April 28, 2016
GETTING TO KNOW: JEN PETTEYS, NIKE SOFTBALL CAMP DIRECTOR.
GETTING TO KNOW OUR DIRECTORS.
Directing the Nike Softball Camp at York College of Pennsylvania is Jen Petteys. Coach Petteys enters her fourth season at the helm of the Spartan’s Softball program after taking over the reins on January 14, 2013. Petteys came to York after serving as assistant coach for Herkimer County Community College. Petteys was the girls’ varsity softball coach for eight years at Canajoharie High School in Canajoharie, N.Y. where she compiled a record of 90-47-1. Petteys was an accomplished player at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, N.Y. In 1999, Petteys powered the Cardinals to a 39-11 overall record and earned NFCA All-Region First Team and NYSWCAA All-State First Team accolades as her Cardinal team won the NYS Championship as well as the ECAC North Championship. The Cardinals won 106 games during Petteys' four-year career including the school-record 39 victories in 1999. Petteys still holds single-season records for hits (72 in 1999) and stolen bases (21 in 1996) and is second in runs scored (52 in 1999) and sacrifices (21 in 1999). She currently holds career offensive records for hits (223), on base (312) and on-base percentage (.502). She is in the NCAA Division III record book for at-bats in a season (174). Petteys was inducted into the St. John Fisher Athletic Hall of Fame on September 28, 2006. Petteys earned her Masters’ degree in Sports Science with an emphasis in NCAA Compliance through the United States Sports Academy and graduated with honors in May 2015. Nike Softball Camp at York College of Pennsylvania presents campers with the opportunity to experience an elite training environment to improve fielding and hitting skills. Jen Petteys and her staff will be working with each and every camper this summer camp in Pennsylvania to ensure they are working towards being better softball players and individuals.
First and Last Name: Jen Petteys - Director of Nike Softball Camp
Location(s) you direct: York College of PA
How long have you been coaching softball? 15 years
How long have you been directing the Nike Softball Camp? 2016 will be our 3rd summer
Why did you start coaching softball? I have and have always had a tremendous passion for the game and experienced a high level of success as a collegiate player and was humbled to be inducted into the St. John Fisher College athletic hall of fame in 2006. I began coaching to give back to the sport that gave so much to me and to develop players to have the opportunity to experience success in the sport they love as well.
Favorite Camp Drill or Activity at Camp? My favorite camp activity is the mini-tournament at the end where the campers design t-shirts to represent their team and prizes are awarded for various facets of the games they play. That is most likely the most rewarding activity throughout the duration of the camp.
What is the key to an incredible camp experience for you? The key to an incredible camp experience is direct feedback from the campers and their parents, guardians and family members. The more family members we draw to watch our camp run and to cheer along the campers as they play makes the experience a success. The evaluations are good feedback to frame what worked and what could possibly use improvement but overall happy developed campers who got better with YCP softball means overall success to us!
Your perfect camper on Day #1 arrives with what qualities? Coachability, (ready and willing to learn) first and foremost. The other qualities would be a great attitude and relentless effort! Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard! Attitude and effort are the 2 things you can control so we ask each camper to maintain a positive attitude and 100% effort throughout the camp – that makes a perfect camper in our opinion.
Which college or pro Coach do you admire and why? Urban Meyer because he began from humble beginnings and worked very hard to get where he is today. It was not without struggle through the years, but his tremendous success wherever he went was due to his hard work and diligence to see things through. His coaching philosophy and style are worthy of admiration in my opinion.
Which college or pro player do you make it a point to watch play? Lexie Elkins - Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns
Coaching Tip – Hitting Drill: Tee Race
Our team works a lot on hitting and offensive production. One of the drills that we like to use to add a competitive setting to our practice is the "Tee Race." A minimum of two players have a ball on their tee and line up even with each other hitting into a net in front of them. They work on getting their hands to the ball quickly and efficiently with proper form and power and the girl who gets to the ball the fastest and gets the ball into the net first wins. We have a lot of fun with this very purposeful drill and have had as many as 5 girls at one-time racing. We have even used video analysis to judge the photo finish in slow motion. The girls really enjoy the drill and it is very effective. This is a great drill and can be done at all age levels as long as you maintain the proper form and power - you can't let the batter "cheat the drill."
For more information on the camps this summer:
https://www.ussportscamps.com/softball/nike/nike-softball-camp-york-college-of-pennsylvania/