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 12 dedicated players on our roster. We believe that carrying 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 and how many tournaments will you in this year?

We will play in a mix of one day and two-day tournaments, but this year we will focus on higher-level, more competitive opportunities that will challenge us and push us to be better. We will not be “ring chasing” but focusing on maintaining a high-level of play and focus regardless of the opponent.

We plan to play in two tournaments per month from August – November.

We plan to play in 2-3 indoor tournaments between January -  February

We plan to play in 1 tournament per month from March – April, schedule permitting and 2-3 tournaments per month from May - July

How often do you plan to practice?

Our tentative plan for practice is:

August & September - two practices per week - one on the weekend, probably Sunday afternoons and one practice on a weeknight

October & November - one practice per week (day/duration TBD, most likely Sunday afternoon)

December - February - two indoor practices per month + team conditioning workouts

Spring 2023 – 2.5–3 hour practices will likely take place on Sunday afternoons

Summer 2023 - two practices per week. One on the weekend and one on a weeknight. Weeknight practice may be replaced by scrimmage or weeknight games.

**All team members, regardless of position are required to also be in individual lessons and working on their own.  We will also assign players specific things for them to work on outside of team practices. Failure to consistently attend private lessons or do work on your own outside of team practices will affect playing time.

Where will you practice?

We will practice at Crockett Park

What is the estimated cost for the season?

We estimate the cost to be $1,000 due in August to purchase equipment, practice fields, insurance, sanctioning fees, indoor facilities for winter practices, and tournaments through January 2025. An additional payment of $900 in February of 2025 to pay for practice fields, additional equipment refreshes and tournaments through July of 2025.

These costs could vary slightly depending on actual tournament fees and equipment costs and do NOT include items such uniforms, pants, socks, belts, bags, helmets, or out of town travel costs. We will try to find local tournaments first, but may play out of town tournaments when seeking the best competition.

We will also make attempts to find sponsorships and do limited fundraising. We are hopeful that we will be able to raise enough funds to add additional winter indoor training for the team and those funds will always be used to benefit the whole team.

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.