Good choice!
2014-2015 NECC Road Trip Catching Camp Schedule is Complete! Find out where we'll be!
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Good choice!
- Apr 1, 2010
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We'll be in Olathe. It's coming up fast now!
By the way, that's pronounced: 'oh lay thuh'. DH and I once heard it pronounced as 'oh loth' and 'bout laughed ourselves silly.
By the way, that's pronounced: 'oh lay thuh'. DH and I once heard it pronounced as 'oh loth' and 'bout laughed ourselves silly.
- Feb 7, 2013
- 3,188
- 48
Other choices in the area are Slater's 50/50 and Umami Burger (don't know if they do pastrami though?)
Eric - do you know when they notify us about the NECC clinic? Sent a check in December but have not received anything yet?
Looks dry that weekend.
There are LOTS of good burger places (and any other kind of grub you want) in Pasadena and the surrounding vicinity.
I would contract Jay directly to confirm. I'm not sure what his process is with main-in registrations.
Yay for beautiful, sunny So Cal Winter weather!
IIRC last year, there was a commitment to do Korean BBQ this time. ;-)
wow! just finished our first day of a 3 day camp in the L.A. area. my gosh! what an experience! My D.D. LOVED IT!!! and this is a 9 year old who has a hard time believing dad that it will be O.K. even if your best buddy doesn't go with you to canp like they said they would! Jay, Kevin, and Mason are amazing!!!! my little one loved it and for what it Is worth I have never seen a better clinic/camp, and we have tried a bunch of them. bump, bump to necc for the teaching they give these kids! If you don't take your kid no matter what the age you are going to be sorry...... Also thanks and much love to Eric F. for putting this together!!!!Thank you to all of you .Matt E.
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I was thinking the first session might be a little too "talky" for the younger ones, Good to hear they stayed engaged.
If your DD is loving it, and you are happy with her experience, then my efforts have been worthwhile. The most important thing for me making sure this kind of instruction is available. I'm hoping we are able to host it again next year.
I heard a similar comment from another parent after the morning session, and I wondered the same thing, too. However, the kids I have asked about it thought the instruction was just fine. Two of those kids (including my 10yo DD) have been through the clinic before, and it's familiar information, but Jay still held their attention. Another was a young first-timer who wasn't familiar with any of it.
It's been good to see a few DFP regulars - Guero, Rocketech, Eugene Stryke...and new member Matt.
After reading guero_gordo reply I started thinking about how much my my daughter had retained. It will definitely very from kid to kid. However, this was one of those mad scramble softball days that a parent just wants to get over! 9 a.m. bull pin with our pitcher, "whoa check it out" she is a completely different catcher than yesterday and my pitchers dad was blown away! 11a.m. evals! (even though a 4 season returner, gotta eval to be an all star candidate) pop-ups, fielding, hitting , and catching! "whoa again!" definite marked improvement. Tells herself out loud about hand positions in the runner on stance, and A B C glove position, wheel turning! I hear comments from the stands on how solid she looks. Man that sure makes a dad proud. 11:30: jam to sierra madre, just make camp in time! 210 traffic stinks. Another 3 hours of camp done and gone. wow time flies when you are enjoying what your doing. 4p.m. jam to grandpa's house for birthday dinner. In the car ride over, she looks me right in the eye and says "I sure love softball" which is something I haven't heard since the beginning of soccer season.(yeah I know soccer). Now watching the back half of the football game with my dad and what is she doing? every time a commercial break happens, she's doing it! By herself. no reminder. Down in the stance, each change of the commercial during the break she goes from sign, no runners on and then to runners on! my dad taps me on the leg and says "are you watching this?" so to sum it up, maybe some of the conversation goes over there head, but a whole lot of seems to stick! I am not trying to kiss butt or brown nose anyone, but I am pleased! Thanks NECC
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- Feb 7, 2013
- 3,188
- 48
My DS 8YO is finishing the 3-day NECC camp in LA today. I attended the first 2 days and wanted to give some feedback on both the positives and a couple of areas for improvement.
The instructors, Jay, Kevin, and Mason are very approachable and knowledgeable. Before camp even started, Jay told me that his team is constantly upgrading and improving their catching philosophy as needed and that a few areas in the NECC DVD (which I have) are in the process of being updated (primarily the throwing mechanics and "C" position for the glove). Our session had about 18 kids (about 50/50 softball/baseball catchers).
Some of the things I liked:
- broke out the sessions for the younger kids (8-12yo) into small groups;
- had the campers do dynamic warm-ups at the beginning of each session;
- explained everything in simple and easily understandable instruction;
- asked lots of questions of the kids and gave the reasons why they teach certain mechanics;
- made the kids feel very comfortable and knew them by name;
- demonstrated proper form and corrected the kids when not doing a skill properly;
- on Day1, Jay used a wireless microphone and PA system which was great so parents could also hear the instruction and take notes.
