Archive for the ‘Bret’s Blog’ Category

12/29/2015

It is a very exciting time as the new year approaches. We have given our families and coaches some time off during the holidays for them to recharge their batteries. We get back started with practices next week and our first tournament of the season takes place over the weekend of January 23-24 in the Central Valley, over the hill.

Like any good business, we put special emphasis on the importance of evolving. We must continue to work hard to serve our customer base in the way we interact with our players and the way we teach the game. Standards of what we will accept are high, and to us that is a good thing. We value what all of the previous coaches, players and families have done in helping build the organization up to where it is today. That being said, our expectation is that everyone involved currently with the organization will be committed to our long term vision and goals. Happy New Year.

12/13/2015

Last weekend we played extremely well as an organization, finishing with an overall record of 22-14 with our 9U-18U teams down in the Central Valley. Any time you go down to play at BLD Manteca and Mistlin Sports Complex, you know you will be in for some competitive baseball.

Our 9U division was particularly interesting as we got to play two talented teams. I was very proud of our guys for playing so hard all weekend. It’s interesting to me that other organizations are so surprised when our teams don’t roll over and let them win. When that happens the panic sets in with the opposing coaches and fans. It’s sad to see them attack our “class” level when our passion is always focused on our kids. They make mountains out of mole hills, especially in defeat. Heck, one of the coaches didn’t even shake my hand after one of the games. Always remember, when you play the Muckdogs you are going to need to strap it on and be prepared to play hard against us the full two hours, that’s how we roll. #nomorebabytags #babytagsareforbabyteams #putadiaperonthattag

10/13/2015

Coming off the busiest three weeks of the year for us with a tournament, then the Sophomore Fall Classic, followed by another tournament.  It was emotionally and physically taxing for me and I did my best to give my all to the teams and families.  Was proud that we played so well in Arizona and am extremely proud of our 9U club.  We played up in the 10U divison, which was a decision I thought long and hard about, but ultimately we went with it and I think it proved to be productive for the boys.  We have three plus weeks to teach in practice before our next tournament.  Looking forward to that time developing all of the boys.

10/01/2015

Flight was good. Hotel is nice. We had a good dinner together. Tomorrow we will be challenged in both games. Excited to coach this group and see what type of run, if any, we can put together. Stay tuned.

09/29/2015

We are coming off a very successful weekend with our 9U-14U teams, where we finished 18-5 as an organization on the weekend with three championships (9U, 10U and 14U).  Our boys played good baseball for most of the weekend.  We still have a lot of work to do as we will be traveling over the hill in November and the overall competition will get stiffer.

It is a short week for me, with us leaving for Phoenix on Thursday afternoon for the Arizona Sophomore Fall Classic.  I will be taking a group of ’18 and ’19 graduates to participate in the largest showcase in the country for kids that age.  We are the only team from Nevada that will be participating.  Games will be played at Peoria Sports Complex, the spring training facility for the San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners.

Lots of work to get done in the office before then, excited for the weekend though.

09/22/2015

Excited to have our 9U-14U teams playing again this weekend.  We have had good practices heading into this week, am excited to be able to watch some of our other age groups play.  Ken is going to try and make it out there this weekend too, to make sure coaches are doing their jobs, kids are performing and parents are behaving.  Should be an interesting and competitive weekend.

09/17/2015

We have our second tournament of the season coming up next weekend.  Should be a good test for us playing some local competition.  Practices with the 9U team continue to be productive.  Very happy to see the growth of this group in such a short amount of time.  We will continue to push our guys, though, as over the hill tournaments will start soon.

09/07/2015

Our 9U team continued to play outstanding baseball today.  We have had several very talented groups come through including a team that finished the season 58-5 and was nationally ranked, that is now our 12U team.  I can’t ever remember a group, including our current 12U team, that started the season in a manner like this before.  Obviously only time will tell just how good this group is going to be, but the talent level is high as is the baseball IQ among all of our players.  These kids understand the game at a very high level, and not just one our two of them.  Several handfuls of our guys do.  We played some good teams this weekend and our execution was outstanding.  Looking forward to continuing to working with this group.

Was happy that our 12U and 15U teams won the championship today as well.  Last I heard our 14U team had advanced to the championship, as did our 18U Black team.  A good weekend for sure, but we have a lot more work to get done.

09/05/2015

I was pleased with the overall performance of most all of our teams today.  Our younger guys hadn’t played in a tournament in over forty-five days, so there was some noticeable rust.  Was very happy with how our older teams played, which is a by-product of those kids playing together on our 17U and 19U summer teams.

Tomorrow should be an even better day as we tend to get better making adjustments as the tournament goes on.  Our coaches have to continue to demand that our players compete every pitch.  They also need to make sure they are coaching every pitch,  This is something I will continue to stress to them.

09/05/2015

Bret’s currently coaching the Muckdogs 9U who are playing at 3:30 and 6 PM today at Edmonds Sports Complex in Carson City.

09/05/2015

Welcome to Bret’s new Blog!