Sioux Falls Diamonds Softball

10u Diamonds Elite: The 10U Sioux Falls Diamonds Elite placed second in the ASA Northern Nationals in Rochester, MN. The Diamonds Elite met up with a team from Tulsa Oklahoma who was a very talented group of girls with a lot of diamond experience. Diamonds Elite went 3-0 in bracket play Saturday and set up a semi-final match with the Tulsa Oklahoma Eagles Sunday morning. Elite lost to the Eagles 9-1. Elite then had to play the winner of the losers bracket the OskKosh, WI Raiders. The Raiders where the Wisconsin State A 2011 Champions. Elite came out on top 5-2 to earn a spot in the championship game. The Eagles proved to be to much for the Elite in the championship game and lost 9-0. The Diamonds Elite played an outstanding tournament taking down some of the top tallent from Illionois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota.

12u Diamonds X-treme: Congrats to the X-treme who placed 4th in the 12U “B” USSSA World Series Nationals in Lawrence, KS.  The girls played 11 games over 5 days in 100+ temps.

14u Diamonds Fire: Congrats to the Fire who placed 4th in the 14U “B” NAFA Grand Nationals in Omaha, NE.  The girls played 10 games over 4 days in 100+ temps.  The girls went 2-1 in pool play and then lost their first game in bracket play.  The girls them battled back through the losers bracket over next two days and 7 games.  They found themselves in a showdown with their sister team, Blue going up 5-0 right away.  Blue battled back beating Fire 5-6 in the end.

14u Diamonds Gold: The Gold went 4-3 in the USSSA World Series in Orlando 14u A. Tied for 17 in 41 team tournament. The girls played their hearts out and even in their three losses they played well. Very proud of the girls. Now we head in to the fall season. We are looking for two top players to add to our team as we are at nine players for next summer.

16u Diamonds Black: Congrats to the Black who placed 4th in the 16U “A” Gold NAFA Grand Nationals in Omaha, NE.  

We would like to thank our Sponsors for their generosity!  Without your support, we would not be able to accomplish our goals for the 2011 season.

Team Sponsors:

Dave’s Small Engine Repair

INCA

Munchies

Ness Tax & Bookkeeping Service   www.nesstax.com

Plains Commerce Bank   www.plainscommerce.com

Sanford Health  www.sanfordhealth.org

Sandia Roofing   www.sandiaroofing.com

Diamond Dash Sponsors:

Dakota Sports   www.dakotasportsonline.com
34 Stop
Arrow Process Systems Inc
Caring Companions, LLC
C & L Flooring Unlimited
CorTrust Bank Sioux Falls   www.cortrustbank.com
Crist & Wenande Orthodontics   www.cw-ortho.com
Dan Schroedermeier Trucking Inc
Diver Home Service
Dynamic Cheer & Dance    www.dynamicstudio.org
Family Wellness   www.familywellnesssf.com
GeoTek Engineering & Testing Services   www.geotekeng.com
Gloe Chiropractic
Graber & Associates   www.gottagetgraber.com
H & M Commercial Cleaning Services, LLC
M & M Auto   www.mandm4autos.com
Midwest Sound & Power
Nebkota Financial Services   www.nebkota.net
Neighbor’s Meat Market
Nelson Farms
R.L. Drywall Inc
Rainbow Sportscards   www.rainbowcardsandcomics.com
Real Estate Retrievers   www.BrandonMartens.com
Riddle’s Jewelry   www.riddlesjewelry.com
Sioux Falls Ford     www.siouxfallsford.com
Steve’s Tire & Service, Inc
T & R Electric Supply Co
TDS Auto Repair, Inc   www.tdsauto.com
Team Automotive
Tire Pros & Service
Western Housing   www.western-housing.com

The Sioux Falls Diamonds Softball Club is looking for several players and coaches for many of our teams.   Please check back often to stay up to date on tryouts and open positions.  To learn more about the Diamonds Softball Club, please see our FAQ’s page.  The Diamonds also have very strict requirements for players, coaches and most of all parents.  Please review these rules and policies on our FORMS page.

9u X-plosion

9U Diamonds X-plosion are looking for 1 player for the 2012 season. We are playing in 8-10 tournaments next year, mainly within the vicinity of Sioux Falls. This is a new team that is looking forward to developing skills and having a lot of fun playing competitive ball.  If you are interested, please contact Ann Sterrett at takjster@sio.midco.net.

