Lainie Keefer, a 2028 MIF/C/OF/UT for Indiana Dreams 09, was invited to the USSSA Select 30 National Training Camp this weekend at Space Coast in Florida and she recently agreed to blog about her experience for Extra Inning Softball.
Here’s her blog from Day 1, Friday, Jan. 13, 2023.
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Today was the first day at the Select 30 Training Camp! To start off the day, we checked in and received our jerseys/number for ODM (OnDeck Measurements) evaluations.
There are 91 girls here for the 2028 graduating class! We were evaluated at six different stations: 40-yard dash, agility shuttle, broad jump, hitting/swing analysis, grip strength and overhand throwing velocity.
I had an opportunity to speak with Heather and Derrick from ODM. I asked Heather what kind of programs/devices they use for the evaluation. She told me for hitting, they used a Blast and a Pocket Radar, for overhand throwing velocity, they use a Pocket Radar, for grip strength, they used a dynamometer, and for the agility shuttle run and 40-yard dash, they used laser timing devices.
I asked Derrick how girls my age can prepare for these type of training camps. He told me we need to try and do as much training for the event as we possibly can ahead of time. He also said nutrition is very important. He went on to say the game has changed so much athletically, we must do much more preparation.
We ended the night with keynote speaker Delaney Spaulding, who is a USA Olympic/professional softball player for USSSA Pride. She spoke about how we will have to learn how to balance our social life/sacrifices and school work with softball. She also touched on how many of our best friends will be girls we play softball with because we all understand the same sacrifices. She ended by saying we must find something to put our faith in other than softball. We cannot let softball define our worth. I look forward to classes, speaking with our mentors and getting on the field tomorrow!
— #54 Lainie Keefer
