One of of the fastest-rising club organizations is the Explosion program run by Bret Denio, who also is the National Tournament Director for Premier Girls Fastpitch (PGF).

The Explosion 18U team, which finished tied for 7^th at PGF Premier Nationals, is loaded with talent for this year and has players going to universities such as Arizona State, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, North Carolina, North Carolina State, UCLA and Washington.

I caught up with Bret on Friday and asked him what he thought of the “good” and the “bad” around various fastpitch issues…. here’s what he had to say:

 

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Camps & Showcases

The Good: There are more opportunities than ever for players to get seen by a university they are interested in attending and a lot of them are successful that way. If you want to be seen by a school, the best way to get recruited is to go to one of their camps. Certain showcases also have high visibility and can be an effective way to get noticed.

The Bad: There’s are so many out camps and showcases there, with college coaches only having 55 days to recruit, it’s making it harder and harder for kids to get seen unless they go to a school’s camps. There are some showcases where only a handful of college coaches attend. It also adds to the cost of what parents have to pay in an effort to get their player seen by scouts and coaches.

 

Club Ball

The Good: For top teams, there are key events where you get to play the best competition all year round and the club system allows players to improve and be better prepared for the college experience.

The Bad: It’s increasingly becoming too much of a business, it’s becoming more and more expensive to participate and the cost per family is being driven up. Everyone is looking for the competitive advantage and parents feel they need to pay whatever it costs to help their daughter compete at a high level, but it’s getting to the point where it’s really causing a strain on family budgets.

 

Recruiting

The Good: Whether you’re an uncommitted junior or senior, there are still schools out there for you. I had a senior, Angie Vasquez, who got a full-ride to Long Island after she played well at the Boulder tournament—she actually got her scholarship after she had graduated, so there are still schools out there for these type of talented ids.

The Bad: Early recruiting is an increasingly concerning problem, but I just don’t know how we will get away from it. College coaches say they hate it, but have to do it to keep up with the rest of schools doing it. What’s going to happen is schools will start pulling offers and dropping kids, which we’re seeing happen more and more now.

 

State of the Game

The Good: Softball is growing. The numbers are increasing and the number of quality teams continues to rise and we’re getting a little more parity in competition across the nation. You’re seeing softball players, good ones, come out of pretty much every area of the country now where it used to be primarily just the West.

The Bad: The downside, again, is the recruiting dilemma of 13-year-olds being forced to choose a school way too early. There are also more injuries happening because of overtraining and because, not only is club going most of the year, but high school ball is now stretching out across the calendar. It used to be just three months, but here in California high school teams are now allowed to practice year-round and some teams are playing 20-30 games in the fall in addition to travel ball.

Teaching & Instruction

The Good: Players today have more access to training with all the new facilities and the conditioning is helping improve softball skills and athletic abilities, although some worry the extra conditioning is leading to injuries. There are so many players improving their skills through fielding, pitching, and hitting lessons, but you still need to put in the work and train effectively.

The Bad: Not surprisingly, with the growth of the sport and so many more teams being started, there are many coaches that don’t know what they are doing and players aren’t getting taught the basics of the game. One example is throwing—you’d be surprised at how many players don’t know how to effectively throw the ball, which is one of the basic components of the game.