Welcome
www.girlsfastpitch.us has
been years in the making and a dream completed by the Strickland School
of Windmill Fast Pitch. This is a one stop shop of information (and it's
free). There is a section “ABOUT US” which gives a little
back ground about us. There is a FUNDAMENTALS section to help the coaches
and parents with pitching and eventually hitting and fielding. There is
a RECRUITMENT section to assist the players in researching colleges, preparing
their portfolios and cover letters to college coaches. We have a SCRAPBOOK
section for the players to share pictures and a BLOG section for the players
to have fun keeping in touch with friends and acquaintances they have
met along the way. Our NEWS section will be filled with the current rules,
regulations and articles of interest. Under NEWS we will also have a Calendar
of Events which will allow your team and/or State tournament to be posted
just in case there is a team out there who would love to participate.
Our LINKS section has our Sponsors, Available Advertising Space and Links
of Interest to help the parents, players and coaches find related web
sites with minimal ease.
Should you desire to have a web site, or an article of interest printed
within our web site, please write to contact@girlsfastpitch.us.
About Us
The Strickland School of Windmill Fast Pitch was opened in 1980, after
several years of working out various types of style and methods needed
to keep the pitcher well trained and the medical knowledge to keep them
from harm's way. The intent of this school is to encourage the pitcher
to stay in school, maintain good grades, stay healthy (no smoking, no
drugs and no alcohol) and to develop a skill that will enable the pitcher
to seek the knowledge of higher education in whatever field the pitcher
desires.
Ignorance of the science and art of pitching is the most common deficiency
in coaching windmill fast pitch softball. The fact that few accomplished pitchers
have entered the coaching ranks or attempted to share their expertise through
coaching and/or clinics has further intensified the problem. Most of our young
pitchers in the game have either picked up odds and ends from other pitchers
or are simply the product of hard work, trial and error. Developing a pitcher
is a task for the coach, the pitcher and the parent. Unfortunately, few coaches
have the expertise to help, which compounds the problem.
Cliff Strickland's Fundamentals of Windmill Fast Pitch was published and copyright
in 1993, by Sharron Strickland. It was written before the USA Olympics
allowed softball as a spectator sport in the 1995 Olympics. It was written
in a fundamental format to encourage coaches and parents to assist the
young pitcher in their struggle to "get it over the plate".
At the time of print there was no information regarding softball, in any
format, on the Internet or in book form, it was simply nonexistent.
MISSION STATEMENT
Although this is a unique style of windmill, each child learns differently
and will be instructed according to her needs and understanding. (One
10 year old may excel faster than another 10 year old, as with 12, 14,
16, and above). This is determined each week as your child works with
the instructions given and how she feels, that week. Pitching is a repetitive
workout for the child and parent/catcher. This process also takes years
and is tedious in nature, partly because of the age of the child being
taught and the circumstances of events during their day/week.
Commitment To Your Child:
** I will not raise my voice to your child; I will not reprimand your child
if she is responding poorly during her lesson as it is counter-productive in
nature. I will calmly and with humor and understanding come to a solution to
the problem.
**There will be times when I will need to spend more time with one child (in
that hour) than another because of the events of said child. It is the nature
of the art of windmill and every child will receive the same type of consideration,
regardless of age.
**I will instruct each parent/catcher how to assist their child when she is
in a game situation and I am always open to your concerns and needs. I will
make sure you understand how they are being instructed so that you can assist
them during practice away from the windmill school.
Parent/Catcher:
**Please do not raise your voice to your child while she is being instructed
on how to pitch, as it is counter-productive. If you feel the child has done
something extreme in nature to warrant a conversation, please take it outside
in private.
**If you are the catcher, your responsibility is simply to return the ball
and encourage your child to keep trying and reinforce what she is learning.
Although I am constantly improving on how to instruct our style of windmill
I will not waver from the original intent of our style and the way the school
is being run. I also understand that this may not be what you, as the parent,
want to continue; and may desire change. Therefore, it is understandable and
I encourage you to seek an instructor who will fit your needs.
GOAL
Over the past twelve years there has been a surge on demand and performance
of our softball players. Whether “Title Nine” and/or the “USA
Olympic Gold Medal” or both, created this surge, softball has become
a multibillion dollar business. This surge, if gone unchecked, can and
will create a dangerously stressful demand on your daughter.
The Strickland School of Windmill Fast Pitch will begin networking across our
nation to assist the young softball player and their coaching staff with
information on various subjects. Pages from the fundamentals book will
be available on the various pitches, batting stances and coaching windmill.
