The NFCA Convention this past week at the Hyatt Regency in Dallas was a big success and wrapped up on Saturday with the largest attendance numbers ever!

Kudos to the NFCA for once again putting on a great event and, for those who like to mark their calendars early, the 2025 NFCA Convention will be held Dec. 10-13 in Las Vegas (and the 2026 event will take place Dec. 9-12 in Atlantic City, N.J.)!

Here, printed with permission, are the daily summaries released by the National Fastpitch Coaching Association (NFCA) itself but first, a recap highlight video narrated by NFCA Executive Director Carol Bruggeman…

🤠 That's a wrap! Check out the highlights from the final day of the record-breaking NFCA Convention in Dallas. See y'all next year in Las Vegas! #NFCA2024 #LeaveYourMark pic.twitter.com/n8ti2LTyZM

— National Fastpitch Coaches Association (@NFCAorg) December 8, 2024

*****

Day 4 Recap (Sat, Dec. 7, 2024)

With over 1,800 attendees the NFCA capped a record-breaking year with its largest Convention in Association history.

From a new membership high in October, to a sold-out Exhibit Show with 25 first-time companies and over 600 first-time Convention attendees, the 2024 edition concluded with the Awards Brunch, a second session of Drills, Drills, Drills, and a Super-Saturday edition of education.

After the NFCA’s respective All-America committees conducted business, Drills, Drills, Drills opened with the Texas Glory’s Kevin Shelton on short game, Texas Tech’s Hunter Veach covering defense and Longwood’s Dr. Megan Brown closing it out with pitching.

Following drills, the membership recognized their peers at the Awards Brunch.

Coaches earned Victory Club milestones, which included a pair of lifetime honorees in NFCA Hall of Famers Heinz Mueller, Phoenix College (1,600), and Oklahoma City’s Phil McSpadden (1,900).

Mueller is the all-time leader in NJCAA and McSpadden is the winningest coach in collegiate softball.

Additionally, each 2024 National Coaching Staff of the Year winner addressed their peers, along with video acceptances from Beth Mowins (Melinda Fischer Distinguished Service Award) and College of St. Mary’s Carolyn Todd Bray (Donna Newberry “Perseverance” Award).

Bray was in attendance to accept her award nine month after being struck by a line drive during a game in March.

The brunch closed out with LSU’s Beth Torina, the 2024 Humanitarian Award recipient, who is being recognized for her tireless work to raise awareness and funds for ovarian cancer research.

The Convention concluded with a full afternoon of education:

• Wilmington’s Mike Shehorn (Infield Fundamentals),
• Janae Shirley (Hitting: The 2-Strike Approach),
• Kentucky’s Rachel Lawson, Dayton’s Cara Clark and UCF’s Cindy Ball-Malone (DP/Flex Strategies)
• Kingwood High School’s Christa Williams (Building Accountability in Pitchers)
• Tennessee’s Aubrey Leach and Karen Weekly (Short-Game Defense).

Wrapping things up for the 2024 Convention were:

• North Texas’ Jason Gwyn (Defense Around the Base)
• Itawamba Community College’s Phil McSpadden (Competitive-Based Bullpens)
• an umpire panel that focused on how to ask the right questions to build a better relationship between coaches and umpires.

The NFCA Convention returns Dec. 10-13, 2025, in Las Vegas.

*****

Day 3 Recap (Fri, Dec. 6, 2024)

Friday in Dallas continued the biggest gathering annually of softball coaches and sport-related exhibitors.

As detailed in our Line Drive Softball recap of Friday, three new members joined the NFCA Hall of Fame on Day 3. Additionally, there was a full lineup of speakers, featured grassroots business meetings and education, giveaways in the Exhibit Hall, and conversations about relevant issues surrounding the sport of softball.

In the signature event, Connie Clark (Texas – ret.), Gretta Melsted (Augustana) and Tim Walton (Florida) were enshrined into the NFCA Hall of Fame.

