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CATALYST SOFTBALL
SOUTH DAKOTA CLUB TRYOUTS

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Catalyst Softball Academy is proud to announce our 2024-25 club tryouts! Our mission is to build a positive club/travel softball environment for athletes to develop as softball players and as confident young people. Our organization has grown to become one of the most competitive programs in the Midwest with player development and training that has been unrivaled in the Upper Midwest. As we continue to learn, grow, and reach our goals, we look forward to offering our player-development-first mentality and system for the 2024 - 2025 travel/club softball season.  With great instruction, continued education, and relentless pursuit for greatness, we are pleased to present our ever-evolving club programming as one of the best in the Midwest.

We are proud to announce the offering of year-round travel/club softball teams in South Dakota at the 14U, 16U, & 18U levels. Catalyst Softball will be fielding a MAXIMUM of 4 teams for the 2024 - 2025 season as we move forward and continue into our goal of becoming an all-inclusive club/travel softball program with teams competing at the highest level locally, regionally, and nationally.  Our teams will be led by a coaching staff of experienced individuals that have coached for decades, are former collegiate softball players, and current collegiate softball players.  We are proud to have a diverse, former Division I collegiate softball player, female-led full-time staff and ownership here at Catalyst.

2024 - 2025 SD TRYOUT REGISTRATION

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DUNHAM DOME
1601 W 44th Pl
Sioux Falls, SD 57105

  • Tryout Fee: $30 +sales tax and can be made payable through our online registration located on this page (payment and sign up will be through our new system,PlayBook). Through the registration process, you will fill out a form with FAQ's as well as waivers to tryout. If there are time conflicts, please contact us beforehand at info@catalystsoftball.com.

  • For those who cannot make this tryout date, please contact us at info@catalystsoftball.com to schedule an individual or group tryout! We will add additional tryout dates if necessary after our July 15th tryouts conclude.

  • Roster sizing will be set at a maximum of 14 players. The 18U maximum roster is 15.  Our ideal roster size is 13.

  • Our tryout sessions will be capped on a first come, first serve basis via registration.  If there is a need for additional time slots for tryouts, we will be adding them.

  • You will be alerted within 72 hours of your tryout if you are offered a spot or if the rosters have been filled.  Those who make a team will receive an email and a follow up phone call, those who do not will just receive an email alerting them tryout selection has concluded.

  • Please read through our program information and vision below.  We are here to help girls achieve their dreams - whether that be to play at a competitive level as a youth athletes, or to become a future college softball player. Our ultimate goal is to work with young people and get them better in every facet of life and softball.  As mentioned above, our training and player development as a member of our club program separates us significantly from all other club programs.  Years of data-driven research and application have put us in a spot where we can pursue a player development system that will help get your daughters to the next level and commitment to them to continuously improve their skills even while in college. 

WHY CATALYST SOFTBALL?

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All-Inclusive System

 Our club softball player development system is unrivaled in the Upper Midwest.  One of the biggest reasons athletes choose to play for the Catalyst Softball is for the full access to elite and certified instructors, coaches, and trainers.  Our Catalyst Softball program works directly with our staff in our home softball facility - Catalyst Sports Lab - for high-level training and state-of-the-art facilities year-round for all facets of the game – hitting, pitching, arm strength, defense, baserunning, strength + development, and softball IQ.  We are one of the only softball programs in the Midwest with their own training facility and various cutting edge hitting & pitching technologies and tools (Rapsodo, 4D Motion, Blast Motion, Axe Trainers, J Bands, etc.).  All of this alongside qualified and certified trainers that execute the player education and application.  We invest in our players, coaches, and our facility to be the best in the Midwest and continue our retention rates within our club and training organization.  Whether it is in the weight room, in the cages, or on the dirt – we will always assess, train, sustain, and emphasize overall mental and physical health throughout the year.  Our assessments hold us accountable to continue to raise the standard.  We are built on research and supported by data.

Built on research, supported by data.

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High-Level Competition

Our teams are complete with players and athletes that are passionate, respectful, and relentless in their pursuit for greatness alongside our coaches.  With these players, we are able to compete at the highest level of competition locally as well as in the toughest competition regionally and nationally in various sanctioned leagues throughout the country.  We train year-round and compete year-round as well with a Fall competition season, Winter training and competition season, optional Spring training, and full Summer competition season.  We offer various training opportunities during the Winter season in order to accommodate multiple sport athletes.

 

We believe that in order to be the best, you must train and compete with the best.  We have implemented a dedicated development program, college showcase platform, and competition schedule that will allow our prospective student-athletes the opportunity to be seen by collegiate coaches as well as prepare and educate each player on the college recruiting process.  We have partnered with SportsRecruits and provide various Recruiting Seminars throughout the year as well for our athletes.

