BADGER TRACKS- NOTES FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DAN KLINKHAMMER

I grew up in Bloomington, Wisconsin

and the concept of fundraising was

introduced to me at a very early age. The

nuns at St. Mary’s Grade School had us

selling popcorn, Christmas wreaths,

greeting cards, magazine subscriptions,

candy, cookies and bibles door-to-door.

Selling door-to-door was pretty tough in a

town with 350 kids in grade school and

only 750 residents in the whole town.

High school wasn’t much different. Every

class and every club in school was

selling something door-to-door. Many

years later, I can now understand why

my neighbors closed their curtains,

pulled down the shades, turned off their

lights and locked the front door when

they saw me coming!

I didn’t see any of my door-to-door

fundraising efforts as fun. It was way too

much rejection and I kept thinking to

myself that there has to be a better way

to make money for good causes. I vowed

to make that happen if I ever found

myself in a position to do so. That

opportunity came in 1991 when we

created the Minnesota Youth Athletic

Services and now we have another

opportunity to do this for my home state

of Wisconsin through

the Wisconsin Sports Services. Read

on.

A primary need of any youth athletic

program is funding. Whether it is a high

school varsity team or a local

community youth sports organization;

EVERYBODY is constantly fundraising.

We recognized this overwhelming

need for fundraising, and over the past

23+ years the MYAS has helped youth

sport organizations raise tens of

MILLIONS of dollars by hosting our

events in Minnesota and now we are

duplicating that same effort in

Wisconsin through the WSS. In case

you didn’t know, ALL of the admission

money, concession dollars and 20% of

the apparel sales go directly to the

hosting organization.

The WSS has been in existence for

just a little over a year now but we

have already “partnered” with over 20

different cities/organizations that have

hosted our baseball, basketball,

wrestling and softball events. And I am

confident in telling you that ALL of

those host cities and youth sport

organizations want to host our events

AGAIN! Why? Because we make it

easy and our events are great

fundraisers! Those host groups are

making good money by providing the

facilities and volunteer workforces for

our events Continued on next page...

and they are a heck of a lot more FUN

than selling suckers door-to-door. It’s

going to be a while before the WSS

catches up to what the MYAS has been

doing in Minnesota, with over 300+

events in 2014 and generating $2.5

million dollars in fundraising for 180+

different organizations, but the WSS is

off to a great start.

If you are interested in hosting any of

our WSS events, please feel free to

contact any of our Program Directors

listed on our WSS website. They will be

happy to explain the details.

For what it’s worth, I have been

criticized by other event operators for

“giving too much away.” Most event

operators want it all. They want 100%

of the entry fee, 100% of the

admissions, 100% of the concessions,

100% of the apparel sales and 100% of

the parking if they can get it. We don’t

do it like that. The MYAS/WSS Board of

Directors and staff are truly proud of our

business plan and fundraising

opportunities that we bring to both

Minnesota and Wisconsin’s youth sport

population. We are different and we are

proving it every day.

AND NOW FOR ANOTHER WSS

FUNDRAISING NO BRAINER! Please

take a few moments to check out the

newest fundraising mechanism that

actually sounds too good to be true.

We were introduced to iMyne about

two months ago and after researching

the company and the concept

thoroughly, we feel confident in

recommending this fundraising

mechanism to you.

iMyne allows sports parents to receive

cash rebates on their on line

purchases AND makes automatic

donations to your local youth sports

organization or charity of your choice.

And it won’t cost you a penny to

participate. There is no work, no

membership fees and no need to give

your credit card number to anyone.

This is the no-brainer of all no-brainers

and we are pleased to be the ones to

bring it to you. This is literally as easy

as clicking a button on your computer.

Please take a few moments to check

out the iMyne info in Brian Meeter’s

Marketing Notes in this issue of the

WSS newsletter. You will be glad you

did.

Lastly, I do want to thank all of the host

cities/groups that have helped us get

the WSS off the ground. It’s been a

wonderful start-up and we appreciate

YOU taking a chance on US.

Marketing Update By: Brian Meeter, WSS Marketing Director

Shop. Earn. Donate. All at Once.

Please take a minute to sign up and join the iMyne community!