10u Diamonds Steel

The 10u Steel Team  has room for a few highly competitive girls that are looking to have a lot of fun next season (2012). We plan to compete in the 10u A SEFSA Competitive League and Tournaments, both local and outside of Sioux Falls. The girls on our team now are all very competitive and athletic and most can play a number of different positions and will be asked to. We recently finished Runner Up to Diamonds Elite in the State Tourney and expect to expand on our successes in 2012. Send us a e-mail if you have a daughter that is interested, and we will set a time up for a tryout. The girls have to be 10 years old or younger on December 31, 2011 to play in the 10u age group. We are trying to focus on putting a group of girls together that all have 2001 birthdays.

13u X-treme

The 13U X-Treme are looking for one highly competitive girl to join the team for the 2012 summer season.  This team travels throughout the Midwest, and has won several tournaments in the past year including a 4^th place finish at the USSSA Nationals in Kansas this last year.  We are looking for a utility player and will be playing in approximately 12 tournaments, including several National qualifiers, with the goal of playing in the ASA National tournament in Sioux Falls.  For more information, please contact Scott Roth at Scott.Roth@lodgenet.com.

This page is to thank the many people for the many little and big things that get done by folks on behalf of the girls in the Sioux Falls Diamond’s club. There are so many people who do so many things behind the scenes that we wanted to get some recognition out to those folks. If we have missed someone please email us and remind us to post a thank you here.

If you have someone you want to thank please email Steve or Ed and we will get it on here asap. Thank you!

Please please please let me know who needs to be on here. Thanks!

Thank you to these many folks for their endless support of the Diamond’s club!

• Ed Kieff for his countless hours giving one-on-one lessons.
• Steve Thompson and Scott Roth for the new sign on the outside of the CORE training facility!
• Evan Hackett and his father Skip and Steve and Carrie Thompson for remodeling the restroom like professionals!
• Dan Schroedermeier Trucking for donating a brand new pitching machine and balls!
• Joe Michaeli for the helmets, stereo system and a lot of other items in the CORE!
• Mark Shoenfelder for the rubber pitching mats we are using as mounds!
• Bill and Christy Marketon for the blue carpet which is so nice!
• Steve Thompson for his many hours of cleaning, organizing and working in the CORE. Oh and his great website skills!
• Dawn Haage for all of her time working on the spirit wear order stuff! And her negotiation skills!
• Carrie Thompson for letting us have Steve so much of the time!
• Susan Letcher for handling the checkbook. And keeping all of that stuff so well organized!
• Scott Roth for hauling the garbage to the dump. Didn’t even get a nail in his tire!
• Merlin, Dawn’s father for the trophy shelf and scaffolding we have used so much! And the field drags and all of his time dealing with Chris!
• The many folks who helped us move and set-up the transfer from the old building! That was so fun!
• Everyone for their help with the concessions at the tournaments. The weather was great!
• Steve and Carrie Thompson for donating a new hitting cage screen!
• Merlin for watering the fields at the tournaments. Wait, that was Merlin’s sister Mother Nature…..
• Chantel for running this years’ fund-raiser committee! Thanks Chantel! Oh and the t-shirt sales too! And letting us hold Q!
• All of the parents who haul their girls around to all of these tournaments and practices etc. Hey, you should get a little recognition right?
• And especially all of the coaches and managers who have to deal with these girls!

The Sioux Falls Diamonds Fastpitch Softball Club would like to give HUGE ”Thank You” to all the businesses and individuals that supported all our teams during the 2010 season!

A compelte list of our sponsors can be found here…Our Sponsors

The Sioux Falls Diamonds Girls Fastpitch Softball Club is growing every year! Our players compete to have fun and become the best they can be through hard work year around. We have dedicated players who work very hard to better themselves in softball and learn teamwork and leadership skills.

We fill our teams with players who want to compete to have fun, learn and become better people and ball players. We do not cut players from our teams once we have decided to take them on. We believe that if we decided to bring a player to our club she will get the training and help she needs to make her a better player on and off of the field. We want all of our players to succeed!

Our coaches and parents are a dedicated group who work hard to help our players achieve their goals.

The Sioux Falls Diamonds were established in 1998 as a local team and has now grown to several very competitive teams. We are looking forward to helping our players have fun and achieve their goals!

Play Ball!

If you are interested in more information about our club, please email edkieff@hotmail.com

Q: What if we can’t afford to play competitive ball with the Diamonds?

