Summer success energizes Hiland youth softball program

Any head coach would love to have a magic wand that could turn a struggling program into a winner.

Unfortunately, there is no such object, and for Hiland High School head softball coach Kari Sparling, the magic elixir isn’t a special potion but rather investing in rebuilding the struggling softball program one brick at a time from the ground up.

That effort saw her program build upon its foundation recently when the young crew from the Hiland 10U youth softball team recently earned the runner-up trophy in the Tuscarawas County Softball Association Division B tournament.

Sparling said the group played well throughout, and she and her staff were encouraged the youngsters have taken great strides this summer, especially since only a trio of the 16 girls on the team had any strong experience coming into the summer.

“We were a bit surprised by their performance because of how young and inexperienced the girls are, but they have put in a lot of time and effort to improve, and one of the things we want them to get from this summer is that this game is a lot of fun if you work at it,” Sparling said.

For the first time in many years, the program was able to create both a 10U and a 14U team, with Jordan Morehart and Faith Windle coaching the 10Us and Jana Immel coaching the 14Us.

Sparling said having quality, knowledgeable coaches guiding and instructing the kids also is a critical part of regrowing a varsity program that has struggled to find 10 players the past two seasons.

“We have really turned our attention to teaching the fundamentals of the game,” Sparling said. “For us to be able to put together two youth summer teams is a huge step for us and for the program. Our goal is to ingrain the fundamentals into these younger girls so when they do get up to the varsity level, they are ready to roll and understand the game. Every great program begins with fundamentals at the early stages of the game, and we’ve been able to provide that. To make the championship game was icing on the cake.”

Sparling said the summer program has seen them squaring off with competition that consists largely of Inter-Valley Conference foes, along with Dover and other area schools that have experienced success over the past years.

She said having the girls play against teams they will face in the future also is an asset, as is playing against quality programs they would like to emulate.

While these youngsters — especially in the 10U ranks — won’t be up on the varsity team any time soon, Sparling said patience and instruction in the younger ranks is the only path that will lead the program back to where she and her staff want to take it.

“Seeing these kinds of numbers and the excitement being generated in the girls this summer is exciting,” she said. “We know it isn’t necessarily going to help grow our numbers at the varsity level in the next year or two, but it is building the foundation, and when we can generate excitement and experience winning like this, we are putting ourselves in a position to really develop something great down the road.”