WSS is proud to partner with a new community of shoppers who are

changing the world just by shopping online at the sites they love. When

using iMyne, every purchase generates an automatic donation -

and cash back for yourself, too.

iMyne: Shop Online. Help Support the WSS. Get Cash Back! Shop Online? Well, I do, and if you do you can help through one of our

newest partners, iMyne.

You already help support your team and association, but how about

supporting without a penny out of your own pocket? Click on our link to

get started at www.imyne.com/wss. It’s secure, it’s simple and it’s free.

And the next time you visit a retailer’s website to shop for gear or

anything else (Target, Kohl’s, Sears, and many more businesses), a

button will pop up telling you how much you’ll earn while shopping. Once

you make a purchase, a donation is automatically sent to your selected

cause. When you sign up, Minnesota Youth Athletic Services (our parent

company) will be the default charity of your choice using the link above.

As your iMyne network grows, more is earned and more is given to

improve your team, association or charity of your choice.

One key to marketing a new

event in a new community is to

have someone, a local, a native of

the area, buy into what you are

trying to do. It really helps if this

person has credibility and passion

for your new event. I was lucky

enough to meet Randy Pagel a few

months ago as we were planning a

3-on-3 basketball tournament in

Wausau. Randy was very

passionate about helping us re-

establish a 3-on-3 basketball

tournament in Wausau, and had the

business contacts to make my life

much easier.

Through his efforts, we were able to

open the door to some great

sponsorships that I wouldn’t have

been able to secure if it weren’t for

Randy. It really does take a

community effort to support events,

and for us, that community effort

began with Randy.

Thank you to the sponsors that

helped us make the 1st Annual

Badgerland 3-on-3 Basketball

Championships a great success:

Milwaukee Burger Company, Pepsi,

Central Wisconsin CW, and

Midwest Communication Radio

Stations.

Also, a shout out to Russ Bahr and

Dick Barrett and the great support

we received from the Badger State

Games!

Community Effort Leads To A Great First Event

Trusted Coaches Program - Coming in Early Fall 2014

T he Minnesota Youth Athletic Services (MYAS) and Wisconsin Sports Services (WSS) are the creators and administrators of the Trusted Coaches Program. We understand the difficult challenge of selecting and training coaches, and we created Trusted Coaches because we believe that more needs to be done to protect our children. The vast majority of coaches are positive influences in the lives of our children, but there are always some who are not. There are partial answers to solving the youth coach challenge – background check companies, concussion training, first aid courses, positive sports psychology workshops – but no comprehensive solutions. Trusted Coaches has designed a verification program that gives youth sports organizations and parents the power to protect children against dangerous or ineffective or overly negative coaches. This is by no means an attack on coaches; good coaches have always been some of the most important people in our children’s lives. However, a fundamental requirement is comprehensive and ongoing coach training. There is also a need to look at coaching as an activity that is worth striving for expertise and excellence and not just about simply advanced “child-sitting” and avoiding bad situations.

THE PROGRAM

The Trusted Coaches Program maximizes the probability that positive things will happen to young athletes: first, by screening coaches; second, by giving them the tools to be

effective; and third, by creating a nationwide, online Coaches’ Registry that parents and associations can check. The program features an identification card with the coach’s photo.

This card will verify that a coach has:

1. passed an approved National Background Check.

2. completed an online Concussion Training Course following the CDC guidelines.

3. completed an online “Double-Goal Coaching” Workshop administered by the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA). A Double-Goal Coach has two goals: the first is to win, but the second more important goal is to teach life lessons through sports. PCA’s online course is filled with powerful coaching tools that are based on the latest research in sports psychology and reflect the "best practices" of elite coaches and athletes.

4. completed an online “Youth Athlete Safety and Sports First Aid” Seminar which will address injury prevention and treatment, hydration and nutrition, and will direct coaches to material on the best practices for child abuse prevention and anti-bullying (hazing).

THE BENEFITS

The primary difficulty in properly selecting and instructing volunteer youth coaches is the time and cost involved. Trusted Coaches has created a completely online program so that the coaches can work at their own home and at their own pace. The coaches will have to submit a background check application and color photo (digital or by mail). Each verified coach will be placed in a Coaches’ Registry on the Trusted Coaches website (www.trustedcoaches.org - coming soon) that will indicate coaches’ renewal dates for background checks and concussion training.

