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Welcome to the Knoxville Explosion Fastpitch Softball Team Website! |
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Written by Joe Birchfield
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The Knoxville Explosion Fastpitch Softball Club is currently comprised of 11 teams (16u Select, 16u Developmental, '99 Spring, '99 Summer, '00, '01, '02, 12u Blue, '03, '04 and '05) that have a total of 130 very special players. Players are not only selected based upon skill but also character and desire. Our organization is committed to improving the skills of these special players to not only develop them into the best fastpitch softball players that they can be, but also the best students, friends and reliable, honorable young ladies. Our goal is simple, develop the player to make a meaningful contribution to their schools, communities and future endeavors at the earliest possible opportunity. If you are interested in joining our organization, we invite you to observe our practices and games to see what we teach and how we interact with the players. Tryouts are held in early August each year for the respective teams. If you have any questions regarding one of our teams, please call the Head Coach listed in the important numbers section on the right information section of our website. God Bless and Be Safe!
Joe Birchfield
Knoxville Explosion Fastpitch Organization Chief
(865) 363-0728
email:
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Knoxville Explosion Mission Statement |
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Written by Joe Birchfield
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The Knoxville Explosion Fast Pitch Softball Club is committed to developing player excellence on and off the field. This is accomplished by selecting coaches who volunteer 100% of their time to teach the players the proper fundamentals of the game that include hitting, pitching, fielding and base running. Each head coach will be a certified Double Goal Coach through the Nationally-recognized Positive Coaching Alliance Organization. Key concepts are reinforced using state of the art training equipment, playing equipment, computer software and professional coaches that seek to identify and raise awareness of the player to correct flaws in their own fundamentals. In addition, our players will be taught the proper way to conduct themselves on and off the field. Knoxville Explosion Players are expected to honor and respect their coaches, parents, team mates, opponents and umpires. Our players are also expected to do their very best in school courses and to place emphasis on their studies. We recognize that our players are also students and without achieving the proper grades, our players will not be allowed to compete at the next level. Our coaches are committed to teaching our players the rules of the game and more importantly, how to succeed and have fun! A key component of this commitment is to teach our players the strategy and mental aspects of the game. It is through this commitment to the fundamentals that our coaches and players will honor the game of fast pitch softball.
Joe Birchfield, Head Coach Knoxville Explosion Fast Pitch Organization Chief |
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'99 Spring and '02 Explosion Finish in 2nd and 3rd Place in the USFA 2014 Opening Season Touranment at Bower Field |
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Written by Joe Birchfield
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The Knoxville Explosion Fast Pitch Softball Program Opened up it's 2014 Spring Season in great fashion on Saturday, March 1 at Bower Field (Knoxville). The '99 Spring Explosion finished as runnerup in the 14u Division of the USFA tournament that featured some strong competition including the TN Sting and Indiana Elite. The '99 Explosion played a total of 7 games going 5-2 on the day outscoring the competition 35-18 on a cold March Day. Losing to the TN Sting in the winners bracket final, then winning the first championship game and finally losing the if necessary game to a good TN Sting team. Great job Sting and Explosion! The '02 Explosion were also in action and came in an impressive 3rd place in a very strong 12u tournament field that featured both the '01 and '02 TN Blast, White Lightning, Morristown Wildfire and Angels. An impressive first showing of the young tournament season! The eventual tournament champions were the Morristown Wildfire and runnerup was the '01 TN Blast. Great job, Wildfire, TN Blast and Explosion! Continue to work hard girls, your efforts will pay off! We are very proud of you!
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Why the Knoxville Explosion: 10 Great Reasons |
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Written by Joe Birchfield
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Parents and players often ask, why do we want to play for the Knoxville Explosion? Here are the top 10 reasons to join the Knoxville Explosion Fast Pitch Softball Organization David Letterman Style!
- Commitment to the fundamentals. Our coaches are hand-picked due to their extensive knowledge of the game. Many have not only coached travel softball for an extended period of time but many of them are former players giving them key insight into the strategy of the game!