The networking will also provide a way for the player to locate various
colleges and their recruitment program as well as a “blog”
to share their ideas, differences, scrapbooks and just have fun. Centralizing
the sport to one area will help the softball player reach their needs
with minimal stress.
We are asking the colleges, coaches and businesses that provide service to
the softball player, to join in and network with us, to assist in providing
the tools needed for these young women in furthering their education.
Clifford J. Strickland
Cliff was born April 11, 1943, and sports naturally started early. His Father, Van Strickland, was the first Parks and Recreation Director (1954) for North Sacramento and started boy’s baseball. As a young baseball player he was the only player invited to participate in the city parade celebrating the Sacramento Solons and went on to win the Divisional Championship and MVP. He also played boy’s softball and his team went to Salt Lake City and again took the National Championship. Cliff played baseball and football for Norte Del Rio High School. He was drafted by Pittsburg to play baseball; however, he injured his neck during training camp and was sent home. He came back to California and joined the Army and became part of the 101st Airborne Company and enjoyed jumping from airplanes. Cliff worked while paying his way through college and graduated with a Bachelor Degree in 1977 from CSUS.
In 1978, Cliff’s desire to help girls develop the fundamentals of windmill
fast pitch led to his teaching on the hilltop of his parent’s property;
in the carpet warehouse and anywhere he could find a place to teach. In
1980, he opened the Cliff Strickland School of Windmill Fast Pitch as
he realized so many of the girls in softball lacked the proper training.
He helped start, promote, train and/or teach with such organizations as
the California Breeze, Lady Magic, Saints, etc. In 1978, he was appointed
Assistant Coach to the California State University-Sacramento Softball
Team and in 1981 CSUS took the National Championship. By 1989, he developed
at least seven girls who garnered Division 1 Scholarships. Some of his
students were Karen Andreotti, Christine Haas, Jenny Garcia, Mary Moore,
Jennifer Sherman and Joanne English.
His school is still open, in the same building, with walls full of pictures from past to present and trophy’s full of accomplishments from students who benefited from his passion.
Sharron A. Strickland
Sharron was born March 7, 1945 to Van and MaryJo Strickland and is the
sister to Cliff. All sports were major events in the Strickland household,
more for the boys than girls (as it was just the sign of the times). Our
parents realized that children needed a safe place to play (even in 1943)
and while my Father developed the first park and recreation for our small
town of North Sacramento in 1954, he knew it should apply to both boys
and girls.
Major league softball consisted of the “King and His Court” coming to
town for exhibitions. Eddie Feigner and three teammates were his Court.
This man could throw blindfolded from second base and strike you out!
With a fastball once clocked at 104 mph, The King threw 930 no-hitters,
238 perfect games and struck out 141,517 batters while playing more than
10,000 games. He was inducted into the National Senior Softball Hall of
Fame in 2000.
Although she took the course of marriage and raising children, she also
worked and helped developed many self help programs for women and children.
Sharron was part of a major project spearheaded by Professor Jose Serna
of California State University-Sacramento (CSUS) in the 1970's to develop
a higher education learning program for prisoners (later adopted by the
California State Department of Corrections). She was instrumental in developing
the local Women Escaping A Violent Environment (WEAVE) program, Sojourner
House (women entering back into society from prison, with their children)
in 1975.
Through her positions with local corporations she developed community
service programs and encouraged the employees to get involved in their
community. Her last position in 1989 allowed her to create a local women’s
shelter, homeless shelter for families, assist a local adoption agency
develop at risk adoptions, created through a local roller-skating rink
"skating for grades and education event" in 1997, assisted local
softball programs in developing fundraisers and park improvements for
girl’s softball. In 1995 she was awarded the Lifetime Outstanding Volunteer
Award. .
Although the pitching school was Cliff’s dream, she assisted when needed.
When Clifford died in 1990, Sharron took over the school while holding
down a full time job. In 2001, she retired (from the day job) and began
to concentrate on the sport of softball and getting the best education
for her girl’s. She was the pitching coach in 1995 for the Lady Blazer’s,
which finished in the top five, at Nationals in Orlando. The USA Olympic
Team helped sponsor the event with 125 teams participating in the tournament.
In 2003-2004, she was asked to assistant the Del Camp High School softball
program. Sharron is currently working to develop a scholarship program
nationwide to assist the player with whatever she needs to complete her
education. A high percentage of young girl’s are failing college for various
reasons, so if the player is homesick, provide her with a ticket to go
home to visit while providing her a local family, within the community
she attends college; to help her adjust. If she is failing a grade, provide
tutors.
We need to make sure these young players have the tools necessary to
accomplish their dreams.
