Catcher Con Reflection

I will say in advance that if you are a part of the grammar police… you will probably be disappointed as I am NOT a good writer at all. I hope you enjoy this reflection. If there is only one conference you could attend what would it be? Now, I understand there is a lot of internal/external factors into this. For myself as a catching only coach/instructor/enthusiast I would have to say CatcherCon. Why? Obviously, the presentations and speakers are great. Coaches from all different backgrounds as well as teaching levels speaking about all different types of skills/catching assets. This was my 6th year attending. I believe Xan said there has only been 8 of them so that’s what… 2014. Xan presented me with a 5th year anniversary gift… I was a speaker in 2021 and the first female to present. Some of the MLB coaches had a over/under bet how many times I would say FUCK during my presentation. It was 0 by the way. It was one of the coolest and most nerve-racking coaching moments that I have ever had. I got up on stage and shared us (Dominate The Dish Softball) to the baseball/softball world as to what we are about.

2016 was the first year I attended. I was a D3 assistant softball coach and glueing pennies together to make this trip happen. I couldn’t afford to stay at the host hotel and I hoarding snacks at the food table to save a few bucks. I believe I stayed at a Red Roof Inn and drove my Jeep Patriot up from Tampa. We were on a big holiday break so I spent my down time back in Florida getting after it with lessons. So picture me driving my Jeep from Iowa to Ohio to Florida to Tennessee to Florida to Ohio to Iowa all over a span of 3 weeks. I could have easily not gone but what was the lighting bulb trigger that I knew this is the place/conference I needed to be at? It was actually two things. Again, its been a hot minute so I bare with me if I might be abit off but I remember Xan had tweeted about this conference and it sparked my interest. I send him a DM saying that I wanted to come but I couldn’t come up with the money until the day before the conference started. I asked if I could come and pay in cash/officially register same day. I know he wouldn’t normally do that because there is ALOT of logistics that go into making this event go. He said yes! I believe did like 2/3 lessons that same week in the Iowa cold (“Cold” was like high 30s) to make this whole trip happen. I showed up and handed him some cash and the rest is history. I sat down because I was “that guy” that showed up right at 6pm on Friday night. Anyone that has been to CatcherCon you know that you dont need to show up until like 7ish on Friday. Yes, this year was abit different as Xan threw a curveball at us for Friday night. Anyways, I was sitting there by myself and an older gentleman comes up to me and introduces himself. It was the man we like to call the “Cup of Coffee with shinguards” Tom Griffin. He is the Head Baseball Coach at Carson Newman (D2) We got to talking and I was talking about my coaching journey and possible relationship connections of who we know. It was quite relieving as I know that I’ll be accepted here. That first year set the tone as to what is to come of this conference as well as people finding out who Kirsten Cox is both as a person and coach.

Now, lets first forward to this past weekend. I’m not going to lie as it has been a very up and down week leading up to the conference. I’m not going to go into major details on that other than I was ready to get away and reconnect with my tribe. Xan decided to throw a curveball on Tuesday that Friday we are going to have a Hot Stove discussion. In the past, we have only done registration and everyone heads back to the hotel to hang out. With that said, I didn’t even get into Nashville until 7pm as I had some issues that I had to take care of here in Florida before leaving. I did however attempt stand-by to leave a few hours earlier. I had success on the first leg going to Atlanta. The second leg I didn’t have that much luck. I missed stand-by by one passenger but it is what it is. Landed and snagged my rental car and off I went. They gave me an Kia Soul so I looked that commercial with the Hamsters jamming out and riding a Soul. I managed to roll in around 8pm so I missed about 30 minutes of the Hot Stove. The one positive is that my friends Emmie and Helen snagged me a seat at the table so I came in quietly and sat down. After the discussion, all hell broke loose for the rest of the night. Let the bro hugs, smiles, and handshakes begin. This is the one time a year that we all merge over to Nashville for arguably the best 48 hours of catching chaos. First night was a long one. We probably hung out in the hotel lobby until like almost 1am. There isn’t many places/opportunities where you may have a table of a private catching coach, facility owner, parent, MILB coach, MLB coordinator, and college coach crushing some hotel bar food and beers talking like we are all best friends like Alan and the gang from the hangover.

On to Saturday. Not going to lie getting up at 6:45am was abit rough after a full day of travel and telling stories. However for anyone that has attended CatcherCon you know exactly who kicks off the 8am session. It’s like taking a double shot of espresso with a Red Bull chaser. Tom Griffin is a man that brings the energy, passion, and knowledge year in and year out. This year he talked about how Everything Matters. I swear every presentation he gives there has to be atleast 50-60 videos on drills/examples for us to see. Personally I don’t pay much attention to what he calls “Special Teams” 1% stuff like pop-ups, team defense, plays at the plate, and etc. Why? I’m very limited on space as well as I feel sometimes this is very game scenario and team dynamic work. However it doesn’t mean I talk about it with my girls we just dont work on it much. I did take hard notes on grip/forearm strength work as my girls are always asking about it. He also nails breaking down the mindset of some the skill work like having an infielder mindset when it comes to bunt coverages.

