It’s been a big year in 2018 for John Carpenter.
The long-time Texas Blaze head coach and well-respected instructor and clinician made a big jump to Scott Smith’s Texas Bombers organization this summer and in the fall has seen his Win The Moment clinic series explode in popularity as his message of “equipping student-athletes and coaches with the tools to excel in the mental game while growing their leadership skills” has resonating with those looking to get a competitive edge not just in softball, but in life.
We caught up with the father of seven and grandfather of four to get the latest… sit back and enjoy!
*****
You had a lot of on-the-field success with the Texas Blaze organization in developing high-level college players and moving to the Bombers must have been an adjustment in some ways… how has it gone so far?
It’s been awesome! What’s funny is that it’s been better than I imagined it would be and that’s weird because I thought it would be great. I probably had the same thoughts everyone else did: would the egos match when you put two high energy coaches, me and Scott Smith, on the field? I too had my reservations, but I’ve found myself in the first base box across from a guy that loves to manage the game like I do and I mean that in a positive way.
I’m in the first base box thinking like a third base coach and that’s great as you have two guys trying to score runs now on both sides of the field. We have the same mentality and could flip-flop and not lose anything.
I don’t need to blow smoke, Scott is an incredible man of integrity and he cares deeply about growing the age all the way down to 2U! It’s genuine and real; I get the competitive coaching rub, that that’s been a huge positive for me. I will say that I always had a positive look at the Bombers organization; however, if it was a 9 or a 10 before I got there, it’s now a 20 out of 10 and so much better than ever imagined. My biggest joy is that is has exceeded my high expectations.
How did the fall go on the field for you and the team?
We played only about 17 games and went something like 12-5 as we got rained out a lot. We went to D9 and went 2-2-2 against top teams like the OC Batbusters and DeMarini Aces, which really has a quality team.
A lot of it for me was figuring out how Scott works and for him about how I work as well as getting to know the players and trying to instill in players, like catcher Jayden “JJ” Smith (2020, Texas), that she has to lead and has it in her, and a player like middle infielder Danieca Coffey (2020, LSU), that she has to be a sparkplug.
I have the feeling we may have an incredible summer in 2019. I can feel the chemistry piece is there, it’s the meshing and growing that will come; you go up and down that roster and it’s a Who’s Who of talent and where they’re going to college so the talent is certainly there too. My takeaway is we are a very young team, but I preach two things: 1. be selfless and 2. be an All-American (play to your abilities). I think we’ll produce some quality ladies on and off the field and that’s what excites me.
Talk about Win The Moment and how it’s progressing…
It’s going so well it scares me! We just did another clinic at a high school, but in January things are really going to take off: we’re doing the Texas Bomber clinic the weekend of January 5th; one with the American Freedom (travel) organization January 12th; with Aces Express January 20th as well as one with Concordia University in Austin and one of the Mariucci club teams also in January. January is insane, it’s looking like we’ll reach between 700 to 800 athletes through Win The Moment and that’s stuff that’s currently on the books; we also have some high schools pending in the month.
