Dillon Baxter is an extremely talented running back out of Mission Bay High School in San Diego, CA. A standout of the class of 2010 Dillon has a verbal commitment to USC and has immense talent and promise for his future in football.

According to XX1090 Dillion is “built like an every-down back that can take continual punishment. He runs excellent routes and has soft hands which will give him more opportunities in the open field. He’s got the hands of an all-purpose back, could play receiver, but can also take the pounding that the traditional back goes through on a daily basis.”

SportsForce CEO Andrew Beinbrink was interviewed by AM 830 KLAA , Home of the Angels, about the SportsForce mission. Take a moment to listen to the interview and learn a little more first hand.

The XX1090 Athlete of the Week is Brennan Clay of Scripps Ranch High School. Brennan is a Running Back for the Falcons. As listed on the XX1090 website Brennan is “…a very muscular and compact back and very high-effort kid that has tremendous change of direction and above-average speed. He will be extra dangerous because he is a stellar pass receiver and dangerous in space.”

The following is a guest post by Rex Grayner, President/Founder of Student-Athlete Showcase, LLC

Let’s face it, moms and dads: Saving $100,000 (or more) for Junior’s college education is not a realistic possibility for most of us.

Even if your 529 plan hasn’t tanked, or if you have the money stuffed under your mattress right now, how can most of us write that kind of check in this unpredictable economic climate? The solution may be in the right arm of your varsity pitcher or the left foot of your midfielder.

Attention high school athletes: If your dream is to play at the college level, and you want to help mom and dad with this nightmarish bill, there’s likely a home (and money) for you – if you have the right game plan.

Only 5% of America’s high school varsity athletes ever don a college uniform; 95% never play beyond high school. But, competing for these opportunities has become serious business in light of rising college expenses and more competitive scholarship requirements.

In the past 15 years, college recruiting has changed dramatically, much in part to the advances in recruiting technology, video and the internet. The old adage “if I’m good enough, they’ll find me” is long gone. College coaches have tighter budgets, more rigorous admissions standards and their jobs are on the line virtually every year, so the emphasis on winning now is more prevalent than ever.

It used to be that an athlete’s senior year was the most significant season. Nowadays, despite efforts by the NCAA to strictly regulate when a college coach can begin courting a student-athlete, coaches have discovered ways to evaluate athletes and develop relationships with prospects well before the junior year. As a result, prospects are verbally accepting scholarship offers, in many cases, before the coach is even permitted to pick up the phone and call them.

So, if you’re a parent of an athlete who aspires to compete at the collegiate level and (just maybe) get a chunk of that education paid for, here are four keys to your recruiting success:

Read the rest of this entry »

High School Softball Pitching Distance to Increase to 43 Feet in 2010-11

The 2010-11 Softball season will be marked by new rule revisions, among these, one that will have the most impact on high school varsity softball will be the increase in pitching distance from 40 to 43 feet. Although the new pitching distance will be mandatory with the 2010-11 school year, state high school associations may adopt the 43 feet distance in 2009-10 if desired. After 10 years of debate and experimentation in two state associations, rule 1-1-2b was finally revised by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Softball Rules Committee and subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of Directors. The rule revision is said to create a better balance between offense and defense because more balls will be batted into play. “When more balls are batted into play, the defense is more involved in the game, thus enhancing skill development,” said Mary Struckhoff, NFHS assistant director and liaison to the Softball Rules Committee. The rule is also said to create a smoother transition for high school players with hopes to play in college. This change eliminates one of the few major rule differences between high school and collegiate sports.

High School Softball Rule Revisions

There have been four high school softball rule revisions made for the upcoming season including the pitching distance increase from 40 to 43 feet. The second rule revision concerns bat specifications, which is primarily an editorial change from the existing rule in order to give manufacturers, coaches, players and umpires more guidance on what is and is not permissible. The third rule revision deals with hair devices worn by players. It provides an exception to the original rule that permits “hard, unadorned devices, such as bobby pins, barrettes and clips, no longer than 2 inches, to be worn to control a player’s hair.” Lastly the final rule revision concerns how a winning pitcher is determined and was changed in order to better reflect the culture of the sport. The altered rule changes the required number of innings pitched for a starting pitcher to be credited with a win to “half of the total number of innings played in the game.” The new language gives the starting pitcher the ability to earn a win even if she leaves the pitching position for another defensive position and returns to the pitching position later in the game.

