“Finding good players is easy. Getting them to play as a team is another story.”
Casey Stengel, American Major League Baseball outfielder and manager
Most experts recognize that baseball is one of the most difficult sports to play. It takes a combination of athletic skills, sound mechanics and baseball smarts. Yet, with the exception of a few really successful travel or select teams, most progr
ams do not focus on improving and elevating those skills. The result is that our sons, and sometimes daughters, miss out on reaching their full potential as baseball players. In addition, while select teams can offer solid coaching and great competition, many players and families leave select programs because they are not run well and unnecessarily disrupt the lives and schedules of players and parents. We believe that there is a better way and that all players should have the opportunity to compete against top-tier competition. Our passions and beliefs have driven us to establish a new 16U select baseball team that will be well-trained and well-coached, which will lead to improvement and success on the field. This is the goal of every baseball team and is usually as far as most select teams go; however, we feel it’s important to take our program one step further -- to ensure that the program is enjoyable not only for players, but also their parents. We believe that parents are as important to team success and enjoyment as players. Your time is limited and you have so many tasks and challenges on your plate at any given time. Adding one more responsibility can be stressful and challenging. Believe me, we have also been there. While a select baseball team naturally requires a high level of commitment and dedication, if run well, it should not have to unnecessarily disrupt family and personal schedules. With that in mind, our program is being structured to address off-the-field considerations as well as on-the-field play. In addition to strong training, skills development, and game performance, we will provide our players and parents with effective communication, advanced planning and scheduling, and transparency in player and team progress. We are excited to introduce to you the Northwest Nighthawks. The NW Nighthawks is a 16U Select program that will focus on developing top-tier talent, strong and supportive teammates, and a track-record of winning. Our program will stress strong mechanics and fundamentals, baseball intelligence, and high effort at all times. Indoor training will begin in the fall of 2016 and will be held twice per week at Sammamish Baseball Academy in Redmond. In addition to team coaches, SBA trainers and instructors will work with Nighthawk players as part of our scheduled training sessions. We are planning to compete in the Mickey Mantle Division of the Washington State Select Baseball League beginning in the spring of 2017. Outdoor practices and home games will be held at fields in Sammamish, Redmond or Issaquah. Games will begin in May 2017 after the conclusion of local high school baseball seasons, and will run through mid-to-late July 2017. The team will also participate in several local and driving-distance weekend tournaments. With that said, we are looking for a few good players. Our team will consist of 13-15 players and will be supported by three to four volunteer coaches. Tryouts will be held on August 7th at 12:00 pm at the Skyline High School community turf field. If you are interested in attending the tryout, please submit your reservation to tryout HERE. A little bit more about our head coaches...
John Knutsen, Manager & Head Coach
John has coached for seven years. He has a track record of developing talent and forming high-performing teams. He was coach of the Eastlake Juniors (14U) All-Star Team that won the 2015 District 9 championship and placed 5th in Washington State. As a player, John played in college and at the varsity level in high school (Golden Glove and All-District). Chris Bellavia, Assistant Manager & Coach
Chris has recent and ongoing baseball experience as a coach/manager, program administrator, and player. He has coached or managed youth baseball teams for the past seven seasons, most recently as manager of the Sammamish Seniors Division 16U team. He has volunteered as a member of the Sammamish Little League Board of Directors for the past several years and director of its teen baseball programs. As a player, Chris played at the varsity level in high school growing up in New York State and continues as a player in the Puget Sound Senior Baseball League in a 35-and-older division.
