Mark Smith, who is the High Performance Director and Women’s National Team Head Coach for Softball Canada, will be the keynote speaker for fastpitch softball at BSUK’s third annual Coach Summit, to be held on Saturday 27 January 2018 in Milton Keynes.
Smith took over the Canadian Women’s National Team programme since 2009, and has led the team to bronze medal finishes at the WBSC Women’s World Championship in 2010 and 2016 and to a gold medal at the 2015 Pan-American Games.
Earlier, Smith was a world-class men’s fastpitch pitcher, with a Hall of Fame playing career with the Canadian Men’s National Fastpitch Team that ran from 1979-1996, after which he coached in the Canadia Junior and Senior National Men’s Team programmes from 2000-2009.
As a player, Smith was named to the All-World Team a record five times, and he has been inducted into the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame, the Softball Canada Hall of Fame (in 1999) and the International Softball Congress Hall of Fame (in 2004).
Apart from his keynote speech at the Coach Summit, Smith will run workshops on hitting and on Programme Development/Building a Programme, and on Sunday 28 January, he will lead a hitting clinic for High Performance Academy players.
Other key speakers for the Coach Summit will be announced shortly.
Early Bird tickets
Coaches and players who want to attend the Coach Summit can still purchase Early Bird tickets for £50 until midnight on Tuesday 31 October (after that date, tickets will cost £80).
To purchase tickets, click here.
In addition to Mark Smith, there will be other keynote speakers and experienced international coaches at the Summit and a range of workshops and discussions throughout the day,
Q & A
After Mark Smith was confirmed as a keynote speaker at the 2018 Coach Summit, we asked him to answer a few questions:
Q: How and why did you get into coaching?
A: I was a former national team pitcher/player for 15 years, and was always a student of the game and curious about how to get better. I began coaching as a player/coach towards the end of my career and continued after I stopped playing.
Q: What’s your coaching highlight to date?
A: Winning the 1998 Men’s Senior National Championships in my home province of Nova Scotia, and winning Pan Am gold medals as Head Coach of the Canadian Men’s Team in 2003 and the Women’s Team in 2015.
Q: What is one change you’d like to make in baseball/softball coaching today?
A: A greater commitment to holistic athlete development. And allowing catchers to call the game and players to learn through trial and error.
Q: What are you most looking forward to at the BSUK Coach Summit?
A: Meeting new coaches and learning new things.