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