The benefits of this program include:

helping coaches minimize the risk of harm or injury to young athletes. providing information about fundamental coaching concepts which enhance

volunteer coaches' effectiveness. presenting a “one-stop shop” for youth associations to deliver best practices

training to their coaches. offering an online repository capable of keeping track of coaches’ certifications and

renewal dates – easily checked by associations and parents.

THE COST

This comprehensive package of coaching educational services would typically cost an individual or association $90-$115 per person. However, because Trusted Coaches has developed a comprehensive coaching educational package, we will be able to

charge just $35 per coach. For more information on the Trusted Coaches Program, please contact Beth Reinert at 608-210-1715 or beth@wisportsservices.org.

By: Jake Wenzel, WSS Staff Badgerland Baseball Championships Update

T he second year of the Badgerland

Baseball Championships went off without

a hitch on the weekend of July 25-27, 2014.

10U-14U teams from Wisconsin, Minnesota,

and Illinois gathered throughout the state to

bring some great excitement both and on off

the field for players, coaches, and parents.

With a great atmosphere at all locations, you

could feel the passion and focus going into

each pitch and every swing. That was no

more apparent than in the 10U championship

game between rivals Kimberly and

Kaukauna.

10U CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP

The intensity of the game made it feel like a

state championship and the fans certainly did

their part to make for a great experience for

the kids. Kaukauna jumped out to a 6 to 2

lead after two innings before Kimberly’s bats

and pitching staff found a way to swing the

momentum. In the bottom of the third,

Kimberly chipped away by scoring two runs

before exploding with a five-run fourth inning

to take the lead – a lead that they would

never relinquish. Kimberly pitchers put up

scoreless frames through the last four

innings to claim the 10U championship. Also

taking home some hardware in the 10U

division were 2nd

place: Kaukauna; 3rd

place:

Hudson; and 4th place: Holmen.

11U CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP

The 11U bracket play saw every type of

game imaginable. Between pitchers’ duels

and a slugfest, teams had to be ready for

anything in order to win. North Shore Elite,

IL, who came into the semifinals as the #4

seed, used a barrage of hitting to come

back from eight runs down and upset the #1

seed Waukesha Blazers and punch their

ticket to the championship game against #2

seed Wisconsin Thunder. North Shore Elite

continued their hot hitting to start the

championship game by taking a 4 to 0 lead

over the WI Thunder. The Thunder then

turned the tides in their favor through some

clutch at-bats and key defensive plays,

which led to their first lead of the game in

the bottom of the fifth at 5-4. WI Thunder

shut the door in the top of the sixth to win

the 11U championship. Finishing in 2nd

place: North Shore Elite; 3rd

place:

Waukesha Blazers; and 4th place:

Kaukauna.

12U CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP

The 12U division was one for the ages and

definitely saw the competition hit a different

level. The matchup between STMA (MN)

and Sun Prairie in the championship could

not be any more fitting after the two teams

tied in pool play the day before. STMA was

playing in their second consecutive

championship game of the Badgerland

Baseball Championships. As was the case

the rest of the tournament, Sun Prairie’s

bats could not be silenced. Sun Prairie

scored 49 runs total in five games and

finished the championship off with a 10-4

win and a 4-0-1 record over the weekend.

Finishing in 2nd

place: STMA, MN; 3rd

place:

Holmen; and 4th place: Anoka Ramsey, MN.

13U CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP

The 13U division teams advancing out of

each pool to bracket play were Team Heat,

Minneapolis Millers, Hastings and Fox Valley

Bombers. True Minnesota vs. Wisconsin

matchups were featured in the semifinals.

Fox Valley beat Hastings 10-3 in one

semifinal while Team Heat squeaked by

Minneapolis 3-1 in a great defensive game.

The third place game pitted two in-state

rivals with Minneapolis besting Hastings

10-3.

