Bases Loaded Weekly Article VIII By: Marissa Moore

American Freedom Softball believes in a tenacious desire to compete as champions.

The organizations mission statement:

“To compete as a national-level program committed to helping every player who remains committed to our philosophy get recruited to the ‘right fit’ for that player without regard to division of play.”

The organization focuses on putting all of their efforts on providing a quality environment for all of their teams to reach three common goals. 1) Develop their players to the best of their abilities as players and people. 2) Compete at the highest level so that teams and players have an opportunity to be successful. 3) Educate the coaches, players and their families to understand and use the recruiting process to find the best opportunity for each player. Softball today is fast-paced, high strung and competitive. American Freedom aims at training their individuals to be well prepared for life beyond the field. Most importantly they focus on the understanding that it isn’t about the division you play for, but rather, how you, as an athlete compete and improve. The overall goal is to ensure that American Freedom players have the well rounded experience as members of the organization.

The national director of this well-known organization is Kevin Blaskowski. Kevin is also known as the 18u coach of the DFW national team, but more importantly he has a background in softball that reflects his success on and off the field. Kevin grew up watching his brother’s play men’s fastpitch. As a baseball player, Kevin has always had a general love for the game. But how does that reflect his success in softball?

“I developed a passion for softball because it was a diamond sport. The strategy and speed of the game has always fueled my passion.” It’s evident that Kevin and the girls who play for American Freedom are in love with the sport and the opportunity to challenge themselves.

Kevin began his journey with fastpitch Softball as a collegiate coach at Kansas Wesleyan University in 1991. For Kevin softball is more than a career, he said, “I believe it is one of the most challenging team sports there is.” For over 25 years he was a college coach with an overall record of 819-523. Kevin recalls leading his team at West Texas A&M to the NCAA Division II national championship while posting a 60-7 record as an unbelievable experience. While at West Texas A&M Kevin spearheaded the team that won four Lone Star Conference Championships and held seven NCAA Division II post-season appearances. Kevin was recognized for his coaching excellence in 2014 when he was named the NFCA and Captain U NCAA-II National coach of the year. He also received NCAA-II Regional Coach of the year honors twice and NAIA District coach of the year once. It is evident that Kevin Blaskowski obtains the accolades to lead an organization like American Freedom.

American Freedom consists of 70 teams in eight states. The organization has a long list of alumni whom have represented the organization in the best way possible. For the DFW area American Freedom recently partnered with Driven Elite Fitness and Training giving them access to three beautiful cities. Apart from working hard Kevin Blaskowski implements philanthropy into the program. He said, “I encourage all of our teams in our organization to be involved in community service projects. The American Freedom Webb Team in Oklahoma City recently boxed 10, 568 meals for the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. Kevin went further to say, “It is my goal for all of our teams to engage in at least one community service project per year. We are very fortunate to have what we have in our organization and I want everyone to understand how rewarding community service can be for our coaches, players and the organization.” It is evident that there is a bright future ahead of the organization. Their goal is to expand their current regions and they hope to expand to untapped parts of the country. Kevin is enthusiastic about this growth exapling, “ I would like to see an organization of close to 100 teams competing nationwide.”

Part of this expansion is there recent launch into the world of youth baseball. Aaron Westlake is the national director of the American Freedom Baseball program and his goal is to offer competitive baseball programs in the same areas where we have softball programs.

The most exciting part is that the organization is hoping to explore opportunities in other sports as well. Kevin stated, “It is our goal to have a well-rounded sports organization offering opportunities for athletes in multiple sports.”

Kevin mentioned that the organization would be launching a marketing program in the spring to increase recognition of the activities throughout the organization. He went on to say, “Through Wilson Sports, Driven Elite, Collegiate Sports Advocate, PGF, Triple Crown and USA Softball we hope to continue to compete at a high level and promote the American Freedom model nationwide.”

For more information about the organization click here

For a list of Alumni click here

Bases Loaded Weekly Article VII By: Marissa Moore

For those in the DFW softball world, the Ballfields at Craig Ranch have become a second home. Speeding down SH 121 you could always tell you made it when the park lights hung high in the sky. Located off of Alma Rd. in Mckinney, Tx the ballfields promised a long weekend of home runs, double plays and early morning games.

The park began operation in late May of 2004. On May 30, 2004 the first games were played:

16u Texas Glory v. Texas Thunder 

followed by 

18u Texas Elite Gold v. Texas Thunder.

At its inception the park consisted of nine baseball fields, five softball fields and a more than four acre lake in the middle of the complex. The purpose of the lake, it was the primary irrigation source for the facility. Around 2008, four of the baseball fields located in the northern part were converted into the Dr. Pepper Ice Rink. In August of 2017 the remaining baseball fields ceased operation and were demolished in the summer of 2018.

On November 30, 2018 the Ballfields at Craig Ranch will cease operations.

Since the opening in May of 2004 the fields have been under the operation of a few impeccable individuals. Tim Butz, longterm boss, and his crew were the initial staff for the park. Tim worked alongside Kevin Shelton current General Manager for many years managing tournaments while running USSSA, Triple Crown and PGF events.

In speaking with Kevin he acknowledged that for the past 18 months Randy Hale, whom many of you know, deserves much of the credit for maintaining the fields and overcoming challenging conditions.

“It is difficult to keep fields in decent shape when they never get any rest and they are used immediately after heavy rains. But Randy and the crew went above and beyond working some late nights and early mornings to keep events and practices going” said Kevin Shelton, General Manager.

