WISCONSIN SPORTS

SERVICES

pg. 2

bout two and a half years ago, I was

recruited to be one of the guest

speakers at the Wisconsin Parks and

Recreation Association state conference in

La Crosse, Wisconsin. I presented two

sessions that day, “Trends in Youth Sports”

and “Learning to Live with Travel Teams.”

The basic topic of both presentations was

how different youth sports are now versus

the “good old days” of yesteryear. In the

process of delivering those sessions, I

discussed some of the current problems in

the world of youth sports and how we have

adapted to them in Minnesota. You see, not

only am I the Executive Director of the

newly formed Wisconsin Sports Services, I

am also the co-founder and current

Executive Director of the Minnesota Youth

Athletic Services, which is a 501c3 nonprofit

organization that began doing business in

Minnesota in 1991. For me, this is déjà vu

all over again.

Following both presentations, I was

surrounded by Park and Rec professionals

and all of them had the same message: “We

sure could use an organization like the

MYAS in Wisconsin.” I have heard that same

sentiment from numerous western

Wisconsin baseball, wrestling and

basketball teams that make frequent trips

across the border to participate in the

leagues and tournaments offered by the

MYAS. I had also heard that those same

teams weren’t too keen on the idea of

being from the Badger State and playing in

the Gopher State Baseball League or

Gopher State Basketball Tournaments.

Frankly, I don’t blame them! I was born and

raised in Bloomington, Wisconsin, so I can

totally understand why Wisconsin would

want their very own organization to service

their amateur sports. (How I ended up in

Minnesota is still sort of a mystery to me

and a much longer story than you’d care to

read, so we’ll leave that for another time.)

That WPRA conference was held in early

November, the week before the 2010

Minnesota deer opener. I spent the next

three days in my tree stand, wondering if an

organization like the MYAS could make it in

Wisconsin. The following January, I met

with the MYAS Board of Directors and

secured their permission to start a

feasibility study on the creation of a sister

organization in Wisconsin.

To make a long story short, over the next 18

months we made 22 trips to Wisconsin,

meeting with anyone and everyone who

would talk youth sports with us, including a

four-hour meeting with the WIAA staff. I

wanted to get a feel for the youth sports

A

BADGER TRACKS- NOTES FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DAN KLINKHAMMER

pg. 3

environment in Wisconsin. I wanted to

know what you had and what you didn’t

have. I wanted to know what you liked and

what you didn’t like. I wanted to know who

the “good guys” were and who the “bad

guys” were. I wanted to know who was in it

for the kids and who was in it to fill their

own pockets. If we were going to commit to

this project, we needed to know the current

lay of the land for youth sports in

Wisconsin.

Nearly two years after the initial thought

passed through my head, the MYAS Board

of Directors gave their blessing and

approved funding for the creation of the

Wisconsin Sports Services.

A lot has happened since then. All of the

necessary registration paperwork,

trademarks and documents were filed in

both Wisconsin and Minnesota, which was

a complicated and daunting task. Next was

creating the WSS website

(www.wisportsservices.org), which has

been up and running since mid-January. The

search for office space led us to 2317

International Lane in Madison. We signed

the lease on that space in February and

started painting and setting up the office in

March, with a target of an April 1 opening.

Staffing the WSS was a challenge. When I

polled the MYAS staff on who would like

the challenge of moving to Wisconsin and

taking on the task of building the WSS from

scratch, only two hands were raised. Yes,

you guessed it – my two sons Adam (31)

and Lance (28) would eventually be the first

two pair of boots on the ground in

Wisconsin. (I raised them as Packer and

Badger fans so it was a no-brainer for them

to jump on the bandwagon!)

Since then, we have been joined by Brian

Meeter, Marketing Director, and Beth Davis

and Jake Wenzel as two additional Program

Directors. They are all college graduates,

with degrees in Sports Administration. The

WSS full-timers will be assisted by six part-

time Area Directors who are located in our

hub cities of Eau Claire, Wausau, Green Bay,

La Crosse, Madison and Milwaukee. So all

together, we have 11 people ready and

willing to do whatever is best for

Wisconsin’s amateur sports population.

With all of that said, having an office, a full-

time staff and a website does not mean that

we are established – far from it. We fully

understand that we are the new guys on

the block and it will take some time to earn

your respect, trust and confidence. I have

repeatedly told the young and energetic

WSS staffers that this is not a sprint, it’s a

marathon. I fully expect that it will take 3-5

years before the entire state is aware of

what benefits the WSS brings to Wisconsin.