The championship game was full of pomp

and circumstance beginning with the

National Anthem. Both rosters and coaches

were introduced to the many spectators

cheering on their teams in the pre-game

festivities. Both teams played the back and

forth game before Fox Valley was able to

W isconsin Sports Services would like to thank all participants along with

Kaukauna Youth Baseball, 5 Diamonds Complex/Waukesha Blazers, Holmen Youth

Baseball, and Marshall Youth Club for hosting the 2014 Badgerland Baseball

Championships. We are very appreciative of all the hard work and dedication that

the volunteers of these organizations put in for our events and it does not go

unnoticed on our end!

JULY 24th-26th, 2015

Mark your calendars!

jump ahead of Team Heat and finished

out the game winning 8-2 to claim the

13U Badgerland Championship.

14U CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP

The 14U division championship paired

two teams who could win games in

multiple ways. Poundtown Baseball and

Holmen had multiple players who will be

representing their high school programs

well next year. There was not much

separating these two teams coming into

the game but ultimately Poundtown

Baseball had one too many weapons on

offense and was able to close the game

out with a 6-1 win to claim the rings.

Other teams placing in the 14U division

were 2nd

place: Holmen; 3rd

place:

Kaukauna; and 4th place: Xavier.

BADGERLAND FALL FAST PITCH By: Beth Reinert, WSS Staff

Badgerland Fall Fast Pitch League is Expanding!

Sign your teams up now to play at one of our three locations:

Deer Wood Park, Holmen

McGaw Park, Fitchburg

Sunnyvale Softball Complex, Wausau

Coming in September of 2015, teams can participate in the second season of the

Badgerland Fall Fast Pitch League. We offer doubleheaders every Sunday in October; the

cost is $70.00/player. Registration includes individual jerseys and socks, six softballs per

team (provided by Dudley), and professionally umpired games.

We will also be accepting individual registrations!

Spots are filling up fast! Contact Beth at 608-210-1710 or beth@wisportsservices.org.

BADGERLAND Basketball By: Lance Klinkhammer, WSS Staff

A nd, we’re back! The winter

basketball season is right around

the corner, which (unfortunately)

also means that white stuff that falls from the

sky isn’t too far off either and while we’re not

as excited to see that, we are very excited

for the 2014-2015 winter season to start!

Our organization, Wisconsin Sports

Services, and our basketball program,

Badgerland Basketball, have come a long

way in just over one year. We’re delighted to

say our feet are firmly planted and we’re now

adding new opportunities to our menu of

programs and resources to continue doing

our part in contributing to the development of

youth basketball in Wisconsin.

Badgerland Super Savers

We’ll be expanding our winter one-day

invitational tournament offerings this year.

Dates and locations for all of our Badgerland

Super Saver tournaments will be posted on

our website very soon. Teams will be able to

register for our events via our online

registration portal or using our hard copy

registration forms, all available directly

through our website. Our November-March

tournaments carry a three-game guarantee

designed to offer efficient schedules in an

effort to save time on the weekend for

everyone involved.

Tournament Index

Is your association running a local

tournament this year? Advertise it on our

Tournament Index for free! One of our

goals at the Wisconsin Sports Services is

to help all the local youth basketball

associations increase their exposure to the

rest of the state and our Tournament Index

is a great way to do so.

Scheduling Services

Tired of spending long hours creating all

the material for your local association

tournament? Let us help! Our scheduling

services program was created to assist

local youth tournaments with supplying the

necessary resources to organize and

coordinate their events. From creating

schedules to providing score sheets to

bracket blow-ups to display on-site, we do

it all. We’ll even give your Tournament

Director web access to update scores as

each game is completed and highlight the

results of your tournament on our website!

We’re proud to say our Badgerland State Basketball

Championship was a fantastic success in 2014 and we’re bringing

it back in 2015!

Featuring:

Team Previews

Live Tournament Scoring Updates

Unique Badgerland State Tournament Apparel

Tournament Web Pages for Each Grade & Gender

Quality Playing Locations

Tournament Photo Galleries

High Quality Awards

All community-based teams in 4th-8th grade are eligible to participate.

Registration will be opening in early September for our Badgerland State Basketball

Championships. Specific locations for all grade levels will be posted on our website,

www.wisportsservices.org.

We’ll also communicate this information to all associations once it is available.

GIRLS

All Grade Levels

March 21 & 22

Mark your calendars!