The Ballfields were a privately owned venue and in matters of business they were inevitably going to cease to exist. Kevin informed me that the ballfields were built as an amenity to the Craig Ranch development. He went on by saying, “at some point the land was going to be too valuable to use for recreation. It’s time has come. The land has been sold.”

Of course losing the ballfields is a challenge for anyone who’s lives have been impacted but rest assured the softball world will adapt and perhaps find a new “home.”

While it is saddening to lose something, hopefully you remember all the good times you had at the Ballfields. In Kevin’s words, “I’ll remember that first game ever played there. My daughter, who played at the time, was 13. I’ll remember the countless camps and college coaches that have come to scout athletes. The kickball tournaments were unique. Not many will remember those. There is a whole generation of players that can say they grew up playing at Craig Ranch.”

I was able to speak with a former player, Caraline Woodall. For her the park provided a place for young athletes to come together and develop a passion for sports. What will she remember?

“Craig Ranch was a big part of my childhood as I spent many weekends on those fields playing the sport that I love. I’ll always remember winning a 14u PGF Premier Qualifier.”

The Ballfields will soon become a development project. The big Baseball field known, as the Gabe will be turned into an entertainment complex with things like putt-putt and bowling. The Softball fields will soon be turned into apartments. And finally north of the volleyball area will become a park and another sheet of ice augmenting the current Dr. Pepper center at the far north end of the complex.

Bases Loaded Weekly Article VI By: Marissa Moore

“On memorial day of 2000, we began Texas Glory.”  -Kevin Shelton (Co-Founder & Leader of the Texas Glory Organization)

·      2001 Texas Glory wins the 10u ASA & USSSA State Tournamemts

·      2002 12u USSSA, ASA and AFA State Tournament winners

·      2003 14u wins the Colorado Fireworks completing double dip to claim the club’s first Colorado Crown

·      2005 16u ASA Hall of Fame Runner Up and 7^th at 16u ASA Nationals

·      2008-2009 back-to-back ASA 18u Gold Hall of Fame Tournament Champions

Fast-forward to today and you’ve got the well-renowned Texas Glory you’ve all heard of. If you were to do your research you’d find the long list of credentials that has established the name Texas Glory. Texas Glory was exclusive to the DFW club area until the fall of 2016 when they finally expanded outside of the local market. Clubs are now established in Arkansas, Illinois and Florida. Texas Glory consists of just under 90 teams across 10 states.

Softball is a quick paced game that looks best when played with passion. The coaches and staff invested in the organization love the tenacity and unforgiving nature of the game of softball. Kevin said, “Softball provides clear immediate feedback, which he likes because it help’s create rapid improvement, both physical and mental.” Traditionally speaking it was made clear that softball is the perfect platform to help young people grow and develop while “satisfying the “old athlete” competitive “fix”.”

 “Texas Glory coaches work hard to create opportunities for players around DFW and the country by running camps and tournaments that put college coaches and players together for illuminating exposure.” This is what Kevin Shelton says has led to the organization to helping almost 500 athletes to go on and play in college. Texas Glory stands by the mantra “Leave it Better Than You Found It!” This creates the mindset of selfless players. Texas Glory aspires to encourage the athletes to find their greatness and then devote those talents to something bigger than themselves.

What spearheaded Kevin’s passion to become co-founder of a respectable organization like Texas Glory?

In the spring of 1997 Kevin watched his daughters during the rec game for the Mckinney League.  Shortly after that Emilo Villa reached out to Kevin and he began his career helping out in the dugout for his oldest daughters team. While Kevin had a little experience in the baseball world he soon realized that from a fundamentals standpoint he needed to study. So Kevin began to educate himself and he went to clinics in an effort to be the best coach he could be. 

“I quickly learned that coaching fundamentals was much different from managing the team and/or managing through a tournament. After two years on the bench and coaching 1^st base I got my own 12u squad.” As you can imagine Kevin has many amazing memories from coaching generations of softball but for the most part he said his favorite memory consisted of: “seeing smiles on players’ faces when they accomplish something they didn’t know or were not sure they could. Seeing them graduate from college and start successful careers and families is pretty cool as well.”

I asked Kevin what his current role for the organization was and his response was comforting. “It depends on who you ask but I do have the privilege of coaching 30+ awesome young ladies.” He works alongside a group of exceptional coaches including Tony Woodall, Cedric Coleman, Reed Robbins, Jason Christensen and Lisa Hough.

The organization consists of leaders like Ed Naudin, Mariah Haygood, Ken Stoker, Junior Torres, Randy Hale, Ken Wilson and many more.

Regional directors are Scott Knight (Arkansas softball HOF member), Ryan Bieneman, Nate Swan and Chris Dove.

All of these dedicated individuals have been vital aspects in the growth and success of Texas Glory.

So, Texas Glory is very internally focused. Through teaching generations of successful athletes they have stuck the fundamentals. Texas Glory emphasizes the importance of physical and mental training. Kevin said “We teach how to field a ground ball and throw, but more importantly, how do we react when we or our teammate doesn’t do it well; how do we stay focused on the task at hand.” This clearly establishes that selfless mantra the organization believes in.

Kevin attributes the success of the organization to:

1. The People. The people have been dedicated to the organizations mission. With that they have assisted the good parents who are looking to help their players improve.

2. The Competitive Environment. Texas Glory has had rosters that created an internal competitive spirit. The organization has been able to push every coach and player to attempt to reach max potential. Kevin said, “we want our players to feel safe but not comfortable. Humans don’t improve when they are comfortable. All of us should feel the pressure.”

The organization will continue to grow as the need to lead athletes continues and there is much success awaiting Texas Glory in the future.

See alumni of Organization here

Visit here for more information