Wesley College “Great Things Await” @ Dover, Delaware. KEY LINKS: SOFTBALL HOMEPAGE FACEBOOK TWITTER INSTAGRAM coaches DuPont field admissions (plan a visit) softball news roster schedule team stats lineup stats CAC standings / leaders) winter camp/details. To contact the team, write Head Coach Juli Greep at Juli.Greep@wesley.edu; contact this blog via WesleySoftball@gmail.com. Other than being a parent of a past player, this blog has no association with Wesley College. This blog designed to be best viewed in a Chrome browser.

Thursday, November 30, 2017

TUG OF WAR

TUG-OF-WAR EXERCISE
Thursday, November 30


Click here to enlarge these photos at an online album.

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH


Pictured, Wesley Wolverine senior #99 
OF Lauren Hoffman (Bear, DE).
Wesley Wolverine sophomore #2 
3B/SS Karina Cardona (Cooper City, FL).

SHARE YOUR PASSION

From left. Wesley Wolverines
freshman #9 OF/C Miranda Kinney (Bethlehem PA),
sophomore #2 3B/SS Karina Cardona (Cooper City, FL),
freshman #1 MI Bianca Newsom (Edison, NJ).

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

PENN STATE VIDEO


SCENES FROM LAST SEASON’S
CONFERENCE DOUBLEHEADER

between the Wesley Wolverines and the Penn State Harrisburg Lions played on the Pennsylvania fields. Wesley picked up two Ws on the day.
(Now freshman #32 OF Kelly Palmer, from Hershey, PA, attended the games as a fan!)


Pictured, upper left, sliding,
junior #8 OF Megan DiRubbio (Smyrna,DE) , 
on right, top & bottom, 
senior #99 OF Lauren Hoffman (Bear, DE), and 
bottom left, at the hot corner, 
sophomore #2 3B/SS Karina Cardona (Cooper City, FL).


In 2018, the Wolverines will play the Lions at home on DuPont Field (Dover, DE) in a doubleheader, Friday, April 20.

LIFTING 11/28

PRE-WINTER 
BREAK LIFTING
no nonsense sweating 
to sounds of holiday music 
(played at the request of the team)


Tuesday, November 28, 2017

TICTACKTOE!

RACING WITH WEIGHTS 
used as pieces in ticktacktoe games 
played out on the floor of the 


VOTE FOR SOFTBALL!

Fastpitch tally behind so far!
Vote for baseball/ softball
for Summer Olympics 2024


Vote today for “baseball” (which includes the game of “softball”) at L’EQUIPE TOUS-SPORTS for the fastpitch game 
to be included in the Paris Summer Olympics 2024.
Note, the page you will visit is entirely in French. The header on the panel for voting reads in English: “From this list, DESIGNATE THREE SPORTS that you think should be included in the program of the Paris Olympics in 2024.
You must vote for three sports to record your ballot. Once again, a vote for “baseball” includes fastpitch “softball”! 

Website at www.lequipe.fr/Tous-sports/Actualites/Quels-nouveau-x-sport-s-integrer-au-programme-olympique-pour-paris-2024/853433)

Wesley Wolverine senior #99 OF Lauren Hoffman (Bear, DE).

LOVE OF THE GAME

Sliding, Wesley Wolverine freshman
#25 P/ 1B Dori Loukopoulos (Chambersburg, PA).

Monday, November 27, 2017

NCAA GOALS STUDY

More connected to campus community
DIII athletic participation
enhances college experience


Quotes from an NCAA study.

In the NCAA’s GOALS study, Division III student-athletes overwhelmingly reported that they see themselves as part of the campus community (91%) and that athletics participation has helped to provide them with a sense of connection to the campus (94%)….

… also are more likely to report:


Higher levels of academic motivation;

Greater satisfaction with the overall academic experience...

Feelings that the team environment is inclusive and accepting of different cultures and backgrounds;

Seeing their coaches as ethical leaders.


Wesley Wolverine sophomore #23 MI Brooke Retkowski (Baltimore, MD).

Saturday, November 25, 2017

NEVER BE SATISFIED

From left, Wesley Wolverines
freshman #1 MI Bianca Newsom (Edison, NJ)
and junior #13 UT Ashley Royer (Lititz, PA).

USA UPDATED RULES

---- SMALL RULE CHANGES ----
Prepare for the 2018 season!
Updated Code, Rule and Procedural  
changes have been posted @
teamusa.org/USA-Softball/About/About-Us/USA-Softball-Code



Pictured, Wesley Wolverine freshman #5 
UT Amanda Curry (Williamsport, MD).

INTERESTED OR COMMITTED?

Wesley Wolverine sophomore #2 3B/SS Karina Cardona (Cooper City, FL).