- during "Receiving" drills Jay would windmill pitch to the fastptich catchers and was very proficient at hitting the locations so they could work on each receiving position.
Some areas for improvement:
- in December, I submitted my registration and check and never heard anything from NECC whether my son was enrolled or not? One week before camp, I emailed them and to his credit, Jay did get back to me within 15 minutes that indeed my son was enrolled. It would have been nice to have received some acknowledgement of receiving my paperwork instead of me having to follow-up with them directly.
- The 1st day seemed a little disorganized. For example, even though they knew which players were coming well in advance, for some reason they were scrambling to find 12inch softballs even though several campers were 12U.
- While the wireless mic and PA was great, the equipment kept shorting out and was very distracting. On the 2nd day, they abandoned the PA system. I hope they get it fixed for future camps because it is very helpful for the parents to understand what is being taught when they are working with their kids individually.
- The 1st day was a lot of talking by the coaches and not as much actual hands on drills being performed by the campers. The 2nd day was much better with more camper participation.
- During drill work, the kids were broken out in smaller groups of 6 and the instructor would work one on one with a kid. The problem is that the other 5 kids are sitting around doing nothing. I would encourage them to find a better way to get more kids involved in each drill or when they are waiting for their turn to work on their proper mechanics.
- As mentioned, Jay is a very good windmill pitcher, but the other two instructors struggled with being able to windmill or slingshot a pitch to the catcher. My son was fine since they pitched baseballs overhand to him, but if my DD was a fastpitch catcher I would have been disappointed that two of the instructors could not really find the target, so the camper did not get as much practice at the "receiving" skill as one would like. Half the campers are fastpitch catchers so IMO its critical that they receive the underhand pitch properly.
In summary, I like the NECC camp and would recommend it for anyone serious about catching. My son enjoyed himself, learned the fundamentals, and the instructors did a great job of covering the key concepts and mechanics. Now the hard part comes from taking what my son learned and applying it to regular practice and the games.
p.s. big thank you to Eric F for securing a field and helping to make this camp happen in LA.
The instructors, Jay, Kevin, and Mason are very approachable and knowledgeable. Before camp even started, Jay told me that his team is constantly upgrading and improving their catching philosophy as needed and that a few areas in the NECC DVD (which I have) are in the process of being updated (primarily the throwing mechanics and "C" position for the glove). Our session had about 18 kids (about 50/50 softball/baseball catchers).
Some of the things I liked:
- broke out the sessions for the younger kids (8-12yo) into small groups;
- had the campers do dynamic warm-ups at the beginning of each session;
- explained everything in simple and easily understandable instruction;
- asked lots of questions of the kids and gave the reasons why they teach certain mechanics;
- made the kids feel very comfortable and knew them by name;
- demonstrated proper form and corrected the kids when not doing a skill properly;
- on Day1, Jay used a wireless microphone and PA system which was great so parents could also hear the instruction and take notes.
- during "Receiving" drills Jay would windmill pitch to the fastptich catchers and was very proficient at hitting the locations so they could work on each receiving position.
Some areas for improvement:
- in December, I submitted my registration and check and never heard anything from NECC whether my son was enrolled or not? One week before camp, I emailed them and to his credit, Jay did get back to me within 15 minutes that indeed my son was enrolled. It would have been nice to have received some acknowledgement of receiving my paperwork instead of me having to follow-up with them directly.
- The 1st day seemed a little disorganized. For example, even though they knew which players were coming well in advance, for some reason they were scrambling to find 12inch softballs even though several campers were 12U.
- While the wireless mic and PA was great, the equipment kept shorting out and was very distracting. On the 2nd day, they abandoned the PA system. I hope they get it fixed for future camps because it is very helpful for the parents to understand what is being taught when they are working with their kids individually.
- The 1st day was a lot of talking by the coaches and not as much actual hands on drills being performed by the campers. The 2nd day was much better with more camper participation.
- During drill work, the kids were broken out in smaller groups of 6 and the instructor would work one on one with a kid. The problem is that the other 5 kids are sitting around doing nothing. I would encourage them to find a better way to get more kids involved in each drill or when they are waiting for their turn to work on their proper mechanics.
- As mentioned, Jay is a very good windmill pitcher, but the other two instructors struggled with being able to windmill or slingshot a pitch to the catcher. My son was fine since they pitched baseballs overhand to him, but if my DD was a fastpitch catcher I would have been disappointed that two of the instructors could not really find the target, so the camper did not get as much practice at the "receiving" skill as one would like. Half the campers are fastpitch catchers so IMO its critical that they receive the underhand pitch properly.
In summary, I like the NECC camp and would recommend it for anyone serious about catching. My son enjoyed himself, learned the fundamentals, and the instructors did a great job of covering the key concepts and mechanics. Now the hard part comes from taking what my son learned and applying it to regular practice and the games.
p.s. big thank you to Eric F for securing a field and helping to make this camp happen in LA.
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