It will take some time to build those

relationships. It will take some time to

figure out the Wisconsin sports puzzle, but

we are up to the task. We’ve done it before

and we WILL do it again…or die trying!

So now you know how we got here. In a few

years, I hope you are all saying,

“We are glad that you came!"

pg. 4

isconsin Sports Services officially hit the ground running this spring

with the launch of a dynamic web site and the launch of a

sophisticated marketing attack with the help of Wisconsin Sports

Network. In addition to an online ad campaign on the WSN web site, WSS was

featured in an article in WSN Illustrated, the print and online magazine of

Wisconsin Sports Network. Click here for a link to the magazine:

http://wissports.uberflip.com/i/134392

The programming staff at WSS is busy putting together a series of youth and adult

sporting events across the state. With that, businesses are asking how they can

get involved with our growing number of events and marketing opportunities.

There are many ways, from sponsoring single event, multiple events, and

programs in general. For example, in August, Dudley softballs and Combat bats

have signed on as sponsors of our USSSA State Softball Tournament in Janesville.

There are many different ways to get involved, please contact Brian Meeter at

brian@wisportsservices.org to find out how!

Marketing Tip # 1: Offer Exclusive Deals to your Social Media Customers Social marketing through Facebook and Twitter can be a struggle for some businesses, especially new businesses trying to navigate the complex world of social media. Start with offering exclusive deals or content to your social media customers. Contests with prize giveaways are a perfect example to reward your customers, activate their interest, and create a buzz about your business. This can be a low cost effective way to increase your customer base and reward those who are active on your social network!

W

MARKETING OF WSS EVENTS ON THE RISE By Brian Meeter, WSS Marketing Director

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isconsin Sports Services

(WSS) baseball staff is

proud to announce a

new end of the year baseball event,

the Badgerland Tournament of

Champions (BTC). The BTC is the

sister event to the Gopher State

Tournament of Champions (GSTC),

administered by the Minnesota

Youth Athletic Services (MYAS).

Widely regarded as the most

prestigious youth baseball event in

the Upper Midwest, 474 teams

participated in the 2012 GSTC at

three competitive divisions over six

different age levels.

Due to the success of the Minnesota

program, the BTC aims to replicate

the GSTC in bringing together the

best teams in the state by selecting

local invitational tournaments ran by

local associations and awarding them

qualifier status. The top finishing

teams in each local tournament are

awarded Automatic Berths as well as

BTC points to all participating teams

that can earn At-Large Berths through

the BTC Points system.

This year, the BTC will be offering

tournaments at three age levels (10u,

11u and 12u) in three different

communities in August. Consistent

with all WSS sanctioned events, we

provide fundraising opportunities to

a local youth sports group that

provides the volunteer workforce and

retains all concessions and

admissions. We believe by partnering

with our customers and allowing

them to raise funds for their

programs, it will result in a stronger

local athletic community as a whole.

This year, the Host Groups for the

2013 BTC are Holmen Youth Baseball,

Onalaska Park and Rec and the

Waukesha Blazers Baseball program.

We would like to thank these groups

for their time and effort to make this

inaugural event a special one.

Besides first-class communication,

timely delivery of tournament related

materials and utmost

professionalism, we believe the

biggest draw to this event are the

unique awards. Every player on the

championship team in this year’s BTC

will receive a customized Jostens ring

W BADGERLAND BASEBALL UPDATE By Adam Klinkhammer, WSS Associate Director

pg. 6

complete with name, player number

and team record with lifetime sizing

available. We’d like to think our

ability to administer first-class

programs is the reason so many

teams are scrambling to get in this

tournament, but we’d be kidding

ourselves if we didn’t acknowledge

the Rings as one of the biggest

reasons that the Tournament of

Champions is the crown jewel of

baseball tournaments in Minnesota

currently and Wisconsin in the future.

We have also created webpages on

our WSS website that are specific to

each individual tournament including

photo galleries, brackets, maps to

fields, tiebreaker information, links to

local hotels and weather updates

specific to the location of the event!

In an effort to take this event to the

next level and really knock it out of

the park, we have reached an

agreement with the Milwaukee

Brewers to be able to bring the

championship teams to Miller Park

and parade them around the warning

track before arriving at home plate to

receive their championship rings.

Ticket deals will also be offered to

participating teams to encourage

family and friends to be a part of the

experience and watch their player

receive their ring on the field and up

on the Jumbotron. Bring your

cameras!

