| October Newsletter What is the AzBCA? The Arizona Baseball Coaches Association (AzBCA) is committed to advancing coaching expertise by offering professional development through our annual clinic, packed with valuable training and resources. We create opportunities for coaches to connect, collaborate, and build lasting relationships within the community.  Coach Spotlight – Mark Band, Phoenix Christian High School As Mark Band prepares to begin his 24th season as the head baseball coach at Phoenix Christian High School, his résumé speaks for itself: three state championships and nine trips to the Final Four. But ask Band what has made more than two decades of coaching worthwhile, and the conversation quickly moves away from trophies and wins.For Band, it has always been about relationships, development, and helping young men learn to “fill their glass.”His coaching journey began long before he ever took over a high school program. As a grade-school student, Band had a habit of studying the game and recognizing tendencies. His PE teacher, Mr. Willet, noticed.“He used to tell me I was like an extra coach on the field,” Band recalled. “I paid attention to tendencies and would try to coach my teammates accordingly. Given that they were my peers, they didn’t always appreciate my help.”By eighth grade, Mr. Willet had Band helping coach fifth- and sixth-grade teams, sometimes even trusting him to work with the younger players on his own.“I would say this was the beginning of my coaching journey,” Band said. “I always wanted to play, but thought I wanted to be a coach someday.”That early desire eventually developed into a coaching career that has helped establish Phoenix Christian as one of Arizona’s most consistently competitive small-school baseball programs. More Than WinsBand’s Phoenix Christian teams have enjoyed plenty of postseason success, but he measures the impact of his program differently.“The development of relationships that are still maintained to this day has been the most rewarding,” he said. Player development has been equally important. Band understands that some Phoenix Christian players may not arrive with the recognition they might receive at a larger school. Instead, his program focuses on helping each player maximize his ability.“We are all about developing our players,” Band said. “Our focus on development has been a key factor in keeping us competitive through the years.”He has watched inexperienced players become contributors and talented players discover abilities they did not know they possessed. Those transformations mean as much to him as postseason victories.It all connects to one of Band’s favorite lessons:“ Little Things Make a Big Difference.”Band wants his players to understand that baseball—and life—is rarely determined by one spectacular moment. Consistently doing the small things correctly creates success.“If you do all the little things well, you will win a lot of games without depending on that big three-run homer at the end,” he said.Fill Your Glass. Perhaps no tradition better represents Band’s philosophy than Phoenix Christian’s most prestigious postseason honor: the Full Glass Award.Band believes everyone has a different God-given skill set. In his analogy, everyone is given a different-sized glass. The goal isn’t to compare your glass to someone else’s. The responsibility is to completely fill the one you’ve been given.“They do not need to be as good as the guy next to them,” Band said. “They just need to be as good as they can be given their skill set. They need to fill their own glass.”But there is another piece.A player cannot completely fill his individual glass without considering the people around him.“How can we as a team fill our glass and be the best we can possibly be?” Band asks his players. That philosophy has changed how he views winning and losing. Some of his most rewarding teams weren’t necessarily championship teams. They were groups that maximized everything they had.“There are a couple of teams I can think of that I do not think could have been any better than they were,” Band said. “And those are the most rewarding moments.”A Coaching Family Tree. Band credits much of his approach to four coaches who invested in him long before he had a program of his own: Mr. Willet, Max Rhodes, Marv Nevins and Ron Scott. Willet coached him in grade school. Rhodes was his Little League coach. Nevins coached him on his high school JV team, while Scott coached Band in Babe Ruth and American Legion baseball. Band studied more than how they taught baseball.“I watched how these men taught, how they treated people, and how they carried themselves in daily life,” he said. “They were great role models.”What stands out most decades later is something every coach can give, regardless of facilities, resources or wins: time. Each one of them gave up their time to spend with me and the team, and it was a lot of time,” Band said. “They were more than coaches. They were mentors and eventually friends.”Band and his coaching staff now try to provide that same investment for their players at Phoenix Christian.“We love our players and treat them like family,” he said. “Winning a bunch of games doesn’t hold a lot of meaning to me unless we do it as a family.”One More Special GroupEvery team is special to Band, but his 24th season will carry some additional emotion. Phoenix Christian enters the year with eight seniors, including one player Band has known since birth and others he has coached for eight years, dating back to middle school.“If I was 18 again, I would want to hang out with these guys,” Band said. “It is an outstanding group in so many ways.”They’ll be joined by a close-knit, hardworking collection of freshmen and sophomores and two juniors. Throughout the year, Band’s program will continue the activities and traditions that have helped turn teammates into family. Eventually, though, he’ll have to say goodbye to those eight seniors.“It is always hard to say goodbye to the seniors at the end of every year,” Band said, “but it will be especially hard this year.”After nearly 24 seasons, Band also knows more about himself as a coach than he did when he started. If he could speak to the young coach beginning his first season, his advice would be simple: Trust your instincts and be yourself.“I am a little out of the box in my thinking and approach to teaching baseball,” Band said. “In my early days I was hesitant to trust my instincts and did things the traditional, safe way.”Twenty-four seasons later, that willingness to do things his own way has produced three state championships, nine Final Four appearances and generations of Phoenix Christian baseball players. Yet Band’s legacy may ultimately be better measured by something that doesn’t appear in a record book: young men leaving Phoenix Christian knowing the importance of hard work, attention to detail, caring about the person beside them and making the absolute most of whatever abilities they have been given.  AzBCA UpdatesMembership Fees – The new membership year is now open! All coaches can register for the new year now, simply click the button below. Register for Membership ABCA Convention – The ABCA Annual Convention will be January 7-10 in Chicago. I would highly recommend this event for you and your coaching staff! Registration and information can be found by clicking the button below.ABCA Convention NHSBCA Convention – The NHSBCA Annual Convention will be December 3-6 in New Orleans. As an AzBCA member, you have dual enrollment with the NHSBCA. In order to get the dual membership, please register and pay through our AzBCA website. This will be the only way to become a dual member. For an overview of what Dual Membership looks like, please click the button below. NHSBCA Dual Membership Mound HQ Free Trial – Reed Interdonato, the Pitching Coach at Paradise Valley, created Mound HQ that puts stat tracking, data, and video all in one place for your athletes. There is currently a free trial being ran if you and your program is interested in using it! The FIRST 5 TEAMS to sign up will get free access through the end of the academic year. The NEXT 20 TEAMS will have free access through the end of the calendar year. Any teams after that will have access for a free trial for 30 days. If you are interested or have more questions, click the link below or email reed.interdonato@moundhq.com.Mound HQ Website SAVE THE DATE! Our AzBCA Convention is tentatively scheduled for December 11-12 with a LOADED speaker lineup! More details to come.   Your AzBCA Board President – Scott Richardson, Tolleson Vice President – Cody Brassfield, CCGC Secretary – Nick Swanson, Canyon View Treasurer – Matt Denny, Casteel Clinics – Nick Swanson, Canyon View All Star Games – Nick Johnson, Yuma | Nick Swanson, Canyon View Hall of Fame – Mike Woods Membership – Cody Brassfield, CGCC Special Assistant – Ron Davini Summer Teams – Matt Denny, Casteel Central AZ Rep – Stan Luketich, Corona Del Sol Communications and Social Media – Kobe Wixon, ACP |
Cody Brassfield