At the conclusion of the Friday evening event, NFCA Vice President for Awards and Arkansas head coach Courtney Deifel announced the Class of 2025:

• former University of Georgia head coach Lu Harris-Champer,
• Kutztown University head coach Judy Lawes,
• University of Texas at Tyler head coach Mike Reed,
• VA Glory founder and owner Suzy Willemssen.

This quartet will put the Hall’s total of honorees at 103 in a year from now.

At the Softball Summit presented by USA Softball, dignitaries including USA Softball’s Craig Cress, and USA Baseball’s Jenny Dalton-Hill provided overviews for those in attendance.

Additionally, each group representative on the Association’s Board of Directors provided insights into what they are working on for the betterment of game both on and off the field.

The Exhibit Show closed on Friday, which included giveaways by NFCA Official Sponsors Netting Professionals and Sports Attack.

SUNY Cortland assistant coach Megan LaMont won a Netting Pros ball cart and 4×6 pro flip screen, while Dwain Nance, head coach at Marengo High School (Ill.) went home with a Junior Hack Attack pitching machine.

The day also featured numerous speakers, along with the NFCA’s Grassroots Summit presented by ATEC, which included a coaches’ panel Q&A session and presentations from New Mexico State’s Benet Higgs and Drake’s Lindsay Diehl.

Six speaker sessions filled the morning before the Summit, with topics ranging from program building, playing rules and practice plans to diversifying pitching staffs, year-round hitting programs and outfield play.

It also featured two Assistant Coach Track sessions – Q&A Panel and Travis Wyckoff touching on coaching development

Following the Summit, the head coaches had their turn with a Q&A panel, to go along with more pitching and catching education.

Also on the docket was a panel of head coaches titled, “Making Adjustments,” presented by NFCA Official Sponsor Morgan Stanley, along with the Resume Building programming and more Director of Operations programming.

Looking Ahead to Saturday:

Saturday, the final day of the 2024 NFCA Convention, will provide a second helping of Drills, Drills, Drills, the Awards Brunch, and seven educational sessions after the brunch.

*****

Day 2 Recap (Thu, Dec. 5, 2024)

Day 2 of the 2024 NFCA Convention featured the membership conducting its annual business meetings, a sold-out Exhibit Show, mentoring workshop and the first speaker sessions, including the return of the Head Coach Track, at the Hyatt Regency Dallas.

With 163 companies, attendees mingled with vendors and learned about the latest in equipment, apparel and innovative products, while exploring the sold-out Exhibit Show space.

The final 90 minutes were capped off with the Happy Hour presented by Discover Lake County (Fla.), an Official Sponsor of the NFCA.

In conjunction with the Exhibit Show, the digital auction concluded at 9:00 p.m. on Thursday evening as coaches bid on over 60 items from their favorite companies, going home with equipment, technology, gift certificates and more.

The morning was all about business.

Attendees dispersed into their respective membership groups to discuss current issues, review pending legislation and create action plans for future changes to the game and their group for the betterment of softball.

View the complete schedule HERE or download the Convention App to see a complete list of activities.

Education kicked off with Drills, Drills, Drills focused on pitching, catching and hitting followed by Pitching 101, Scoring Strategies and Infield IQ.

The return of the Head Coach Track on Thursday featured back-to-back panels that combined the knowledge of head coaches and administrators on navigating the rapid changes in college athletics and how to be an impactful leader.

Additionally, education geared toward Director of Operations professionals touched on best practices for social media, camps, travel and event management.

Emceed by NFCA Assistant Coach Board Representatives – Purdue’s Heather Gelbard (outgoing) and Notre Dame’s Boo De Oliveira (incoming) – the NFCA scholarship winners were recognized, and mentors volunteered to give advice and life lessons to young head and assistant coaches in the always-anticipated Mentoring Workshop presented by SixFour3.

Mentors were asked to “pay it forward,” donating money toward great prizes and educational opportunities for the mentees, which included Convention, NFCC and NFCA Clinic registrations.

In addition, 15 mentees went home with prizes, including four Coaches Clinic registrations, four NFCA memberships, three NFCC courses and four 2025 Convention registrations.