Next was Mike Bianco. He is the Head Coach of the 2022 Baseball National Champion Ole Miss. His presentation was Calling Pitches to Win. Personally this presentation didn’t touch me as deep because I’m not involved with pitch calling. However some takeaways and quotes I got was that Repetition is the mother of skill. So many people think attending camps and getting those 8-10 reps will cement the growth of skill. You got to keep hammering out reps day in and day out. Another one liner he absolutely nailed as that Catching is the O-Line in Baseball. Some have mentioned that catchers are the QB but I relate more to the O-Line analogy better. We don’t seek praise much but we just go out there and get the job done. Get beat up everyday and we continue to go about their business as well as being very athletic even though some many not pass the eye-test. I really appreciate what he said and I know he is very respected in the baseball communit.

I’m not going to go through every speaker but as you can see if you have read this far that there are ALOT of Golden Nuggets here at CatcherCon. If you are a member of The Deep Dish I will go into deeper detail. Another thing that I love is seeing the growth that some of my friends have made over time. Specifically Colin Wilbur who was a catching coach at a private high school in the area to now working with the Pittsburgh Pirates. I hate the word “Grind” but that’s what that dude is. I think it was last year where we went to a conference outside of Atlanta that he drove up to with his car. He jokingly said I’m surprised my car made it because its been overheating a lot. By Sunday he was stranded as his car took a dump at the hotel and he had to wait until like Tuesday to get it fixed. Dude slept on a friends coach until he got his car fixed. I know people question his teachings just like people question mine. He was like me constantly posting content and explanations. He took to the plan and now he has advanced on to better things but also remember those that were in his corner. We were joking about now we can afford flying and rental cars to conferences instead of the long drives or awkard Uber rides to Franklin, Tennessee.

As the years pass, softball is slowly taking notice how behind we are in the catching department. If you know anything about me you know I have complained, demonstrated, preached, and etc about this. I remember being the only woman that was NOT a parent in the crowd. 3 years ago when things were starting to take off I wanted to pay it forward by paying for a female softball coach/player to come to CatcherCon to help this grow. I posted my offer on twitter and within an hour I got a DM from Emmie Uttis. She was a senior in college and was planning on going into the private sector after graduation. We had talked on the phone a few months prior as she had some questions about being an entrepreneur and owning a facility. I knew immediately she would take full advantage of the opportunity. Fast forward 3 years later, I have been in South Dakota twice to train with her girls as well as her opening up a 8,000sq feet (soon to be 12,000sq feet) all-skills softball only facility. This year, I helped a recent college graduate that’s a new college assistant coach. She came up to me to thank me for the financial relief but also she fan-girled abit. I giggled when people talk to me like I’m some big-shot. I’m forever grateful of starting the pay-it forward yearly to help create awareness that softball and baseball are more alike than many people think. I’m glad to see us and this conference continue to grow year after year.

The biggest takeaway from CatcherCon isn’t the drills, data, or presentations. It the tribe of people it attracts. The biggest shit talkers have yet to show up. The people that cause the most drama on social media are no where to be found. When friends aren't able to attend due to conflicts they are dearly missed. The education continues well outside the 8 presentations given on Saturday. The water bottles become beer bottles and snacks become bar food. No one is really on their phones until they look to see what time it is and all you see is AM not PM and the bartender is ready to dish out the tabs. The people that continue to help promote and build this conference have continued to grow both personally and professionally. I can recall tons of friends that have moved on into college and professional baseball but still remember us little people. It almost like a scene from Cheers when someone walks into the room. Tons of bro hugs and handshakes. I truly love and appreciate my tribe. I come off very strong to everyone both personally and from a social media platform. It has been my authenticity and identity since I start coaching over 12 years ago. It tends to rub some people the wrong way. At the end of the day only 50% of people will ever like you. Out of that 50% that do like you… only 20% will love you. I’m glad to say a big part of that 20% I’m proud to call my friends. I know they have my back, thoughts, and ideas even when shit gets tough. They know your intentions and can sniff out bullshit over a mile away. I just wish we can get together more than once a year in December. My advice to coaches is to get out and find conferences that fit YOU. This is the only conference I’m attending for 2022. It is the best value for me. Yes, leaving with drills, data, and ideas are great however leaving with your network stronger and possibly bigger is the bigger picture. I can honestly say that my coaching cup and heart is full. As 2022 comes to a close, I plan on enjoying a well desevered few weeks of rest. However, I’m excited to see what 2023 unfolds for us. Thank Xan for bringing our family together.

-Kirsten