Southeast Championship Training (“SCT”) is a new organization entering its second year this fall but the brainpower behind it is impressive.
The SCT founder, India Chiles, and co-founder, Sharon Perkins, are well known to the game: India, a former college All-American, Southeast Conference Player of the Year for the Tennessee Vols and former UT assistant coach, and Sharon, an All-Conference player at Nicholls State and four-time Atlantic Coast Conference Champion as the head coach at Georgia Tech.
In the fall of 2020, they decided to leave the comfort of personal training and bring their championship experience to youth fastpitch.
Additionally, Southeast Championship Training has partnered with John Garner and the Carolina Cardinals national organization this year with the goal being “to benefit both organizations through better competition and training and more robust relationships with college- seeking athletes.”
Extra Inning Softball interviewed India to find out why she’s entered the travel ball world and this is her story…
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Extra Inning Softball: What were you doing prior to forming SCT?
India Chiles: I gave private lessons four times per week and enjoyed running my own SlapperNation Clinics. Private training is easy. Your athletes love you, the parents love you, and there is no team drama. Sharon Perkins and I both trained out of the same facility in Franklin, Tennessee.
EIS: So why enter into the drama of coaching youth fastpitch?
IC: One weekend in late spring/early summer of 2020, neither Sharon or I had any appointments that weekend, so we decided to go and watch a youth fastpitch tournament in the Nashville area.
We wanted to see what our kids looked like in a team setting. What we saw underwhelmed us. In private training, we are intense people and we expect the kids we train to be the same. Intensity is fun to watch and it shows up on the field, in the dugout, in the warmups before the game, and between innings.
What we saw was, in our opinion, boring.
EIS: This was a spur to start your own organization?
IC: Yes, and it got us to notice and think about some other things as well. The pandemic has made things harder on everyone. Recruiting is harder and being recruited is harder. There are more kids in the transfer portal than ever before. Kids in high school who want to play in college now have to compete with kids who are already proven. What must they do to stand out?
Sharon and I also know that no coaches are coming to our private lessons. It does not matter what a kid can do one-on-one with a coach they love. What can they do on the field in a team setting? How do they look? Are they intense? Are they fun to watch? We both knew we could do more than we were doing. We had to take our approach to private instruction and bring it to team settings on a playing field. Plus, what I was taught at home and in church growing up is that my talents are for serving not to stand by and watch.
EIS: Why the name “Southeast Championship Training?”
IC: The name is our motto. The Southeast is where we are and intend to stay. A Championship culture and mindset is what we want to bring to every practice and game. A passion for Training is what is required to be successful, and not just physical training but also mental training—how to think through a game while you play it—how to persevere when it gets difficult.
EIS: Tell us about getting started…
IC: We started in the fall of 2020 with seven teams from 10U to 18U. To get there, Sharon and I both recruited coaches who bought into what we wanted. Another thing that was important to us was female representation. We wanted female coaches. This is important to us. Not that we are against men, but we both felt that there are not enough women in youth fastpitch dugouts.
Sharon and I both know that women can coach, and we are not saying there is a conspiracy to push women out of the game. In fact, the seats at the table are ours. So, we can’t make excuses as to why we are not seated. We simply have to know our worth, manage our time, take our seats, and stick around when our playing days are over. This is true at every level, not just Division 1 college softball. We can’t wish for more female representation – we have to represent
To get started, we also got some help from some college coaches who referred their current players to us so those players could get leadership experience as coaches. A local Henderson, Tennessee NAIA school, Freed-Hardeman University, was especially helpful.
EIS: How do you evaluate your first year?
IC: I’m pleased with our first year. I established relationships with colleges and coaches I had not interacted with before. I was able to showcase our older kids and put them in a position to succeed. I am proud of providing opportunities that fit the profile and desire of my athletes, especially among some high academic schools like Carnegie Mellon and historically Black Colleges and Universities like North Carolina A&T.
I don’t believe that success is how many Power 5 athletes you place. It’s how many lives you impact and what opportunities you help to create. There are a lot of schools able to provide a great education and the opportunity to play softball. I need to help my players find the right place for them. This is success.
EIS: What are your goals for Year 2?
IC: “Perk” (Sharon Perkins) has returned to the college game to be the head coach at Georgia Southern so this year I need to get even more engaged with college coaches and grow my relationships across divisions and conferences. The recruiting landscape is especially tough for my uncommitted 2022s and I feel responsible to help them find the right place.
The landscape has changed even since I was an assistant coach at Tennessee, so I have a lot to learn and adapt to in order to help the kids in my organization and some who I continue to train. At every age level, I want to be a person that promotes a love of the game and I want to see kids join the game and stick with it.
We had several kids get a taste of intense, high level fastpitch last summer and it elevated their game and their desire. They left SCT for organizations that are more established and that can consistently compete at a higher level. That’s okay.
EIS: We noticed the Twitter page for the Carolina Cardinals Nationals organization now says “Carolina Cardinals Nationals (Powered by SCT).” Is this a partnership with Rick McHone, the Director of the Cardinals, and John Garner, who runs Cardinals Nationals?
IC: Yes, it is a partnership, not a merger. The partnership provides more opportunity for our athletes and greater training and competition for both organizations. SCT is still in its infancy while John’s organization is farther along.
I have seen how his teams play and how his practices are run: they are intense and we share the same philosophy so it’s a good fit. We provide more intensity, training and coaching for them. My teams benefit from the Cardinals’ organizational know-how and relationships with college coaches.
Here’s an example of the partnership… a tryout next week:
Carolina Cardinals Nationals (Powered by SCT) 16U will hold tryouts Sunday August 22,2021, 10am – 2pm @ Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory NC.
Terry Batts
India Chiles
John Garner
Tianna Batts
Rick MchoneInquires to J Garner 336-209-6582 & Terry Batts 704-492-5684
— Nationals Fastpitch Team (@NationalsCC) August 9, 2021
For those interested in learning more, India can be found on Instagram at @IAmIndiaChiles and @SlapperNationSoftball and SCT is on Twitter at @TrainingSCT.
— Aaron Taliaferro, Extra Inning Correspondent