- Reputation. The Knoxville Explosion Organization has an excellent reputation with many coaches, organizations, sanctioning bodies, players, parents and umpires. We have a reputation of turning out well-coached teams that compete but are also great kids off of the field.
- Coaches. There are many excellent fast pitch softball coaches throughout the various age groups in the Knoxville softball communities. We are blessed to have excellent coaches that understand the game, are certified Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) double goal coaches who are volunteer coaches. Off of the field, our coaches are firemen, policemen, professionals, lawyers, business owners, high school sport coaches and a hundred other professions, meaning your player will learn responsibility and how to act from leaders in our very own community!
- Low Player Turn Over. We enjoy an astounding 90% player retention rate across the organization! While not for everyone, our organization is run like a family with family values!
- Training. The Knoxville Explosion Player Development Program is a one of a kind program that focuses on all of the fundamental areas of game play, especially mental development. This includes situational game awareness. This is extremely important in the proper development of players! We also have a physical training program with Johnny Long Training Academy so our players develop quickness and strength as they mature.
- Technology. We utilize the latest in softball training technology whether it be batting and fielding tools to use of video equipment and computer statistical analysis. This analysis is extremely important to identify flaws in player mechanics!
- Production. We measure success by the development of each player. Players are better after they have completed our program than when we first encountered them. The results on the field are also impressive, our teams have posted 7 Tennessee State Championships in ISA, ASA, SEAA in the 8u, 10u, 12u and 14u age groups from 2011-2013. In addition, our teams have also won the 2013 8u TSFA Southern Nationals, finished 2nd in the 12u 2013 USSSA Gold Florida State Championships and finished 4th in the 12u 2013 WTC South Carolina State Championships in addition to a slew of East Tennessee Regional Championships!
- Academic Excellence. The Knoxville Explosion prides itself on upholding the academic excellence within its organization. We expect our players to all be honor roll students and have an academic incentive and recognition program for our players.
- Community Service. Understanding how blessed we actually are, The Knoxville Explosion undertakes a variety of community service projects to help those in the community less fortunate than us. The players actively participate in the community service projects that have included, but not been limited to hosting Christmas at the Smokey Mountain Children’s Home and Locks of Love Hair Donation Drives.
- Size. We are the largest Fastpitch softball organization in Knoxville and are continuing to experience explosive growth. The advantage that this affords our players is that they have the option to remain within the organization if they are an older or younger player playing on the various Explosion teams. So worry not, your player will have every opportunity to stay with the organization without the worry of “what will we do next year” late season blues!
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Be a Student of the Game - Follow These Rules |
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Written by Joe Birchfield
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Take small steps. Improvement is sometimes a slow process so don't get discouraged. Many times, we've seen a player struggle throughout an entire year only to come back the next and be a different player.
· Learn the game - practice matters.
· Hustle - how you practice is how you play
· Be competitive - play to win.
· Respect and support each other – the golden rule
· Respect yourself - no foul language or Personal ?????????? remarks.
· Play with poise - the game DOES start over with every pitch
· Enjoy the game - and have fun being a part of it.
· Take pride in what you do - never be content with mediocrity
· Softball is a team sport but demands individual effort
Become a student of the game. There is always more to learn.
Have fun. Softball is a game.
There is no reason you can't improve while having fun.
Abe was right about study and preparation. Become as knowledgeable as you possibly can about the game of softball-There are a lot of half-truths and well meaning but inadequate coaching instruction at the youth level. A coach would do well to become a student of the game. As a player if you have dreams and not wishes, go to work on your dream. And then work some more. Work separates the great from the average. If there are two players of equal talent, the one who studies and works harder will always win in the long run. There is no magical substitute for work, no instant drill to make you succeed, no one piece of advice that will put it all together.
One other suggestion: Be patient.
Take small steps. Improvement is sometimes a slow process so don't get discouraged. Many times, we've seen a player struggle throughout an entire year only to come back the next and be a different player.
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