Our goal is to make this opportunity available to all players who wish to be a Diamond ball player. We have several fund-raising opportunities for the girls and their parents to help cover some or all of the cost of playing. Please speak with a coach if you have questions regarding this issue. We want to make sure all girls are able to play regardless of these issues.

Q: What about fund-raising?

Each of the Diamond’s teams has their own fund-raising events and all of the money they raise stays with their team. No money is given to the club to be redistributed some other way.

Q: Does every player on each of your teams get equal playing time every game?

This is a definite no. It is not our intentions to have players on our teams just to sit them out every game, but there are situations where one or more players on any of our teams may sit out more than others. We know this is difficult on the players so we try our best to play all of our players in every game, even though we can’t some times. We are a competitive club which means we are more often than not trying to put our best players on the field to be successful in a game. Not always, but as a rule most of the time. If you have a player who is not able to handle this type of situation we would recommend that they look in to recreation softball or another alternative would be slowpitch.

Q: What are the costs of playing for the Diamonds?

There are several costs involved:

1. Uniforms which can cost anywhere from $50.00 to as much as $400.00.

2. Travel cost include all regular travel expenses.

3. ASA registration which is $8.00.

4. Equipment.

5. Lessons if needed. Power and other training items.

6. Team costs like tournament entry fees and some umpire fees.

7. There are others but this is the bulk. As you can see it’s helpful to do some fund-raising.

Q: How often do you practice and play?

We practice about 3 to 12 hours a week and play  during the months of April – July and travel a lot on weekends during those months. It takes a lot of time to be a Diamond softball player and a lot of desire and committment. We look for those qualities in all of our players.

Q: What advantage is there to joining the Diamond’s Softball Club?

Well the first and most important is the coaching and teaching that goes on. We have several knowledgeable coaches and our players will practice as a group so there are a lot of people helping with technique and in the learning process. Our younger players look up to our more seasoned players and they can learn from them by practicing with them and watching them play. We strive to help all of our players by having many coaches available at practices. The CORE is our indoor winter conditioning facility. It rivals many college facilities and all of our players may use it as often as they wish. See more info about the CORE here.

Q: What if I want my player to play a specific position and a certain amount of time?

Playing time and position is determined by the head coach of the team. That is his or her decision and it is made for the benefit of the team. This is an issue that is not discussed because it causes too many problems. Parents in our organization who are not coaches are fans. They are encouraged to cheer for their players and the team but not coach from behind the fence. This is too confusing for our players and we ask our parents to understand this rule. Our coaches spend a lot of time working with their players and teams and we want to help both coaches and the team succeed!

Q: When are tryouts for your teams?

We will always first post our tryouts to the website here, so keep and eye on the site for future tryouts.

Q: How can I become a coach for the Diamonds?

Call us at 605-212-5916 we would love to visit with you!

High Schools

• Roosevelt High school
• Washington High School
• Lincoln High School
• O’Gorman High School
• Sioux Falls Christian High School
• Brandon Valley High School
• Tea Area High School
• Harrisburg High School
• Lennox High School
• West Central High School
• Tri-Valley High School
• Alcester / Hudson High School
• Dakota Valley High School
• James Valley Christian
• Elkpoint Jefferson High School
• Vermillion High School

Middle Schools

• Memorial Middle School
• Patrick Henry Middle School
• Edison Middle School
• Axtell Middle School
• Whittier Middle School
• O’Gorman Middle School
• Sioux Falls Christian Middle School
• Brandon Valley Middle School
• Tea Area Middle School
• Harrisburg Middle School
• Lennox Middle School
• West Central Middle School
• Tri-Valley Middle School

Elementary Schools

• Discovery Elementary
• Garfield Elementary
• Hayward Elementary
• JFK Elementary
• Oscar Howe Elementary
• St. Micheals

If you have any questions regarding the Diamonds Club  whether it’s about joing a team, coaching a team, sponsoring or advertising on our website, please contact the following:

• Ed Kieff, edkieff@hotmail.com, Phone 605-212-5916 or
• Steve Thompson, aiathompson@msn.com,  Phone: 359-3911

Click Here for Pitching Basics

If you have any questions regarding the Diamonds Club  whether it’s about joining a team, coaching a team, sponsoring or advertising on our website, please contact the following:

• Steve Thompson, aiathompson@msn.com,  Phone: 359-3911
• or a member of the coaching staff