The 2016 NFCA Convention concluded in New Orleans this past weekend. Excluding the Pre-Convention Seminars, the official kick-off began on Wednesday, December 7th and ran through the Olympian Reunion Softball game Saturday night on the 10th. It was definitely the place to be for anyone in the softball world. Attendee’s included college coaches, club and travel ball coaches, retired Olympians, current and former Pro players, vendors, and the NFCA Staff who deserve a big pat on the back as well as a thank you for putting on such a fantastic event.
If you couldn’t make it to the convention this year, that’s okay because next year the event will be taking place in Las Vegas! We will be following up this post by publishing recaps from some key speakers and meetings from this Convention that will benefit our audience members who missed out. Be sure to watch for the following Fastpitch News articles:
- Patty Gasso “The ‘Power’ in Empowerment”
- Division I Caucus Recap
- Travel Ball Caucus Recap
The 2016 NFCA Convention was extremely insightful and beneficial to all of the coaches and players in attendance. It would be rare to find someone who attended that didn’t learn anything to take back to their school or team with them. Each day of the convention was filled with guest speakers, coach seminars, and nightly social events. Here are three reasons for why you should get out your 2017 calendar and mark next year’s NFCA Convention.
- Network – Convention is the place to be in the softball world each year, well aside from the WCWS but that’s beside the point I was going for. The convention is a great time to meet and interact with fellow coaches. If you attend and don’t learn something from any of the speakers, you can bet you’ll learn something from a fellow coach.
- Get Involved – Convention is the perfect place to get involved because it’s open for everyone. You don’t have to be a college coach to attend. There were plenty of travel ball coaches in attendance who were eager to learn and to help grow the game. By attending, it shows that you care and are committed to your role and your team.
- Learn – As I mentioned above, it would be rare to come across an attendee who didn’t learn something new at Convention. In several of the caucuses, new upcoming rules and regulations were brought to the table. There were also plenty of speakers who haven’t taken the stage before who shared their knowledge and expertise.
There is something for everyone in attendance to benefit from at the NFCA Convention. Not sure if you’d want to sit through speakers and meetings? Taking a few laps around the sold out Exhibit Hall and learning about the new products would be well worth the trip. The Convention App was convenient and helped attendees stay organized and get to where they needed to be each day without any hassle or confusion. The NFCA Staff did an incredible job putting the event together and executing it. If you attended this year, we hope you got “JAZZED” and if you didn’t, consider going in 2017, you won’t be disappointed!
