Coach Janelle Higgins
The
Buccaneer Softball Coaching Staff
DCC has been nationally ranked for the past seven years placing fourth at the NJCAA Junior College World Series at Horesheads, New York in 2005. Coach Higgins is determined to continue that winning tradition and has the confidence her team will continue to excel.
About Coach Higgins
Coach Higgins comes from Southwestern Community College, in Creston, Iowa. At Southwestern, she was the assistant basketball coach for two years and helped with softball for one. She was the head softball coach at Northeast Nodaway High School in Ravenwood, MO where the team set a school record for wins and advanced to the district final game for the first time in 10 years. In addition, she has been the assistant coach at Saydel High School, in Des Moines, Iowa for the last five summers. The team advanced to state tournament in 2007 and placed fourth in the class 3A.Coach Higgins is a graduate of Northwest Missouri State University, in Maryville, Missouri. In addition, Coach Higgins played a year of Women’s Ice Hockey at Iowa State University and played two years of softball at Southwestern Community College, a two year starter and a two year All Region Academic team.
Coach Higgins comments her drive to coach and have a successful program comes from a great coach and mentor and being able to play for Coach Andy Pals. He drilled that Defense Wins Games, Look Sharp, Play Sharp and Never Give Up since any team can be beat. There is always a team at state or nationals that has a 500 record that someone over looked and they came to play that day! She also played for the Legend Ron “Fox” Clinton in college. This was a great experience that guided her to go into coaching and teaching.
DCC Philosophy of Softball and Coaching.
The philosophy of 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. I also think that sacrifice, attitude and commitment are the building blocks in athletics and life, without them you will be lost. Sacrifice, attitude and commitment are the building blocks in athletics, in life and in my softball program.
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 attitude to be displayed at all times. The athletes are expected to dress themselves accordingly.
When my players get finished competing on the college level, they are not seeking 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 strong back ground in fundamentals. Working together as a TEAM, WE can do whatever WE believe WE can do. I demand my athletes respect everyone of their teammates, roommates and classmates as well as everyone in the community and here at the college.
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 thing 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 eight percent of players that played a certain position in high school will not play that position in college and players 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 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.
We try to mix speed with power and 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 is like assembling a giant jigsaw puzzle. Sometimes you think you have the right pieces of 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 complete.
To learn
more about Dawson's Softball Program, contact Coach Janelle Higgins.
You can reach them at (406) 377-9460,
or complete a Prospective Player Questionnaire online at
www.dawson.edu. They would love to hear from you soon!
Fill out and submit the
Prospective Player Questionnaire Form online.
|
