"If you're lethargic today, guess what you're going to be on Friday? Lethargic... so let's stay focused now."
Todd Verkennes can be a tough coach, but he wants his 12- to 18-year-old players to be winners on and off the field. "My motto is 'Practice so hard that playing is easy,'" said Verkennes. "That goes for softball, and that goes for life, as well."
Verkennes is the coach of The Future Rebels Fastpitch softball league, a nine-team travelling league that helps players develop their skills on the softball field, and it's evolved over the last seven years. When the league first started, there were only a few kids playing and practically nobody in the stands. Fast-forward to today, and you'll see 90 girls playing in the league and hundreds of parents watching the games.
"Women seldom get a chance to play ball beyond college," said Verkennes. "What we do is use softball, and playing merely for the love of the game, to build confidence and leadership skills because, after college, these young women are going to start working, they're going to become leaders in the community, and they're going to need those skills to succeed in life."
Verkennes, a manager at Walt Disney World, originally got into coaching for the Future Rebels as a way to get his own daughter involved in sports. That goal morphed into something much bigger and more important both to Verkennes and the girls who play in the league, and the payoff for Verkennes comes later when he gets the call.
"When I get that phone call from a parent and from a player... when you're the second person they call to gell you that they just committed to a college and they thank you for helping them reach their goal, that's my national championship."
For more information go to: www.thefuturerebels.com