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Empowered Environment

We care about members of our organization as people and young women FIRST.  Our program was built by former collegiate softball athletes that had incredible experiences on their club and collegiate teams.  The common denominator of those experiences was the opportunity to be their authentic selves as confident young women in a group setting with others who had the same goals.  Our potential was fulfilled due to the atmosphere that was produced by passionate players and coaches alike.  We have dedicated coaches, many that are former collegiate softball players, who promote a positive environment where athletes will be provided mentorship and autonomy throughout their time as a Minnesota Starter.  Our program will provide the training necessary for the development of a softball player, but we will more importantly provide the insight, encouragement, and inclusivity to all members in order to produce an overall positive environment.  Our goal is to empower each player in our program with the confidence to continue to develop physically, socially and emotionally in order to be successful for life after softball.

2024 - 2025 CATALYST SOFTBALL Program Info

Our Catalyst Softball Information can be seen below.  Our training staff and coaching staff will be training all year.  Catalyst Softball athletes will be training all year long with countless opportunities throughout the fall, winter, spring, and summer season.  We are looking to field year-round 14U-18U National teams - all together a maximum of 4 - 5 teams.  Our goal is to have a small player to coach ratio throughout our organization so ALL players have access to our instructors and coaches as we move forward into a player-development-first mentality.

CATALYST SOFTBALL SEASONAL BREAKDOWN

 

Fall Season & Training: August – Early November

  • Catalyst Sports Lab - As a member of our club program, each athlete will get INCLUDED full, 24-7 365 day free access to our state of the art softball specific facility ALL YEAR LONG! Our lab will have the following: fully turfed warehouse w/  cages, full weight room, pitching bullpens, agility area, biomechanics lab w/ testing via Rapsodo, BlastMotion, 4D Motion, fully equipped player lounge, break area for players and staff w/ water, snacks, microwave, etc.

  • Team Practices - All age groups of Catalyst teams will be participating in 1-2 practices per week during their Fall season – these will typically take place on weekends where the team does not have games. Otherwise, practice will take place in evenings on weekdays.

  • Fall Tournaments - Each team will participate in about 3-4 Fall tournaments.  Our National level teams will typically be entered in 1 – 2 tournaments that are out-of-state or college exposure tournaments.  The other two tournaments will be local – typically a showcase and local state tournament.

  • League Doubleheaders - We will additionally schedule either in-house scrimmages or doubleheaders with local competition throughout the Fall as well per coaches/team availability and need.

  • Strength and Development Training - Age groups 14U – 18U will have access to our weight room as well as additional opt-in opportunities for Strength & Development training.

  • Catalyst Softball Combine – Our Catalyst Softball Combine will take place on an early date in the Fall to begin our process of assessing our student-athletes.  During this time, we will be testing all metrics necessary to create a player profile that athletes can send out to collegiate coaches of their choosing.  We will also take this opportunity to take team pictures, grab athletes’ headshots, and take the time to bond and get to know each other early in our season!  The numbers collected will represent our starting point and will hold us accountable in our goals to always improve on our quantifiable measurements.  Some numbers we will be collecting will be:

    • Hitting exit velocity, distance, bat speed, rotational acceleration, power

    • Pitching – velocity, spin rate

    • Miscellaneous – over hand throw mph, 60 ft sprint (home to first), 30 ft sprint

  • College Recruiting Seminar – We will be holding our annual virtual college recruiting seminar in the Fall.  This will be an informational seminar to go over the recruiting process, best practices, and how to utilize our resources (college contacts, NCSA Team Edition, data gathering, etc.).  We will continuously be checking in throughout the year with college recruiting process recommendations and furthering the education to put our athletes in the best spot moving forward.

  • First Access to HP Programming - We will provide discounts for club members ONLY for our highly anticipated Catalyst Sports Lab High Performance Development Programs. This includes HP Hitting, HP Pitching, HP Defense, and our Arm Development Program.

  • Club Member ONLY Discounts - Additional discounts will be provided for Lessons, Training, Camps/Clinics throughout the entire year.

Winter Season & Training: Early November - Week Before High School Tryouts

  • Weekly Player Development - We will be conducting weekly player development sessions throughout the winter training season for all players in our club organization.  Sessions will take place in our home facility, Catalyst Sports Lab, and HBA.  These will be weekly with some weeks off due to holiday breaks or events. These player development sessions will be on a set date and time and will be offered with the following skill sets:

    • Hitting PD: We will have weekly hitting player development with our club program where we will address hitting philosophy, biomechanics of the swing, and application through learning.

    • Pitching/Catching PD: We will have weekly pitching and catching player development with our club program where will address pitching/catching philosophy, tools and biomechanics of pitching, and application through learning.

    • Defense & Team Focused Training: Team practices and defensive focus training will take place in weekly sessions.  These are used to work on our infield and outfield specific skillsets as well as our baserunning and softball IQ training.

  • Opt-In Winter Tournaments & Dome Leagues - We offer each team the option, upon full commitments from families, to opt-in and participate in a winter dome ball league during the winter season if it aligns with our other training times.

  • High Performance Programming - We will provide first access to our highly anticipated High Performance Pitching, Hitting, and Fielding programs.  These programs have consistently sold out each year we have offered them and we have seen our results within our program and our High School athletes.  We prioritize our club members getting first access as we want these girls to perform at their best during their high school and club seasons with us.

