Coach Steve is entering into his 4thseason as a Head Coach in the Compuware Girls Fastpitch Organization. Under his guidance and direction over the past 3 seasons, Coach Steve has seen nearly two dozen players achieve their ultimate goal of playing softball at the Collegiate level. Assisting his athletes in achieving those goals is the ultimate sense of accomplishment for Coach Steve, as he will be the first to say; “ It’s about the girls…it’s not about me”. In accordance with that approach, Coach Steve believes in utilizing college exposure tournaments and on-campus college camp tournaments. Coach Steve also has an extensive list of college coaches with whom he communicates with each year to assist his players in achieving their respective goals. Coach Steve is also able to assist his players and their families in the college recruitment process from the parent/family standpoint as his daughter played college softball at Ferris State University.
Prior to coming to Compuware, Coach Steve was an Assistant Coach in the Thunderbirds Softball Organization. There, under the mentorship of a highly successfully mentor with over 30 years of coaching experience, Coach Steve coached at the 16U and 18U levels. With the Thunderbirds, Coach Steve assisted in the development of several athletes who went on to successful Collegiate softball playing careers.
As a former college athlete himself, Coach Steve places a very strong emphasis on teaching fundamentals. Additionally, of major importance to Coach Steve is educating his players on personal body maintenance and care, proper warm-ups, conditioning, and injury pre-hab/re-hab. Coach Steve also strives to teach and improve each player’s mental approach to the game.
Coach Steve actively works to increase his coaching knowledge portfolio as an Active Member- NFCA (National Fastpitch Coaches Association), and by attending various coaching clinics on a yearly basis.
My Philosophy(s)-
- Players earn their spot on the team.. THEN...They earn their spot on the field
- Softball is NOT a spectator sport- I expect maximum effort at all times. Communication is key!! (on and off the field)
- “THE TEAM, THE TEAM, THE TEAM”…we do everything as a team.
- Our teams will play the game the RIGHT Way.
- Practices belong to the coaching staff. Games belong to the Players.
- PRACTICE ATTENDANCE IS MANDATORY!!Consistent practice attendance is crucial to
prepare our team for a successful summer season
- I will always strive to be approach-able to all players and their families. Please do not
hesitate to approach me with questions, suggestions, or concerns
- Parents- please strive to make all pre/in/post-game comments positive in
nature. Remember, while your daughters may seem to block you out, they always hear their
parent voices. Comments voiced that are not positive in natureWILLaffect their
play. Positive reinforcement will always help produce the best results; especially in times of
struggle
- Social Media content- Social Media usage is of course at the discretion of each individual
family and player. However, a member of the coaching staff will be monitoring each player’s
social media platforms. This is now standard operating procedure for all college coaching
staffs regardless of sport. College student-athletes have be suspending and removed from
college teams due to inappropriate social media usage. Prospective college student-athletes
have had scholarship/recruitment offers revoked and/or not offered due to inappropriate
social media usage. Organizationally, Compuware will not tolerate inappropriate social
media usage by players or families. As a head coach, please know that I have removed
players from this team for inappropriate social media usage.