College coaches from top programs around the country including Cal, Stanford, Harvard, Florida, and Boston College descended on Del Mar’s Polo Fields this past weekend to witness the top soccer players from around the country and beyond compete in the 2009 Surf Cup. The Surf Cup is the premier location for college soccer recruiting all year. While coaches aren’t allowed to talk to players or parents at the tournament and vice versa, the athletes do all the talking with their play on the field.

College Coach Communication

It is a standard procedure for athletes who are going to be playing Surf Cup to send an email to their prospective school’s coach ,complete with their Surf Cup schedule, schedule for the remainder of the summer, and a video, if they have one. The coach is allowed to respond to this initial communication at will, but is banned from talking to the athlete or their parents at the event itself. If the coach likes what they see, they will follow up with the player. If the coach views the athlete as a potential recruit, they might ask for transcripts for review, ask for further game video, or ask them to make a visit to the school. It is important to note that none of the follow up will happen unless the athlete makes the effort to contact those coaches of those schools they are interested in attending.

Coach’s Presence

Everywhere you turned at the 2009 Surf Cup you ran into a different college coach, each one decked out head to toe in their school’s gear. A stroll in between fields would seem to reveal that there were more coaches than players. At any one time, there might have been 25 coaches watching one game. Can you imagine the pressure? The coach from your dream school sits there scrutinizing your every move. If you’re not the first one to a loose ball or you miss a pass even by just a couple inches, that coach does not hesitate to furiously write some sort of comment next to your name.

The worst part? They all sit in a neat little row armed with their easy flip, portable chairs, drawstring backpacks, and yellow notepads. The Duke coach who is sitting directly adjacent to the Georgia coach is looking very quizzical. The UCLA coach who sits in between the Michigan and Cal coaches is sneaking a peek of his rival’s notes. The Syracuse coach is minding her own business but scribing what seems to be a novel on one of her players of interest. All of this is going on while these 16-18 year old kids are trying to make a play for their team.

While it seems impossible for any one of these players to focus on the field, JP Scatterday of the U19 Mustang Ajax told me that it is easy for him to zone in. Because the field is so big and the action is so intense, he finds it easy to stay focused and is usually surprised when he finds out the number of coaches that were watching his game. The amount of composure these teenagers are able to display despite such overwhelming pressure is impressive.

The Action

Accompanying the perennial powerhouse club teams of Southern California (San Diego Surf, So Cal Blues, So Cal Real, West Coast FC, Irvine Strikers, So Cal United, and Slammers FC) were teams from all over the country and all over the world. Aside from the continued dominance of the Southern California teams across the board, the Northern California teams had the next best showing. While Southern California teams won 3 of the divisions and had a presence in 8 of the 12 finals, Northern California teams won 4 of the 5 divisions in which they had teams in the finals. The best international showing goes to the Vancouver Whitecaps of Canada. Their Girl’s U19 team made it to the finals of the super division while their Men’s U19 team was able to advance to the semifinals.

XKSanDiego.com

For more on this weekend’s Surf Cup including results, pictures, articles and more, visit San Diego’s one stop shop for soccer news at www.xksandiego.com. Complete coverage of events, tournaments, and teams from around the San Diego area year round can be found at xksandiego.com.

SportsForce was able to capture some awesome footage, get plenty of quality interviews, and increase awareness of our brand throughout the soccer community. All in all it was a great event and one that SportsForce hopes to do more with in the future.

SportsForce Set to Host Website Launch Party

SportsForce is hosting a launch party August 6^th at The Local, sports bar and eatery – in downtown San Diego. We’ve invited friends, family, coaches and sports enthusiasts that are interested in getting a sneak peek at the new website and some of its key features.