The latter went to four lucky coaches in attendance:

• Clarissa Hagler (Missouri Valley College),
• Steph Cardona (Bridgeport High School),
• Eli Espinosa (Oklahoma Christian University),
• Elysse Petrie (Kent State University).

Also on the docket in the early evening was the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Gathering presented by Major League Baseball with special guest speaker Dr. Jen Fry, who spoke on using conflict as a catalyst for building a culture of inclusion.

Education continued after the mentoring session with two Fireside chats, laid-back sessions that touched on exploring coaching identity and catching.

The evening concluded with PGF Social, highlighted by attendees taking part in line dancing.

Looking Ahead to Friday:

Day 2 of the Exhibit Show is on Friday, which opens its doors to attendees at 9 a.m. and runs through 3 p.m. It is highlighted by raffles from NFCA Official Sponsors Netting Professionals and Sports Attack.

Friday features a full day of speakers starting at 9 a.m. The lineup also includes High School and Travel Ball Caucuses presented by RIP-IT, the Softball Summit presented by USA Softball, and the Grassroots Summit presented by ATEC with a college coaches panel and educational offerings. The night is capped off by the Convention’s marquee event, the 2024 Hall of Fame banquet.

*****

Day 1 Recap (Wed, Dec. 4, 2024)

The 2024 NFCA Convention kicked off on Wednesday evening at the Hyatt Regency Dallas as NFCA Executive Director Carol Bruggeman and NFCA President Larissa Anderson (Missouri, head coach) welcomed the attendees and Kim Ng touched on her professional journey in her keynote address.

Anderson welcomed attendees and focused on “Leadership through her eyes.” She touched on coaches being leaders in the right way and what is best for our student-athletes moving forward.

Bruggeman, who challenged the membership to “say yes” last year, opened her address by thanking those in attendance for accepting the challenge as the Association had a record-breaking year in membership, sponsorship and Convention attendance, while sport set records for TV ratings and more.

With the rapid pace of adjustments surrounding the sport, she emphasized to everyone to fight the urge to isolate and “protect” our own programs over protecting the entire sport. She urged everyone to unite as the “Team of Softball” and navigate and move forward together.

View the complete schedule HERE or download the Convention App to see a complete list of activities.

Bruggeman capped off her remarks by challenging coaches to compete within the white lines, but to remember they are all on the same team outside the white lines and to enjoy time at the Convention to think big, work together and take the sport to new heights.

Ng, senior advisor for Athletes Unlimited and former Florida Marlins general manager, focused on her professional journey and talked out the “growth, opportunity and impact,” and the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) is one of those moments. Stating that if it succeeds it will benefit all of us.

“I wore many hats, but those two letters before my name “Ms.” was a great novelty at first , but it became an obstacle,” said Ng.

“While I was the first (female GM), I didn’t want to be the last. Pressure went from one shoulder getting the opportunity to the other shoulder keeping that spot.”

Along with the previously mentioned “First Pitch” Opening Welcome, first-time attendees were treated to a Rookie Orientation presented by Triple Crown Sports in which a panel of veteran coaches took attendees through the jam-packed schedule and highlighted must-attend events.

Several of the NFCA’s committees met in the afternoon and evening to discuss current and future business, while preparing for the premier business event (Divisional Caucuses) on Thursday.

The evening was capped off with an evening of socializing at the NFCA Opening Reception presented by NFCA Official Sponsor TruMedia, along with a reception celebrating the recent announcement of AUSL general managers, head coaches and player advisors and an opportunity for attendees to learn more about the league.

Prior to the official opening, NFCC 403 (Position Play & Individual Defensive Skills) and 405 (Explosive Team Offense & Strategy) classes concluded with coaches completing their course work enroute to obtaining certification to be a Four-Star Master Coach.

Those were followed by two three-hour Pre-Convention seminars – “Paying Attention to YOUR Mental Game: Building a coach’s toolbox for success” with Julie Jones and “The Next Level of Pitching” panel featuring technology, player development, biomechanics and strength & conditioning.

Looking Ahead to Thursday:

Up next on Thursday are business meetings in the morning, followed by the first educational sessions in the afternoon and the PGF Social to cap off the evening.