  • Holiday Training Breaks - Our winter season will have no training during holiday breaks and will be communicated with families on those dates.  Catalyst Sports Lab will in most cases remain open with our programs, classes, and individual training options.

Spring Season & Training: Middle of March - When High School Season Ends

  • For high school aged athletes, we typically do not provide any mandatory team practices out of respect to local high school coaches.  We will, however, provide training through Catalyst Sports Lab throughout this time.  All club members have full access to our facility. Club practices will resume after high school season concludes.  Optional practices may be put on per coach’s discretion

Summer Season & Training: When High School Season Ends - End of July

  • Team Practices - All age groups of Catalyst teams will be participating in multiple practices per week during their Summer season – these will typically take place throughout the weekdays with opportunities to combine additional practices with alike age groups.

  • Doubleheaders - All our teams will be participating in scheduled, local doubleheaders for their club teams by need.  These league games will be scheduled by coaching staff with a maximum of 6 games per season (3 doubleheaders).

  • Summer Tournaments - Each team will participate in 6 - 7 summer tournaments.  Our 14U – 18U teams will typically be entered in 1 – 3 tournaments that are out-of-state or college exposure tournaments dependent on team skill and need. 

    • We make sure that we build our schedule around the team skillset as well as what is best for the girls on the team.

  • All tournament and training info is subject to change based on Starters discretion and team necessity.

Anticipated Teams

The 2024-2025 season, we are looking to fill a MAXIMUM of 5-6 Minnesota based teams from the 10U-18U levels.

Here are the teams we anticipate:

 

National Level Teams: These teams will require more travel - primarily available through car but may have tournaments that require flights

  • 18U National

  • 16U National

  • 15U National

  • 14U National

Miscellaneous Info

  • Additional information and coaching assignments to be released late July!

  • Our practice facilities are in the Harrisburg/Sioux Falls area. Our home fields are at Central Park Fields in Harrisburg, SD. Our winter training facilities are located at Harrisburg Baseball Association and our year-round, home base and facility is located at Catalyst Sports Lab in Harrisburg, SD.

  • We require purchasing our jersey tops, one custom pant, two practice shirts, stirrups, and helmets for our uniforms as we want to give the option to purchase your own pants, socks, belts, etc.  With that being said, we will have a store open that will provide packages at a discounted price if you would like to go through and purchase all necessary items for uniforms.  Our uniform combos will include:

    • Mandatory to purchase: 3 Catalyst Softball uniform tops, 1 custom pant, helmet, 3 pairs of stirrups, & 2 practice shirts

    • Optional to purchase through us, but mandatory to have in the colors black and white: softball pants, plain socks, belts and a teal belt.

  • Fees & club coaching assignments will be announced on our website annually in July with a breakdown of what our club softball season will offer with training, facility rentals, league dues, team insurance, tournament fees, travelling fees, coaching fees, all administrative work, etc.

  • We will provide various fundraising opportunities for individuals to raise money for their club member fees.  These will happen throughout the season and per request.

  • Volunteer opportunities will be a priority to give back to our community and continue to help these athletes become better people as well as softball players.

  • All tournament information is subject to change as we base our tournament decisions on team needs, skill level, availability, weather, etc.

  • All weekly training are subject to change due to weather, COVID, trainer availability, etc.

Emphasis on Mental Health:

Catalyst Softball believes in supporting those in our program as people before the athlete and the student. The mental health epidemic is an incredibly difficult, terrifying, and emotional subject & reality. We will be spending the 2023-24 season spreading awareness and continuously educating our athletes on the local and national resources available. We have partnered with Duck Cup Memorial Fund for our season and events, a non-profit organization that is dedicated to providing resources and education for mental health awareness and suicide prevention.  We will be donating a chunk of proceeds from events ran directly to their Memorial Fund this season. Learn more about the Duck Cup Memorial Fund at www.duckcupmemorial.org.

College Recruiting Education:

We at Catalyst care most about our athletes finding the RIGHT fit at the next level. Our staff has built a positive reputation and relationships nation-wide with collegiate coaches at all Division levels. We have implemented a dedicated development program, college showcase platform, and competition schedule that will allow our prospective student-athletes the opportunity to be seen by collegiate coaches as well as prepare and educate each player on the college recruiting process.  We will walk through the process with each individual that has dreams of playing at the next level and will assist throughout the year with best practices. We have partnered with NCSA Team Edition and will provide various Recruiting Seminars throughout the year as well for our athletes.

The Results Speak Loudly:

The 2023-2024 development season was incredibly successful for our Catalyst Softball Athletes. We had many award winners from their respective high school seasons. The results speak for themselves, and we continue to set the standard + raise the bar with our player development.

2022-2023 Program Info
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Catalyst Athletes in College!

Our ultimate goal is to help develop, train, prepare, and provide guidance for young women with the passion and dream to play collegiate softball - at all levels. Take look at our current Catalyst Softball alums that are either committed or playing in college right now! If you have any questions on how we can help you with your recruiting process, shoot us a message below!

OUR PARTNERS

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