Everyone in the office and some out of office are busy getting the site ready to launch. In order to get the site ready to launch we are busy polishing up and uploading videos, finalizing copy for different sections of the site and implementing HTML designs for different pages. I’m not sure the average person understands how much goes into preparing to launch a sports portal where you are combining professionally produced video, certified profiles, editorial content, events and more.

If you happen to read this before we launch you will be able to see our landing page with our demo video at www.sportsforceonline.com.

San Diego Surf Cup Offers College Soccer Coaches a Recruiting Paradise

The second weekend of the San Diego Surf Cup Soccer Tournament saw some of the top U15 – U19 Boys and Girls teams in the world. SportsForce was in attendance to talk to club team coaches, college coaches, film some of the game action and enjoy world class level soccer. It was Surf Cup’s 29^th year which had 650 teams apply to play with only 350 available slots. The tournament was held at the San Diego Polo Fields which is arguably the best venue in the nation for aspiring soccer players to garner attention from colleges and gain tremendous exposure to hundreds of coaches at one event.

The Surf Cup tournament is split into two levels of skill within each age division. The Super and Gold, with the Super bracket offering a slightly higher caliber of play.

The previous weekend of Surf Cup play was dedicated for U15 and below age groups and was dominated by Southern California teams. This weekend was a different story as many teams from all over the country ended up winning their respective divisions.

Girls Results:

Winning the Girls U16 Super division was the Mustang SC Rampage team out of Danville, CA and Oregon Rush Nike team won the Gold division for the U16 division. In the U17 Girls Super division, the SoCal Blues took top honors. The Neusport FC Green from Las Vegas finished at the top for the U17 Girls Gold division. Southern California team, Real SoCal White won the U19 Super Division. The Sonoma County Alliance took first for the U19 Gold.

Boys Results:

For the Boys, the CDA Academy from Sacramento, CA won the championship for the U16 Super division. Players SC of Las Vegas won the U16 Gold division. Real SoCal White dominated again, this time for the boys U17 Super. The Gilbert Arsenal premier team of Gilbert, AZ took the top honors for the U17 Gold division. Pachuca USA international, from Chevy Chase Maryland, won the championships for the U19 Super division, while the Santa Clara Sporting 91 took the honors for the U19 Gold division.

The Surf Cup showcased an extremely high level of soccer and Congratulations to all the winners and those invited to play!

The Starz Cup Wraps Up A Busy Summer of Lacrosse

SportsForce was at the Starz Cup Lacrosse Finals this weekend in San Diego, CA. We had the opportunity to film parts of both the girls and boys elite championship games. The Laxdawgs Brown won the Boys Elite Cup, while the Quad City Elite took top honors for the Girls Elite division.

The Starz Lacrosse Club is an elite program created to provide additional instruction and competition to select players. Designed to compliment local middle and high school programs, Starz takes the best players, male and female, and provides the opportunity to compete at the elite level with some of the best coaches in the sport today! The Starz look for players who have a passion for the game, want to compete at a higher level, and/or have thoughts of continuing their lacrosse careers beyond high school.

Albion Cup Championship Games – Monday

The Albion Cup National Soccer Showcase Games extended into Monday, July 20^th and offered the top play of the entire showcase. In the Men’s U19 division, host team Albion narrowly defeated United Futbol Black in an intense meeting on Monday. The story was much of the same for the Women’s U19 as Albion White defeated the San Diego Surf White, 2-1. In the Boys U14 Puma V Elite, San Diego Surf Academy took top honors over Palos Verdes.

Albion Cup – Boys U15 PUMA VElite – Championship Game – 2009 from Sports Force on Vimeo.

Albion SC defeated the Fram CQ Vipers in the U15 Puma V Elite division, though both teams secured a trip to the USA Cup next year. For the girls Puma V Elite finals on Monday, Albion defeated PQ Premiere 1-0 in the U14 division. Close games were omnipresent in the finals and the U15 Girls were no exception as the SoCal Blues Draluck defeated Arsenal FC to take the finals.

