Blast Blue Thank Yous

Manny,

I was looking for a way to describe what you brought to this group and I read the following quote. 

Henry Kissinger said, “The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.”

Even though the head coach was never labeled, we all knew who was at the wheel.  It takes skill to move people to do something they haven’t done before or something they aren’t even sure is possible.  You first guided the team to the “ship” and then steered this group to become “legends!”  What a great ride for all of us.

I echo your thanks to everyone who helped (including Dominic, the junior sodfather.)  Most importantly though, thank you for your great leadership to motivate and inspire this group to great achievements and lifelong memories.

Ed

From: Manny Vacchiano [mailto:manny_vacchiano@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2011 12:44 AM
To: Tegtmeier Family; Kratohvil, Jeff; Kratohvil; Vidakovich, Willy; Franco, Christine; Franco, Christine; Stinsa, Tony; Blast Web Page; Matura, Mike; Matura, Mike; Stinsa, Leah; Franco, Christine; Grant, Edmund H.; paul_tegtmeier@toyota.com; mariavacchiano@yahoo.com; mhube@comcast.net; mvidakovich@hotmail.com; rob.rich@spexchicago.com; alisonrich@comcast.net; ehgrant3@ameritech.net; cfranco@duch.com; Franco, Carlos H.; timothy.dunning@firstchicago.com; gina.dunning@bairdwarner.com
Cc: BRW Blast12UBlue
Subject: Blast Blue Thank Yous

Blast Blue families,

 

As I reflect back on the season, I want to thank all of you for your commitment and the positive environment that you helped create. Between practices and games there was a lot of travel and sacrifice. It was good to have a group of families that were committed to the team and their daughters. It was rewarding to see the girls learn and grow throughout the year, and experience some success as a result of their hard work. This was an impressive group of girls in terms of their willingness to listen, learn and help each other.

 

Thanks to all of you for pitching in to help in various ways to make the load on any of us much more manageable. Like any successful endeavor, it takes good teamwork and dedication to a common mission. Special thanks go out to the following:

 

The Francos for sponsoring the extra tournament where we went to the finals and had some of our best games.

 

Leah Stinsa for taking hundreds or thousands of pictures throughout the season so that we could see our girls in action.

 

Beth Tegtmeier (VP of Marketing and Communication) for taking the lead on many off-the-field tasks such as uniforms, trophies, and numerous communications, which allowed the coaching staff to focus on coaching.

 

Thanks to the coaching staff as follows:

Extended coaching staff:

Mike Matura - Spent many hours helping us out at practices contributing in any way that we requested with a positive and encouraging attitude.

 

Tony Stinson - Positive, light-hearted influence that was willing to help on many tasks at practices and pre-game. Entered stats for each game of the season into our master online stats table!

 

Marty Huber(t) - Served as our resident baseball expert who provided excellent and timely advise throughout the year as well as dedicated many hours helping in practice and pre-game work.

 

Core Coaching Staff:

Tim Dunning - Put a lot of heart and emotion into the many, many hours he dedicated to the girls and to the team. Helped me make positioning and practice planning decisions throughout the season and split third base coaching duties with Ed.

 

Ed Grant - Brought a professional and calming influence to the coaching staff and team and dedicated countless hours at practice and games. Had responsibility along with Paul for batting order and split third base coaching duty with Tim.

 

Paul Tegtmeier - (In addition to making the mistake of challenging me to a race to first base early in winter training, for which my foot and the Chalet wall will never be the same) Spent countless hours helping the girls at practices and games, including being our first base coach. Paul researched and set up the practice facilities and tournaments throughout the year, and helped Beth communicate this information to keep us all well informed.

 

 

Best of luck to you all in the future. Hopefully we'll see you back out on the softball field.

 

Coach Manny

 



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