Extra Inning Softball correspondent Jessica Warren was a college All-American at Florida State and, in 2018, the third baseman helped the Seminoles win the NCAA D1 National Championship. After college, Jessi was a professional player with the USSSA Pride and competed in the Athletes Unlimited season.
Click HERE to read about Jessi’s thoughts about the Noles magical run five years ago…
In today’s “Inside Pitch,” she recaps going to the ProSwings Power50 tournament last weekend and gives her “rating & review” of what she thought of the event held at Champions Park in Newberry, Florida.
Coincidentally, earlier today we previewed the ProSwings College Exposure Camp coming up in two weeks… click HERE to link to it.
I*****
This past weekend my travel organization that I coach for attended the ProSwings Power50 tournament and it was one of the best run tournaments I have attended.
The competition that attended tested our girls in ways they hadn’t been tested this season yet, and as a coach all I ask of my girls is to compete and get one percent better in some aspect of their game daily.
I feel his tournament allowed that to happen, with the high caliber of competition that was there.
The staff that was on site was phenomenal, too, as they communicated very well and efficiently and provided the eyes and exposure these girls need to reach the next level of ball.
How would I rate the event?
It’s a 5 star event and I’d give it a 10 out of 10! If you’re an upcoming softball athlete, I recommend playing in this tournament at least once in your travel ball career.
Also, I got to talk to Stephanie Best, head of ProSwings and the former Central Florida great, and asked her some questions about what she’s doing… here’s my Q&A:
*****
Jessi Warren: What’s your favorite part about hosting so many competitive teams at the same time at the Power50?
Stephanie Best: My favorite part about hosting so many competitive teams at the same park is that everyone is excited to show up and play because every game is a good game and match up!
I also love that we are bringing together so many passionate people in the same place who truly love competing and playing the best competition possible and when some of best teams in the country come together, you’ve also got a great shot of bringing in college coaches from around the country to recruit and pursue some of the nation’s best athletes which creates an elite level environment for everyone.
How’d your idea come about creating such a powerful tournament with such strong teams named after your company?
We created the Power50 model to promote three standards: 1) high caliber; 2) high touch and better access. We wanted to cater to the teams and coaches who were craving a better tournament experience of quality over quantity. The goal is always 50 powerful teams, all at ONE park with good college exposure, thoughtful communication and organization. We just wanted to do the little things right that have been lost over the years from the mega tournaments.
We knew if we did these things right, we would be able to bring in quality travel teams and coaches. I believe in creating relationships first and foremost, so the thing I cared about most was encouraging an atmosphere that made the experience more connected for everyone involved. but the college coaches were the biggest motivators for me to create the Power50. Ever since we started ProSwings and our college exposure camps, they always have asked me to put together a tournament and run them exactly like we run our camps with the same values. So that’s how the idea of the Power50 came about.
If you could change ONE thing in the travel world (softball), from back when you played to what these kids have now… what would you of liked to see happen faster? What would you of liked to have when you were playing?
I wouldn’t change much about my experience playing travel ball growing up. I think my generation was extremely fortunate because we didn’t have all the distractions or pressure to be recruited. The tournaments were simple… you showed up to every event with one goal, to win and compete with your teammates!
You played softball because you truly loved it, not necessarily to get recruited… that was just the bonus that would happen by playing on a great team and in great tournaments. The coaches came to you because your play on the field spoke for itself.
Now, travel softball has exploded which I love because it gives so many people opportunities to stay in the sport! At this event alone, there were over 20 notable female travels ball coaches that I saw who were coaching their travel ball teams that were super stars at their colleges or even currently now in the pros like Jess Warren! You’ve got former players impacting and mentoring current players now more than ever!
What would you hope for in terms of better softball events in the future?
What I truly hope for our sport, specifically the travel ball space, is for directors like myself to really focus on quality first. Because the sport is booming, it’s opened the door for creating mega events. This waters a product down and limits connectivity because decisions are made based on profit margins versus protecting the integrity of the events for the athletes and college coaches.
So if I could change anything, it wouldn’t be what has happened in the past, it would be to use our experiences in the past to strengthen what’s currently going on in the travel ball space now. Which is ultimately why we created the Power50: to create change and create a model that catered towards giving better access and visibility to everyone involved.
Below are the age division champs at Power50 2022:
𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝟱𝟬 𝟭𝟰𝘂 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗠𝗣𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦!! 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝗧𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗩𝗶𝗿𝘂𝗲𝘁! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/nc6b8e65Ec
— ProSwings (@ProSwings_) July 18, 2022
𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝟱𝟬 𝟭𝟲𝘂 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗠𝗣𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦! 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗯𝗼𝗹𝘁𝘀 𝗚𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗼𝗱! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/8pyFfaKi6g
— ProSwings (@ProSwings_) July 18, 2022
𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝟓𝟎 𝟏𝟖𝐮 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒!! 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐨 𝐍𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/ehe8y79mXK
— ProSwings (@ProSwings_) July 18, 2022
Send any thoughts, questions or story ideas to: info@extrainningsoftball.com
