November 1, 2002

by: Gordon Wise - - - ISC Information Officer

The newly-appointed administrator for Recruiting and Development for the ISC, Tom Crouch, is tackling a big task for the benefit of the game of male fastball - - - and he is asking for the assistance of all persons with an interest in the game.

An Illinois native, ISC Travel League Commissioner, and active fastball player, Crouch has outlined a program which will focus on exposing young men to the exciting game of fastball and acquainting them with some of the fundamentals of the game.

But let Tom tell it - - - in his own words:

My name is Tom Crouch. I am the Northern Illinois Travel League Commissioner and player for the Aurora Dolan and Murphy Fastball team. I recently was given the position of ISC Recruiting and Development Administrator. This is in conjunction with Doug Gillis and Kyle Beane's pitching clinic administration.


My primary objective in this position is to coordinate efforts through the ISC network of commissioners (or their designated deputies), to expose our game to current baseball players. My ultimate goal is to attract a new segment of athletes into men's fastball.


It is the job of ALL commissioners or an assignment of a deputy, to get in contact with local High School or College baseball coaches and expose them and their teams to the game of fastball. We have many people not playing our sport for the simple fact that they are ignorant to the fact that the game exists. That is OUR fault. We need to promote our game better. The areas that need to be attacked first are the areas in which the game is already being played. Here in the Aurora area I am amazed by the number of people who, even with the good media coverage of our team, still have no idea the game exists.

To help cure these types of problems the ISC has been very fortunate to have a promotional video made with the efforts of Jeremy Spear, Mike Groves and Steve Schucker. All those that have seen the video have been impressed with the quality and the electric energy of the video. This tape captures all of the hype and excitement of our game. This is a key tool for recruiting players. Every commissioner can get a promo tape upon request through Ken Hackmeister.

Once an initial contact has been made with a coach, hopefully each commissioner or deputy will go into that setting and show the tape to the players. After that we can set up contact with a local team or league to stream these players into the game of fastball.

I am currently in the process of putting together some paperwork so that commissioners can have something in hand besides the promo tape to give to these baseball coaches describing the game and the possibilities our sport has to offer. When I finish that I will be sending it to each commissioner or deputy in charge of recruitment in their assigned area.

To go along with this recruitment the ISC is fortunate to have Doug Gillis and Kyle Beane in charge of pitching clinics. They will be putting together curriculum on the aspects of working a pitching clinic and will have that available to all commissioners or deputies running pitching clinics next spring or summer. The plan is to have each commissioner run such a clinic in their area and place players attending the clinic afterwards in local leagues or with teams.

I would like to create a database of all commissioners and the leagues in their areas. I would need the contact info for the person(s) in charge of the league. This could be a city league or a travel league. The more the better.

So, I would appreciate the help of everyone on Al's list. Please send me the contact person and contact information (phone and email address) for the league closest to you. If you want, you could send me a team name also and the contact person for that team in your area.

Together we can make this work. This recruitment has worked for teams in our area without using the video. The video and the collective efforts of all commissioners and deputies will bring new players to our game. This is the objective.

Thank you

Tom Crouch
ISC Recruiting and Development Administrator
dfsc@juno.com