For complete results from Monday, visit: http://www.gotsport.com/events/?eventid=4521

Opening Day at the Del Mar Races = ½ Day

With our website launch rapidly approaching, days off for the SportsForce team come few and far between. We took exception this past week for opening day at the horse races in Del Mar. With our office conveniently located very close to the track, we decided to take a half day for this Southern California tradition that has been going on for 70 years.

Testing the Soon to Launch SportsForce Site

The SportsForce team is working hard behind the scenes making sure our site will be the best experience for you when it launches. We are testing everything, making sure everything is in the right place, and most importantly, that it works!

So Cal Cup Features some of Southern CA’s best Baseball Prospects

SportsForce was at the So Cal Cup this past weekend. The event features Southern California’s Top Baseball Prospects. Director, Mike Viera, with San Gabriel Valley Baseball gave SportsForce open access to the event. SportsForce also had the pleasure of interviewing Mike as part of the event to learn more about some of the top players in the event and what colleges were there.

“The So Cal Cup was created on bringing the best players in Southern California to compete against each other in hopes to see College Coaches and Major League Scouts see the best players we have to offer in all of Southern California. The idea worked, in our first So Cal Cup, rain and more rain, we still had a huge following by Scouts, National Crosscheckers and some staff from the Scouting Bureau. Now we are looking to get the exposure to these players by College Coaches. 2 Days 3 Games, Wood Bat, how will they perform? Are the best players from Orange County, Riverside, Los Angeles or San Diego? Let’s find out in a battle of Southern California’s best talent in the So Cal Cup II. Where the best will play in the best! You will play for the county you live in. We had 11 players get drafted in the 2004 Major League Draft that participated in our inaugural So Cal Cup I.”

Find more info on the So Cal Cup at http://baseballresource.com/socalcup/index.htm

This past weekend, top soccer players from around the world from ages 8 to 14 met at the San Diego Polo Fields in Del Mar to compete in the 2009 Surf Cup. As one of the top tournaments in the country, this year’s Surf Cup selected teams from all over the country to come play. These teams included the Concord Fire of Georgia, Eastside FC out of Washington, and the Texas Fire traveling in from Texas. Not only did the Surf Cup attract top teams from all of the US, but it also hosted teams from around the world including the Universidad Pumas of Mexico and the Calgary Blizzards from Canada.

Despite the stiff national and international competition, Southern California teams had quite the impressive showing, winning every single division except one. The Dallas Texans proved to be too much for the San Diego Surf Blue in the Girls U12 division, taking the final 2-0. For a complete list of the winners by division, click here.

Complete coverage of the weekend’s event can be found by visiting San Diego’s “go-to” site for local soccer news, XKSanDiego.com. Complete with pictures of the event, recaps of each division, action shots of most of the players, and more, XKSanDiego.com is your one stop shop for San Diego soccer news.

With youth division play out of the way, another wave of all-star soccer players are set to come to the valley this weekend. Starting this Saturday, the U16-U19 divisions will feature top talent from around the world. The incredible level of competition is guaranteed to draw top coaches from all over the country who will look to both further their relationships with players they’ve already been recruiting and to start relationships with the up and coming prospects. Be sure to check back next week for a recap of the action.

This year’s Albion Cup National Soccer Showcase had a special incentive for U15 Boys competing in the Puma V Elite Division: a chance to go to the USA Cup. The two finalists at the Albion Cup Showcase will travel to the 2010 USA Cup® in July to compete in the U16 Boys V-Elite bracket in Minneapolis. The top two teams from this year’s showcase were Albion SC and Fram CQ Vipers.

The winner of the Cup will fly to London in August 2010. They will train at one of the world’s most elite facilities, play a match against the Tottenham Hotspur Academy Team, and get tickets to a first team match at historic White Hart Lane.

Congratulations to Albion SC and Fram CQ Vipers!