Coach Dan Harrison

The Buccaneer Softball Coaching Staff 

Coach Dan Harrison is in his second season as head coach for the DCC Fast Pitch Softball progam. Dan had been with the program for the five previous years as an assistant coach. His speciality is the infield and he focuses upon the development of quick, errorless infield play through the proper implementation of throwing, fielding, ball transfer, and footwork skills.

DCC has been Nationally ranked for the past seven years placing fourth at the NJCAA Junior College World Series at Horseheads New York in 2005. Dan is determined to continue that winning tradition and has confidence his team will continue to excel.

Assistant Coach Dean Svenvold has been with the program nine years. He is the pitching coach, and believes strongly in the perfection of fundamental mechanics as a means to success. He is also an expert in training and conditioning, and heads up the Buccaneers conditioning and weights program.

DCC Philosophy of Softball and Coaching
The philosophy of the Dawson Community College softball program is two fold. First, is my philosophy of coaching. I am a firm believer in fundamentals. If the fundamentals are there, the rest of the skills will come more easily. Evaluating technique and analyzing what a player is doing wrong has been an asset that I feel I posses. Criticism should be positive with encouragement along the way.

The players should try to do the best they can by giving 100% during practice and games. The athletes are expected to play with intensity and determination while being ladies both on and off the field. Winning graciously and losing with dignity are important with positive attitudes to be displayed at all times. The athletes are expected to dress themselves accordingly. I do not tolerate swearing and because for the emphasis on drug abuse, smoking and drinking on road trips is absolutely out of the question. The rules are outlined in the first meeting at the start of the season.

The student-athletes should feel free to talk to me on just about anything and I hope to keep open communication with them. There should be mutual respect for each other, but with understanding that as the coach, the final decisions are mine to make. We are working with the individual in athletics. When my players get finished competing on the college level, they are not seeking a professional career in this sport, so they are able to use those skills to help them get a job, coach a team, or teach their own children someday. They should be able to do this with a strong background in fundamentals. Working together as a TEAM, WE can do whatever WE believe WE can do.

The second part of my philosophy is the type of young lady that I will recruit for our program. This individual player MUST be willing to do what is BEST for the TEAM, not herself. This is the hardest character to judge with a player during the recruiting process. As individuals during the recruiting process, we all say the things that we think everyone wants to hear, but when it comes to reality, it is amazing how things change from when we recruited the young lady. Statistics indicate that eighty percent of players that played a certain position in high school will not play that position in college and player have to be willing to make that sacrifice.

Players must also be able to accept what their role is on the team. This can include anything from the primary pinch-runner to the late inning pinch hitter. Teams are successful when everyone knows what their role is, and accepts that role. Being a TEAM member is a privilege and each player should enjoy the fact that she is a member of the team.

At DCC we try to mix speed with power. We also try to find players that are “athletic and versatile”. I like to have players that can play more than one position. Assembling a TEAM at this level, especially when you have success like we have had, is like a assembling a giant jigsaw puzzle. Sometimes you think you have the right pieces of the puzzle, but it comes up a little short. You have to keep mixing and matching until you find the right pieces that fit. Without the right mentality of each player, the puzzle will never be completed.

The final excerpt that I would like to discuss about my philosophy is to expand on my role as the head coach. First, I do not like the term coach. I am a teacher of the game of softball and I am no different than the math teacher, the English professor, the physics teacher or anyone else. My job is to teach the game of softball the way I think it should be taught in my classroom which happens to be the softball field. My coaching staff and I teach the players the fundamentals in practice. During performance (game time), you hope that you have taught your class (the team) enough about the game that you can go out and be successful on the field. The coaches can feel good that they (the players) understand what you taught them in practice and were able to carry that to a game situation.

To learn more about Dawson's Softball Program, contact Coach Harrison. You can reach him at (406) 377-9460, email him at harrison@dawson.edu or complete a Prospective Player Questionnaire online at www.dawson.edu. He'd love to hear from you soon!

Assistant Coach Dean Svenvold

For more information contact:  Coach Dan Harrison