Friday, November 24, 2017

SLEEP INFLUENCE


Claims 7.5+ hrs sandman visit needed for success
Influence of Sleep 
on Performance

Quotes from a much longer article posted 
by Michael Mellinger at BelievePerform.com

Currently, researchers suggest that individuals need between 7.5 and 8 hours of sleep each night…

Sleep is a major influence regarding how an individual performs daily tasks. Sleep detriment has a negative impact over time… one night of 12 hours of sleep will not make up for the 4 hours of sleep gathered the previous week. Performance will continuously be influenced, either positively or negatively, through both sleep quantity and sleep quality.

Wesley Wolverines sophomore #23 MI Brooke Retkowski (Baltimore, MD) applying a tag to sliding
freshman #9 OF/C Miranda Kinney (Bethlehem PA).

DO THE SMALL THINGS

From left, Wesley Wolverines
sophomore #6 P/UT Allison Mills (Leonardtown, MD)
and junior #13 UT Ashley Royer (Lititz, PA).

DO YOUR BEST

Wesley Wolverine junior #13 UT Ashley Royer (Lititz, PA).

Thursday, November 23, 2017

GRATITUDE

Wesley Wolverine senior #99 OF Lauren Hoffman (Bear, DE).

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Wesley Wolverine junior #8
OF Megan DiRubbio (Smyrna, DE).

Wesley Wolverines fastpitch team, from left,
TOP ROW:
freshman #9 OF/C Miranda Kinney (Bethlehem PA),
freshman #32 OF Kelly Palmer (Hershey, PA),
freshman #17 P/ 1B Juli Neel (Haddon Township, NJ),
sophomore #7 OF Brandi Dalious (Harrington, DE),
Head Coach Juli Greep,
freshman #4 P/ UT Abbey Mayse (Cecilton, MD),
freshman #25 P/ 1B Dori Loukopoulos (Chambersburg, PA),
freshman #12 C/INF Mykayla Bird-Clahar (Egg Harbor City, NJ),
MIDDLE ROW:
sophomore #6 P/UT Allison Mills (Leonardtown, MD),
freshman #1 MI Bianca Newsom (Edison, NJ),
sophomore #2 3B/SS Karina Cardona (Cooper City, FL),
sophomore #23 MI Brooke Retkowski (Baltimore, MD),
freshman #5 UT Amanda Curry (Williamsport, MD),
BOTTOM ROW, TEAM CAPTAINS,
junior #13 UT Ashley Royer (Lititz, PA),
junior #8 OF Megan DiRubbio (Smyrna, DE),
senior #99 OF Lauren Hoffman (Bear, DE).


How a boxing glove started it all!
Game of softball born
on 
Thanksgiving Day!


The first game of what would become the sport of softball was played 130 years ago on Thanksgiving Day, 1887.

This Thanksgiving Day "softball" game actually was a hastily configured baseball contest, which pitted Yale versus Harvard alumni inside Chicago's Farragut Boat Club.



1887: HOW IT HAPPENED…


A Yale alumnus mischievously threw a boxing glove at a Harvard buddy just after a telegram arrived announcing that Yale had bested Harvard in the annual holiday football game. The Harvard fellow grabbed a broom handle and swung at the boxing glove, while reporter George Hancock, who was part of the group, yelled out “Play ball!”


Suddenly a new game was born with Hancock even writing down the day's rules for posterity.

George Hancock and Chicago's Farragut Boat Club, 1887.

1889: OUTDOOR FIELD...


In 1889 the game moved outdoors. Minneapolis fireman Lewis Rober marked up the first field and set seven innings as the game's official length

 
First photo of a softball team, Chicago, 1897

By this time, the ball had become a small medicine ball -- 16 inches in circumference -- with a bat two inches thick! Rober changed that. His version of the contest used a ball that was more modern in appearance, now 12 inches wide.


Louis Rober's team named “The Kittens”
that kept a Minneapolis fire company crew in top fit shape.


These games, whether played with a 16" 0r 12" ball were known variously as “indoor baseball”, “cabbage ball”, “mush ball”, “kitten ball”, “pumpkin ball”, “diamond ball”, etc. They began to draw as many as 3,000 fans. 



The early game was played indoors and outdoors with a ball the size of a small medicine ball and a bat two inches thick.

1895: WOMEN ENTER THE GAME


The first women’s "softball" team (still termed "kitten ball" or
“girls' indoor base-ball”) was formed at Chicago’s West Division High School. The young ladies were not able to play competitively until 1899 when they finally hired a coach. They eventually claimed the Cook County championship!

First women’s softball team,
West Division High School, Chicago, circa 1900.


1926: SOFTBALL GETS ITS NAME... 

An old 16 inch ball
In 1926, the Denver YMCA dubbed the sport “softball” for the first time. The name started to catch on.

1931: FIRST TRAVEL TEAM...


