New for 2011: With USA / International Baseball now including the younger age divisions for the first time, we now need to make a corresponding change to our own Highlanders program.
The Highlander 10U, 11U, &12U ball clubs will be Academy trained / Parent run programs. The Academy will select a coaching staff in each age division. The coaching staffs will be trained by Bio-Kinetics research and development. This is the same Bio-Kinetics that has performed 3-dimentional motion analysis for major leagues organizations and players for more than twenty fives years. It is important that these young Highlanders are getting the same information they will receive when their older playing on the Academy scout teams.
13 / 14U Highlanders: Each ball club will be coached by a Baseball Academy professional Instructor. The focus will be skill development and not necessarily to compete at the highest level. We expect those players who participate will see their skills improve dramatically by participating. Whether the team wins tournaments or not is not as important to this program as the development of skills for the players. These teams will compete locally and regionally.
Here are just some of the reasons if you are serious about baseball you want to be a Highlander.
- More than two thousand former participants have gone on to play college and professional baseball.
- Exclusive Access to some of the Nation’s top tournaments and showcases, including USA Baseball events.
- Workouts will be conducted at one of the Nation top baseball training facilities.
- Video motion analysis from Bio-Kinetics research & Development
- Discounts on all Academy Instructional Programs including Spring Training and SPARQ
- Discounts on all your baseball gear.
- The only cost to be a Highlander is the membership fee to the Academy $75.00 per month. (excluding tournaments & league fees etc)
Player development: 20011 will mark the 28th year of this player development organization. Over 300 former participants have been drafted by Major League organizations, and more than two thousand have played in College. Playing at the next level will only come if your skills are good enough to get you there. No one can help you develop those skills better than the professional coaching staff of the Highlander.
· Training Facility: The Highlander training facility (Athletes Performance Academy APA) is among the top training facilities in the nation. All most 40-thousand square feet of training space, a full clear span infield, 15 batting cages and a four thousand square foot state-of-the-art weight room.
· Discounts on Camps and Clinics: Throughout the year the Highlanders will be able attend some of the top camps in the country conducted by the Baseball Academy at discounted prices. Participation in these events will help develop the skills needed to play at the next level, together with exposing some of the older Highlanders to college recruiters.
· Discounts on Speed Strength: The Tom Shaw performance program is internationally known as the premier training program for athletes of all sports and ages. There are only two Tom Shaw facilities in the Nation. One is at Disney’s Wild World of Sports where Tom trains approximately one third of the NFL as well as many other professional athletes, and the other is our own APA facility in South Jordan.
· Discounts on Equipment: MountainWest Sports is located inside the Highlander practice facility and has professional model gloves and wood bats that are not available on line or in any retail stores.
The Mountainwest Highlander Baseball organization is a division of The Baseball Academy. Founded in 1997 this branch of the Baseball Academy is recognized as operating competitive baseball clubs in five age groups.
Below are several reasons that make this organization successful:
- We all understand the mental/physical development process of training. We have one of the top training facilities in the country with access to several fields.
- The coaching staff consists of coaches that have competed or coached at the major league, minor league and college levels.
- Our philosophy – We do not play the opponent or the score, WE PLAY THE GAME!
- As the Academy endeavors to help each player, coaches, players and parents all must realize that improvement is a process and not a single event. The goal is a persistent honest effort over time.
- The Highlander program is much more than just baseball development. For us it’s developing young boys into student athletes through the teaching of accountability and respect for the games as well as teammates, coach’s opponents and family.