The WSS staff is very excited about

the future of Wisconsin baseball and

the Badgerland Tournament of

Champions. Please stayed tuned as

we look to expand our baseball

offerings in future. To check out all

the tournament web pages and to

learn more about our current

baseball program, please visit our

website at www.wisportsservices.org

pg. 7

ello to all of you involved in youth basketball around the great state of Wisconsin and though it is still “Vacation

Season”, the start of Fall & Winter youth basketball is right around the corner. Don’t get us wrong, we don’t think anyone is excited for the snow to start flying again quite yet, but here at the WSS, we are very excited about our plans for the upcoming Fall & Winter basketball season!

In the Fall of 2013, the WSS will be offering a pair of Invitational tournaments to your teams in an effort to help your players warm up for the Winter. These events will be coordinated over two days and our goal is to place them in a location that will be accessible to all teams around the state. Provide your players some ever-important playing time early in the season!

Tired of playing the same teams in your local basketball league every weekend? The WSS will be coordinating a number of our Badgerland Super Saver events all over Wisconsin throughout December, January & February to offer your teams the ability to play against competition that you may not otherwise experience through your league play. We designed these events to save time for your parents, players and coaches by providing an efficient schedule format. How does that work? Teams that play in these events will be guaranteed three games and have a total time commitment of only 5 hours which means, are you listening Moms and Dads…. You get your weekend back!

Last but not least, we’re working diligently out of our office in Madison to bring an all-inclusive State Basketball Tournament to Wisconsin in March of 2014. This program will offer every team in your community, regardless of your competitive level, the chance to play in a season-ending tournament against equal competition. We believe that all youth basketball players deserve the opportunity to play in this prestigious event and we think all of you do too!

Watch our website for more information about all of our plans for youth

basketball!

WWW.WISPORTSSERVICES.ORG

H BADGERLAND BASKETBALL UPDATE By Lance Klinkhammer, WSS Associate Director

pg. 8

First, a little history…

he United States Specialty

Sports Association (USSSA) was

founded as the United States

Slow-pitch Softball Association in the

spring 1968. Over that last weekend of

August 1968 the first USSSA World

Softball Tournament was played in

West Allis Wisconsin. Over the past 40

years USSSA has grown from a couple

of thousand slow-pitch softball

players to over 3.5 million participants

playing 13 primary sports. In fact,

USSSA sanctions teams and

individuals in 38 sports.

USSSA’s first decade was a turbulent

one. USSSA led the charge to allow

amateur athletes to play slow-pitch

softball in whatever league or

association they wished. Prior to

1975, ASA, then the largest slow-pitch

softball association, barred any of its

teams from playing in any non-ASA

sanctioned event or league. This rule

was first challenged in ASA’s internal

process and then brought to a close

after USSSA successfully filed suit in

Federal Court to stop ASA’s

discriminatory practices. People

playing softball, and now playing

many other sports, is what USSSA has

always been about and has served as

a foundation for its continued growth.

In the eighties USSSA grew by leaps

and bounds. USSSA purchased a

building in Petersburg, Virginia for its

National Headquarters and Hall of

Fame Museum. By the end of the

decade USSSA membership had

surpassed 100,000 teams and USSSA

toured the world to promote softball,

sportsmanship, and good will.

The nineties were the best and the

worst of times for USSSA. The

association continued to grow,

however softball was decreasing in

popularity. The various associations

were cannibalizing each other in order

to inflate their team registration

numbers. In 1998 USSSA suffers a

tragic loss when its longtime CEO

passes away. The Board of Directors,

immediately named the Assistant

Executive Director, Don DeDonatis, as

the new CEO. DeDonatis initiated

sweeping changes. The changes

included branching out into sports

other than softball. By the end of the

nineties USSSA had grown to over 1.6

million participants, with 300,000

being non slow-pitch softball.

In March 2003 USSSA moved its

national headquarters from Virginia to

Osceola County, Florida. This move

T

BADGERLAND softball UPDATE By Adam Klinkhammer, WSS Associate Director

pg. 9

has benefited USSSA and Osceola

County in many positive ways. In 2007

USSSA had over 3.5 million

participants and is solely responsible

for 58,044 room nights in Central

Florida, of which 45,307 room nights

are in Osceola County. This means

millions of dollars in positive

economic impact to the region.