The first travel team formed in 1931. It was a squad entirely of men, 75 years-of-age and older, taking the field in business-suit-like uniforms (wearing ties and bowties), who called themselves Kids and Kubs



Kids and Kubs, St. Petersburg, FL, 1933



1933: ASA FORMED…


Newspaper reporter Leo Fischer and sporting goods salesman Michael Pauley brought the game to the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, where 55 teams participated before 350,000 fans who watched different contests of men's and women's slow and fastpitch.


Quaskies Kittenball Team of Quasqueton, Iowa, 1934. 
 
The ASA – Amateur Softball Association – was founded that fall (1933) by Fischer and Pauley. Softball had arrived!



SOFTBALL 2017: Unlike many high school and college sports, softball and its counterpart, baseball, today have become part of everyday youth and adult life, whether from a seat in the stands or actual participation.

Today ASA registers some 245,000 teams and over 3.5 million youth and adult players.

There are just over 1,600 college softball programs across the country. These number 286 DI programs, 264 DII, 392 DIII, 205 intercollegiate and 470 community college softball teams.

Women’s College World Series fans has been growing at a 33% clip. This past season the games averaged a total live audience (TV + streaming) of 1.583 million viewers.

Of course, fastpitch softball has been reinstated in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Summer Games.

National Pro Fastpitch! (NPF) is growing by leaps and bounds, billing itself as...

“Seventy-mile per hour pitches, 240-foot home runs, soft hands and lightning-quick reactions all wound into seven feverish innings of gritty, gutsy, fast-paced action. Welcome to hard-hittin', fast-pitchin', affordable family fun!”




Wesley Wolverine senior #99 OF Lauren Hoffman (Bear, DE).

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

MAKE GOOD HABITS

Wesley Wolverine sophomore #23 MI Brooke Retkowski (Baltimore, MD).

SPEED, MOVEMENT, LOCATION

Pitching...
The players who throw really, really hard get lots of attention, and hard throwing can make a difference in pitching success.

Speed is important. But movement is more important, and location is the most important.”

CLICK HERE 
for the full story.

WESLEY WOLVERINE FRESHMAN HURLERS, from top,
#4 P/ UT Abbey Mayse (Cecilton, MD),
#17 P/ 1B Juli Neel (Haddon Township, NJ),
#25 P/ 1B Dori Loukopoulos (Chambersburg, PA).

Monday, November 20, 2017

IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING

Wesley Wolverine senior #99 
OF Lauren Hoffman (Middletown, DE).

Sunday, November 19, 2017

PART IV: CAMP PHOTOS

WOLVERINE SOFTBALL
SKILLS AND PROSPECT CAMP
Saturday, November 18, 2017

PART IV: 91 PHOTOS
of the team & campers


Final photos from the camp

Links to: Part I (108 photos) Part II (98) Part III (95) Part IV (91)
and the "Lighter side of camp post"

From top, left to right, Wesley Wolverines
freshman #12 C/INF Mykayla Bird-Clahar (Egg Harbor City, NJ), 
sophomore #23 MI Brooke Retkowski (Baltimore, MD), 
sophomore #2 3B/SS Karina Cardona (Cooper City, FL), 
freshman #32 OF Kelly Palmer (Hershey, PA),
junior #8 OF Megan DiRubbio (Smyrna, DE), 
senior #99 OF Lauren Hoffman (Bear, DE).

PART III: CAMP PHOTOS

WOLVERINE SOFTBALL
SKILLS AND PROSPECT CAMP
Saturday, November 18, 2017

PART III: 95 PHOTOS
of the team & campers


Many more photos of the camp
to come in PART IV
 later this week.



LIGHTER SIDE

WOLVERINE SOFTBALL
SKILLS AND PROSPECT CAMP
Saturday, November 18, 2017

IT IS A FULL DAY OF SOFTBALL. You might not find another college fastpitch camp conducted with greater intensity, more softball instruction, and coaching or a wider variation of workouts than Wesley’s skills and prospect camp.

HOWEVER, THERE’S OCCASIONALLY A LIGHTER SIDE, if only for a few short moments, as shown in the photos below. For the most part, these Wolverines players are reacting to a favorite tune that suddenly played as background music. 


Pictured are Wesley Wolverines freshman #12 C/INF Mykayla Bird-Clahar (Egg Harbor City, NJ), junior #8 OF Megan DiRubbio (Smyrna, DE), freshman #32 OF Kelly Palmer (Hershey, PA) and freshman #1 MI Bianca Newsom (Edison, NJ).


KEEP WATCHING THIS BLOG FOR MANY MORE CAMP PHOTOS FROM LAST SATURDAY. There are still a couple hundred to be posted!


PART II: CAMP PHOTOS

WOLVERINE SOFTBALL
SKILLS AND PROSPECT CAMP
Saturday, November 18, 2017

PART II: 98 PHOTOS
of the team & campers


Many more photos of the camp
– PART III, PART IV, etc. –
to come later this week.