Providing A Superior Fastpitch Program For Girls To
Enhance Their Playing Abilities
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The East Cobb
Fastpitch Story
The Seeds Get Planted
Things started to change in the early 90’s. Greg
Schnute and his wife Marge were moving from Birmingham to Marietta.
Having a son, Brock playing baseball, Schnute also had a daughter Kelly
already playing fastpitch, and a younger sister, Brandi just beginning to
play the sport. Having been active in Birmingham since 1982 helping coach
fastpitch teams, he knew the sport. His oldest daughter, Kim had played
fastpitch, and Kelly eventually played for JoAnn Graf at Florida State.
Fast pitch is in his blood.
Greg was a three sport athlete in rural Indiana,
which he related as a town where part of the movie “Hoosiers” was filmed.
His exploits included being a three year letterman, and the centerfielder
of the Florida State Seminoles runners up in the College Baseball World
Series in 1970. They lost to Southern California 2-1 in 15 innings in the
championship game. He has the understanding of what it takes for
excellence.
Since its birth of the East Cobb program in 1997,
many coaches have entered the program. Some left but most have stayed,
however, the driving force has been Schnute, as he has persevered through
the growing pains to be the leader. Now there are 11 quality teams in the
East Cobb program. With 33 coaches involved, this is a growing business
and is run with class and organization. Everything is going in the right
direction. I attended a coaches meeting in January and it looked like a
board meeting of a top 50 company.
According to Rick Jaegle, coach of the 18U Bullets,
“Greg is the glue that holds the organization together. He is organized,
competitive, knowledgeable, and a sound businessman. He surrounds himself
with good people and is a good leader. He knows about the time,
dedication, organization and finances that are required to make a
successful program happen.”
Although, the organization including players,
coaches and parents involve some 400 people, it seems to have a family
atmosphere. One of the methods to raise money is to work the concession
stands at the Phillips Arena in Atlanta. The coaches and parents work in
a cooperative, bonding atmosphere.
After two years of promoting the sport in the Cobb
County recreation departments and encouraging folks to consider fast
pitch, things started changing. The concept of having a fast pitch
program similar to the existing baseball program was put in place.
Developing youth through an organized program.
With the high schools going to fast pitch in
Georgia, the time was right and the right people were involved.
Program Goal: When the program was
established in 1997, the goal was to become the premier fast pitch program
east of the Mississippi. There were many individual teams in the Atlanta
area but no organized program that provided a vehicle to let the girls
play consistently at the highest levels.
The development toward that goal has been swift,
planned and organized. Although, the goal may not have been attained, the
mountains ahead are diminishing. Few, if any programs, remain ahead of
the East Cobb fast pitch program. The Clearwater Bomber program is still
dominant and he neighboring West Cobb Program is strong but East Cobb is
making great strides to become the premier program in developing players.
The talent has been developed but not all of it
stays in the East Cobb Program. With many top flight travel teams in the
Atlanta area, competition for talent is keen. The same is true of the
East Cobb teams as well. They don’t always choose the talent from Cobb
County but go as far away as Florida to pick players to enhance their
team. It’s a competitive sport and the talented players are looking for
the best opportunity to compete and get the best exposure for the future.
When asked why someone would want to join the East
Cobb Fast Pitch program he made three points:
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Tradition Of Excellence East Cobb Fastpitch |
