Off-season academies tap into softball’s surge

Wednesday, 12 August 2009 18:56

A decade ago, a softball-specific sports academy did not exist in this area. Now? To be successful on the diamond, private lessons are considered to be a requirement.

Hoping to capture a piece of the growing market, the Bay State Softball Academy recently opened in Framingham, despite the generally uncertain economic times.

"In March we had the opportunity to expand next to our baseball facility,'' said owner and director Doug Carroll, a Holliston High graduate who also runs the neighboring academy. "My first thought was a softball facility. I felt it would be a home run in the area. A lot of girls are traveling long distances to practice and train. Framingham's pretty centrally located. The numbers are growing and slowly increasing. This time of year is slow for lessons. By December, I feel we'll do really well.''

The number of high school softball players grew 67.3 percent from 1980-2001, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations. Meanwhile, the increase in Division 1 and 2 collegiate softball programs has translated into about 5,000 scholarships, providing an extra incentive for young players to sharpen their skills and boosting the competition for high school varsity slots. As a result, more high school girls are seeking instruction to separate themselves from the pack.

"Off-season training is so critical in softball,'' said Steve O'Neill, head coach of Ashland High's two-time defending Division 2 state champions. "The pitching is so specialized that the hitting has to keep up. When this first started, kids were just getting pitching instruction. Now, all the serious players are getting hitting instruction on a weekly basis during the off-season.

"You're not going to see programs win a state title or a league championship without girls who are dedicated to going to a facility and seeking out-of-season training. Clearly, there are kids that want to go on and play college, so it's critical to get qualified help from these facilities.''

The main competition for Carroll's facility in Framingham will be from Planet Fastpitch in Uxbridge, 25 miles away. Its instructors worked with all six starting pitchers in the state's Division 1, 2, and 3 high school championship games this spring, including Ashland's ace, Nicole D'Argento, the state's two-time player of the year.

With a high school career mark of 62-0, and a softball scholarship to Boston College, D'Argento said she owes a lot to the Uxbridge facility's founder, Denise Davis, "and all the girls I worked with at Planet Fastpitch. They've guided me and taught me things I probably couldn't have gotten on my own.

"It's really important for any developing player to get outside instruction. The instructors you work with have more connections than a high school coach would,'' she said. "In a game situation, a high school coach might tell you that you're thinking too much. Your pitching coaches and hitting coaches at a private facility can break it down and keep it simple.''

"Fortunately, in this economy, my business is in a mature stage,'' said Davis, who started her training facility in Rhode Island in 1997 before moving to Uxbridge in 2001. "You have to work extra hard to make people know how invested you are. We try to bring in top-notch speakers and the newest technology. It's fun, but it's a true investment of 100 percent of your life.''

As the area's only softball-specific centers, Bay State and Planet Fastpitch have already distinguished themselves from places like Foxborough's RBI Baseball Academy, which provides softball instruction as a sideline.

"I've focused much more on baseball, because my background is primarily baseball,'' said RBI Baseball owner Paul Rappoli. "We have softball instructors in every day, but baseball is my background, so we have more instructors. I'd say the demand in softball is not as much as it is in baseball, but if you have good instructors who are committed to the sport, you're going to develop a following.''

Staffing is not an issue.

Bay State Softball features the 2008 NCAA Division 2 Pitcher of the Year in Janine Enos of Bryant University, the 1999-2000 Gatorade Massachusetts Softball Player of the Year in Holliston's Katie Hall, as well as a former college pitching coach, Britta Stroman.

At Planet Fastpitch, Davis was invited to the US Olympic team's trials, and her staff includes 2004 Canadian Olympian Kaila Holtz, 2001 All-American Betsy Ahearn, and 2004 Women's Amateur Softball Association national champion Megan Biddle.

And landing guest speakers and instructors like Olympic gold medalist Jennie Finch, UCLA's 11-time NCAA championship player and coach Sue Enquist, and former Detroit Tigers hitting coach Don Slaught has cemented Planet Fastpitch's reputation.

"Personally, every day I'm available to work, I am,'' said Davis. "We're so full, I have a wait list. From the middle of July to August is usually the slowest period, but I'm so busy. It never stops. And from January through the middle of the March, when people are all getting ramped up for the high school season, it's super busy.''

By all accounts, including that of the New England Sports Academy, the Boston Blazers Lacrosse Academy, and the RBI Baseball Academy, the economy has not taken too big a toll on sports training centers, if only because parents are willing to cut other expenses in order to support their children's athletic success.

"My parents would have driven all over the country if that's what made me happy,'' said Enos. "Parents, no matter the money or their situation, will do what they can. Plus, there's the college aspect. If they're serious and if they put in the effort, college scholarships are an option. That's a good incentive for parents to put in the time and the effort - and the money. Hopefully, it pays off in the long run.''

Carroll would like capitalize on the increased interest in softball and match in the Framingham area what Davis has accomplished in Uxbridge.

"So far, it's been a success,'' said Carroll, who while at the University of South Florida was a finalist for the 1994 Dick Howser Award, as the trophy for the nation's top college baseball player was known at the time. (Red Sox captain Jason Varitek, at Georgia Tech, won it that year). "So much of the legwork is preparing for the busy season from November to March. We anticipate a productive season during those months. Getting the word out is the biggest thing. It takes time.''

The word has already begun to spread. O'Neill noted that three of his younger returning pitchers have been going to the Uxbridge facility for years.

"I've spoken to some of the kids in the lower grades about the softball academy,'' he said. "I think they'll look into it. Like anything else, word has to get out. I think it's going to be a viable source for great instruction.''
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