MVLA Nova

 

Terry McHugh chosen as 16U & Los Altos High School Head Coach

Congratulations to Terry McHugh for landing the job as the new Head Coach at Los Altos High School! Terry (former Nova President), along with Nova co-founder Mike Patterson, and Pat Bitler whose daughters played Nova, will be coaching the Varsity Softball team at LAHS next spring. They will also be coaching Nova’s 16U team this fall.

Terry is no stranger to Nova or girls softball. He began coaching his daughters in mini-sox in 1990, and has been coaching recreational and/or travel ball ever since.

He’s excited about the new job and he’s up to challenge. The LAHS Varsity team hasn’t won many games the past few years, and he’s hoping to turn that around. He pointed out that there is some great Nova talent at LAHS, and more coming very soon, so he believes they will help him achieve success.

The Nova Board made a decision to strengthen our program at both the younger (8U) and older age groups (14U+). Terry’s appointment is yet another positive step in that direction. Several years ago, some of our members found that there was no team for their daughters to play on, and they acted quickly to change that. Since then, our 14U and 16U has continued to grow and they get more competitive each time they play.

It turns out this is a common problem throughout the local softball community. In the past, these players were forced to join other groups that are located up to an hour away, and we’re committed to having a local travel organization for our community. Nova wants to be the “go to” organization for the older girls to continue to play the sport they love. We have successfully recruited players from Los Altos and Mountain View High Schools, St. Francis, Castalaja, Cupertino and we welcome any travel ball high school players that are interested in playing with Nova.

The fact that we expect to field (2) 14U teams and a 16U team demonstrates that our strategy is working. We hope to continue to build the program for our older girls, and may even be able to have an 18U team soon.

Nova teams often practice at Los Altos High School after their games, and they often root for them while they wait to practice. We’re committed to having a close working relationship with the local high schools so their athletes have a place to play softball during the summer and fall seasons.

Best of luck to Terry and the coaching staff in their upcoming seasons!

Safety, Safety Safety!!!

Our number one priority is safety. 

To that end,  we have provided GameFace Face masks to all of the teams for the protection of the pitchers.  At this time,  the use of these masks is not required by either ASA or USSSA.  As far as we know there are no immediate plans for such a requirement to be in place. However, its just common sense! 

Our girls are pitching faster and faster.  The batters are hitting harder and harder. And the bats are hotter and hotter.  The reaction time from bat to pitcher or infielder is very short and the reaction times for even our most talented players is challenged. 

While we are encouraging pitchers to wear the safety masks,  we are not going to require the masks at this time.  This will be a decision between the players and their parents.  The Nova Board has asked all of the coaches to require the pitchers to spend some time practicing with the masks to become familiar with them. 

For more information about Game Face-including some eye opening (and scary) testimonials visit GameFace.

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14U’s mid-week “friendly’s help sharpen skills

The 14U’s scheduled friendlies against the Magic and Crush to help sharpen their game skills. They have 3- 4 more games scheduled over the coming weeks with the Thunder, Quicksilver, and Magic. John says there are lots of teams willing to play friendlies (most have players sitting on the bench that team staff would like to develop).

These “friendlies” give the girls much needed game experience against "tournament competitive" teams. Friendlies enable the coaching staff to develop emerging pitchers, catchers, and position players differently to continue their development. This strategy has already paid huge dividends for our team. It allows players to build their confidence and be prepared for tournament play. John believes that “friendlies” are a good training opportunity and has the net experiential effect of two tournaments worth of pool play not to mention increased team morale. “The parents seem to enjoy them and it lets the coaching staff try new things we might normally be afraid of trying”, said John. Simply stated, the “friendlies” takes the pressure off of the girls and with a little encouragement, they feel enabled to take risks and stretch and develop their skills.

Oh, and for the record and like the song says, sometimes "girls just want to have fun! "

Topic submitted by John Parks

 

Last Edited-6/26/08