The inaugural Diamond Stars Softball Expo will take place in Charlotte, North Carolina next Friday and Saturday, January 14 and 15.
Set to feature a variety of speakers, sessions, and vendors, the two-day event will be held at the 100,000-square-foot Park Expo and Conference Center in Charlotte. In addition to two eight-hour days full of instructional events, the event will also give coaches a chance to interact during a social hour just for them on Friday evening.
Ben McKinney, the founder of Diamond Star Events and a successful high school & club coach, said the idea for the Softball Expo began after he attended the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Convention several times.
“[My] motivation came from attending the NFCA convention every year, and every year, so many of the people there were college coaches,” McKinney said. “I saw the need for a more regional opportunity for travel ball and high school coaches to connect with some of the best instructors in the game, whether it be people who have been in the game for a while or former players or former college coaches.”
From that thought process, the Softball Expo grew into an actual event. After securing the large conference center as his venue, McKinney set about making the event attractive to potential attendees, vendors, and speakers.
The list of speakers includes Tony Medina, the owner of D-Up Softball Clinics; CJ Beatty, the ‘Softball Motivator’; Matt Lisle, the founder of the Hitting Vault; former Tennessee standout Brooke Vines; former Division 1 college player & coach Miranda Ervin-Rodriguez; and James Madison & WCWS legend Odicci Alexander.
Each speaker will have access to a full-sized, indoor field that Expo organizers will create with the use of temporary fencing and tape-marked lines and batter’s box. “That way, instead of just presenting on a PowerPoint, every speaker can actually demonstrate what they’re saying and coaching,” McKinney added.
According to McKinney, the response to the event has been very positive. “We have some great vendors who will be there and we are almost to our goal in [attendees],” McKinney shared. “Each presenter will also have individual clinic sessions with smaller groups, and those sold out really quickly. People wanted that kind of access to these coaches.”
In addition to his organizer role for the Diamond Stars Softball Expo, McKinney is an accomplished coach in his own right. After beginning his career as a softball coach when daughters Brittany and Stephanie wanted to play the sport, McKinney now has more than two decades of successful coaching in the sport. He currently coaches East Forsyth High School – a team that includes Kierston Deal, the top-ranked recruit in the 2022 Extra Elite 100 – as well as the Firecrackers-McKinney 18U team in travel ball. He also coached the USA Blue Team to a gold medal in the Triple Crown International Challenge last summer. Both daughters went on to Division 1 playing careers, with Brittany continuing her career for several years as a professional player.
For more information or for tickets to the Diamond Stars Softball Expo, click here.
