collins) – Northern Colorado (Colo.)  Big Sky D-I
• Sami Kouns (Berthoud) – Otero (Colo.)    JUCO
• RiAnna May (Westminster) – Worcester Poly (Mass.)  NEWMAC D-III
• Delaney McGinn (Arvada) – Regis University (Colo.)  RMAC D-II
• McKenzie Murray (Longmont) – St. John’s (N.Y.)   Big East D-I
• Norene Raines (Arvada) – Fort Lewis (Colo.)   RMAC D-II
• April Riggins (Thornton) – Adams State (Colo.)   RMAC D-II
• Alysia Schultz (Fort Collins) – Adams State (Colo.)  RMAC D-II
• Kayleen Selfridge (Cheyenne, Wyo.) – Black Hills State (S.D.) RMAC D-II
• Lili Spendlow (Longmont) – Langston University (Okla.)  NAIA (Red River)
• Kayla Staab (Thornton) – Regis University (Colo.)   RMAC D-II
• Hannah Thollot (Loveland) – Augustana (Ill.)   CCIW D-III
• Morgan Zanski (Grand Junction) – Adams State (Colo.)  RMAC D-II