14U Nighthawks - FAQs for the 2024 - 2025 Season

Coached by Heidi Runion, and Houston Runion, our desire for the 2024-2025 season is to create a local opportunity for girls to play competitive travel softball and develop a core group of teammates that can play together for years to come. We approach softball with a competitive spirit but also balance it with a focus on developing players’ technical skills, sportsmanship, and expanding their understanding of the game. Below you will find information that will outline what we expect of our players and parents and also some FAQs to help you decide if our program is a good fit for your family. If you have additional questions not covered here, please contact us at tn.nighthawks2010@gmail.com. 

How many players will you keep on the roster?

We plan to carry 11-12 dedicated players on our roster. We believe that carrying 11-12 will ensure everyone on the team will get adequate playing time and coach instruction but also let us successfully navigate unpredictable scheduling and facilitate competition for positions.  If we have player(s) missing for a tournament, we may pick up player(s) to fill in gaps and give breaks, but we will try to never have more than 12 with us at a tournament. 

How is playing time determined? 

All players will have opportunities during practices and games to earn playing time.  The best performer at each position will play a majority of the time. With that being said, we will play the entire roster each weekend to afford all players an opportunity to improve and impress.  Players are never guaranteed to play in a particular position and offensive performance can impact defensive utilization. We will utilize players where it makes most sense for the team. Dedication, attendance and attitude will also affect playing time decisions.

What type of tournaments will you play in this year?

We will play in USSSA, PGF, and other competitive showcase tournaments to push our girls and play at the highest level they can. We are not focusing on ring-chasing or playing an easy schedule. We are focusing on development and challenging ourselves to step up to the next level.

What are the expectations for players outside of team practices?

At this level we expect each player to be in regular lessons for hitting and fielding and to be self-motivated to put in quality, intentional reps on their own time. We know the girls will be practicing a lot during school seasons, so we will not have many team practices during the Spring, but the expectation is that the girls are working on their own to be ready once the Summer season starts.

My daughter plays multiple sports, can she still play on the 14U TN Nighthawks team?

Yes! We believe that athletes should be well-rounded and participate in multiple sports as they develop.

That said, we do expect that if there is a conflict, our games would win out over other sport practices and if there are repeated missed practices/games, playing time could be impacted.