Currently, USSSA nationally governs

13 amateur sports. Slow-pitch

softball, baseball, fast-pitch softball,

and basketball athletes make up

approximately 90% of USSSA’s

membership. The remaining 9 sports

account for over 350,000 registrations

in USSSA, including Tae Kwan Do and

Soccer, two sports that USSSA holds

events in Osceola County. Over the

past ten years USSSA has not failed to

increase its year to year membership.

In fact, for all but 3 of those 10 years

USSSA’s membership has grown by

over 10% per year.

Over four decades ago, a group of

ballplayers got together and decided

they wanted to run a softball

tournament. They envisioned an

event that would bring together the

best slow pitch teams in the land but

were at odds with the then-

governing body, disputing rules and

gameplay. Word spread quickly

about the new game being played in

the Midwest and the new format

grabbed the attention of teams far

and wide. In 1968, the tournament

they would eventually name the

“World Series” was held in West Allis,

Wisconsin. The USSSA was born.

Fast forward to 2013. The USSSA is

the largest multi-sport organization in

the nation. State associations are

operating in every corner of the

country as playing opportunities

continue to grow. Over 200 teams

participate in every class and division

at the USSSA World Series every year.

In Wisconsin, the birthplace of the

USSSA, sanctioned softball has fallen

by the wayside and has been

replaced by cash tournaments and

independent event operators. Long

gone are the days of bragging rights

and the opportunity to continue

competition on a regional and

national stage.

In December 2012, the USSSA brass

approached the newly-formed

Wisconsin Sports Services (WSS) and

appointed a new State Director with

years of experience participating in

Minnesota’s vibrant USSSA softball

community which happens t be the

largest in the nation. The WSS got to

work right away on organizing an

event for 2013 and are proud to

announce that the Men’s State

pg. 10

Tournament will be played on the

second weekend in August at Dawson

Fields in Janesville, WI.

Offering Upper and Lower divisions

and a total awards/equipment

package over $1,700, the USSSA is

back! Softball giants, Combat and

Dudley, have been secured as

tournament sponsors and will have a

presence at the event. The Janesville

Park and Rec will be providing the

host responsibilities and be

offering concessions

for the hungry.

Easily the

most

popular

place at

any

softball

tournament,

the Janesville CVB

will be donating a beer

tent and will be serving cold glasses

of hops and barley all weekend. After

Saturday’s competition, the teams

along with their friends and family

will be invited to join the after-party

at Time Out Pub and Brewery just

down the street from Dawson.

Registrations into the tournament

will be accepted until 32 teams are

registered or until August 2nd, so

don’t wait and sign up today. A State

Tournament webpage has been

created that includes brackets, rules,

hotel info, photo galleries, weather

links and more! Going forward, the

WSS/Wisconsin USSSA has plans to

build the prestige of the State

Tournament through offering

regional qualifying tournaments that

allow the awarding of berths to

national and world competition.

Plans are in the works to expand the

Wisconsin USSSA by offering the

online/administrative

capabilities of the

WSS to

softball

leagues in

every

corner of

the state.

Look for Mixed

(Co-Ed) and

Women’s divisions to be

added to the State Tournament line-

up card in the future.

Even though Wisconsin is the

birthplace of the USSSA, 2013 will

hopefully be considered the re-birth

of the prestigious organization in the

Badger State. Come on down to

Dawson Fields in August and help us

celebrate the waning days of summer

with some good softball and a cold

beer!

pg. 11

BADGERLAND FALL

FASTPITCH PROGRAM

COMING SOON

JOIN US IN SEPTEMBER FOR OUR FIRST EVER BADGERLAND GIRLS FALL FAST PITCH PROGRAM!

3 AGE DIVISIONS: 12u 14u and HIGH SCHOOL DEER WOOD PARK, HOLMEN

DOUBLE HEADERS EVERY SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 8TH, 15TH, 22ND AND OCTOBER 6TH

REGISTER AS A TEAM OR INDIVIDUALLY $80.00/PLAYER OR $70.00 IF REGISTERED AS A TEAM

EVERY PLAYER WILL RECEIVE A JERSEY AND VISOR

QUESTIONS? CALL WISCONSIN

SPORTS SERVICES @ 608-210-1710

OR EMAIL

BETH@WISPORTSSERVICES.ORG

pg. 12

Wisconsin Sports Services

2317 International Lane- Suite 210

Madison, WI 53704

Phone: 608-210-1710

THANKS TO OUR

SPONSOR!