BOYS

4th

-6th

Grade – March 14 & 15

7th

-8th

Grade – March 28 & 29

WSS ADULT SLOW PITCH By: Adam Klinkhammer, WSS Staff

Mid Lake Success!

I t was about this time one year ago when

the city of Sheboygan began searching for

a new organization to offer adult slow pitch

opportunities to the community and their

citizens. The newly-formed Mid Lake

Softball Organization was granted

permission to assume the role and reached

out to the Wisconsin Sports Services to

sanction the league with USSSA. Meetings

were held, agreements were made and a

new league was born.

The partnership between the WSS and Mid

Lake has been fantastic and with the

technology resources and insurance

coverage the WSS has provided to the

league, this first year has been an

overwhelming success. A total of 94 teams

registered to play with Mid Lake this year

and all those teams have enjoyed a shiny

new website capable of hosting schedules,

standings, team web pages, player stats, a

weather alert system and more!

The WSS will be working hard to bring more

leagues under the USSSA umbrella in the

future. If you’d like to learn how YOUR

league can enjoy all the bells and whistles

Mid Lake has taken advantage of, please

contact Adam Klinkhammer at

adam@wisportsservices.org or

608-210-1710.

Wisconsin Tournament Series

New Format

Every new program takes a little time to

grow. We received a lot of positive

feedback about the newly-proposed

Wisconsin Tournament Series in 2014.

The WTS is a collection of locally-run

tournaments that serve as qualifiers to a

bona fide State Tournament. There were

three WTS qualifying tournaments this

year held in Sheboygan, Janesville and

Siren, WI, with many more to come in the

future now that the program is on the

radar of every tournament director in the

state of Wisconsin. A new set of rules

determined by a Rules Committee will

provide the basic structure of the

program. The WSS views the potential of

this program to be very high but will no

doubt be an evolution. Continue to check

www.wisportservices.org for

developments.

Toys for Tots Tournament

Mid Lake Softball will be running the

annual Toys for Tots Tournament in mid-

August. This USSSA sanctioned

tournament runs from August 16-24 at

Wildwood Softball Complex in

Sheboygan. Proceeds go to the Toys for

Tots Foundation and teams play for the

coveted “Teddy Bear Trophy”!

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

THANK YOU TO OUR partners!

VERONA SEA

MATHY CENTER

MILWAUKEE PIUS

STOUGHTON SEA

VALLEY TROPHY

5th AVE AWARDS

WSN- WISSPORTS.NET

RIPON HIGH SCHOOL

BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF

GREATER LA CROSSE

SOUTH MILWAUKEE HIGH SCHOOL

WISCONSIN LUTHERAN COLLEGE

FOX VALLEY LUTHERAN HIGH SCHOOL

BROOKFIELD CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL

QUALITY INN & SUITES-STOUGHTON

SHERATON– MADISON

HAMPTON INN– ONALASKA

DAYS INN- LA CROSSE

CANDLEWOOD SUITES, LA CROSSE

SHERATON-MILWAUKEE BROOKFIELD

CAMBRIA SUITES– APPLETON

HAMPTON INN– APPLETON

HOLIDAY INN-APPLETON

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS– VERONA

RETLAW PLAZA HOTEL– FON DU LAC

MICROTEL INN & SUITES– FON DU LAC

COUNTRY INN & SUITES– FON DU LAC

DAYS INN– FON DU LAC

HOLIDAY INN– FON DU LAC

COMFORT INN– FON DU LAC

EXECUTIVE LODGE– FON DU LAC

SUPER 8– FON DU LAC

GRIZZ SPORTS

BLACKTOP SPORTS

HIGHER LEVEL CAMPS

RIPON BACKBOARD CLUB

JOSTENS

USJT SPORTS

MILWAUKEE BREWERS

HOLMEN PARK AND RECREATION

ONALASKA PARK AND RECREATION

UW-LA CROSSE VARSITY WRESTLING

HOLMEN YOUTH BASEBALL

PARENT’S ASSOCIATION

ELK MOUND GIRLS BASKETBALL

HOLMEN VIKINGS WRESTLING CLUB

CHIPPEWA-FALLS MCDONELL

HIGH SCHOOL