81st Annual ABCA Convention Preview - Gaylord National Harbor

[00:00:04] Speaker A: Welcome to the ABCA's podcast. I'm your host Brian Brownlee. Our sponsor is Core Energy Belt, the trusted source of professional baseball players in both Japan and the USA. With over 700 professionals, including two former MVPs, relying on these belts, Core Energy has established itself as a leader in performance and durability. I've been wearing their belts for a while now and the added back support has made a noticeable difference both on and off the field. They offer free shipping and a 30 day satisfaction guarantee. Go to corenergybelt.com and use code ABCA2025 to save 15 on your first purchase. I'll repeat that, go to Corenergy Belt and use the code ABCA2025 to save 15% on your first purchase. This episode is sponsored by Netting Pros. Netting Professionals are improving programs one facility at a time. Netting Professionals specializes in the design, fabrication and installation of custom netting for backstops, batting cages, dugouts, BP screens and ball carts. They also design and install digital graphic wall padding, windscreen turf, turf protectors, dugout benches, dugout cubbies and more. Netting Professionals is an official partner of the ABCA and continues to provide quality products and services to many high school, college and professional fields, facilities and stadiums throughout the country. Netting Professionals are improving programs one facility at a time. Contact them today at 844-620-2707 or infoettingpros.com visit them online at www.nettingpros.com or check out NettingPros on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn for all their latest products and projects. Make sure to let CEO Will Minor know that the ABCA sent you. Now on to the podcast. For the first time since 1975, the world's largest baseball convention will be hanging in the nation's capital for the 81st Annual ABCA Convention. Today's episode covers everything you need to know about the convention. Our goal every year is to make this a wonderful experience for our attendees, guests, sponsors and exhibitors. I hope you enjoy and we look forward to seeing everyone at the 81st ABCA Convention on January 2nd through the 5th. Thanks again for your support and trust. Here's a great show for everyone here. [00:02:44] Speaker B: With Craig kylitz, executive director, 11th year as executive director, correct. [00:02:49] Speaker C: Starting the 11th. [00:02:50] Speaker B: Congratulations. You know there's some behind the scenes stuff that happened here and Wednesday is kind of a cool day for all of us because we're in the executive meeting and so we have a really cool group of executives, board members that I don't think people really realize that, that it's almost like a state of baseball meeting that we have with everyone. And do you want to give any of those guys a shout out and the work that they do behind the scenes, because by the way, they're all volunteers and they volunteer their time for this. [00:03:21] Speaker C: Well, our executive committee, just like our board, are tremendously valuable because they are the ones that we listen to on how we get things done. So Division 2 and 3, you know, they get touched on just as much as Division 1, but we get to hear from them on the issues that we need to understand and hear from their earshot. But then Also, you know, NAIA and junior college, 1, 2 and 3, high school youth, travel ball. All of them have a huge part of what makes the ABC special because we listen to them, we give them what their coaches need. And then because of that, I think our growth has been so good because we're meeting the wants and desires of every level. And it's really special when you start formulating these relationships and learning from these coaches and getting advice from these coaches. But this is one of my favorite meetings because it ties everything together. [00:04:20] Speaker B: Big year here for Division one and this kind of started it with our organization, with the Division 1 coaches starting it. And then it's always a big deal, the Thursday night meetings for all the levels that we have. And this is kind of a pivotal time for Division I baseball. And so what are your insights on what's going on with Division I baseball right now? [00:04:39] Speaker C: You know, it's been such an unsettling time for all of college athletics. You know, we focus on baseball, but we're not alone. Between ads, presidents, certainly every head and assistant coaches, they're going through these changes and trying to figure out how we navigate through them. Because a lot of it is changes that we're putting into place, but most of them are lawsuit driven. So we don't know, and I say this all the time, that you'd almost rather have sort of something bad happened rather than uncertainty. The uncertainty is so unnerving for coaches and so I feel for them. But right now this is probably the most influential time in our sport since 2008 and nine we had so many of those rule changes. So we're going to be going over there, going over those changes. Changes on Thursday night. But this will be the most pivotal time that I need information from coaches. So we're going to have open dialogue, especially regarding our roster limit of 34. As most coaches know, that must be declared by December 1, and that'd be for the 2026 season. But we got some things to go over. First of all, we need to really determine do we want to have a fall cap. If the answer is yes, we move in a certain direction. If the answer is no, then we sort of stay status quo on that. But with that, yes and no is not quite good enough. We're going to have to develop the reasoning behind it. So when I personally deliver our results to the four autonomy commissioners that are going to make this decision for Division 1, I want to be able to look them straight in the eye and say, baseball wants this and this is why they want it and this is why it's better for our sport and better for our student athletes. And if I can accomplish that, I think we can get what we would like. With that said, I think commissioners and ads lean on baseball to sort of lead the way with the legislative stuff to make their job easier, but also do what's best for baseball. And our coaches have a huge voice and I hope they understand it and I hope they're willing to talk tomorrow or on Thursday night. [00:06:45] Speaker B: And this is a pivotal time. Coach Sloxna and I talked about this on Monday. This is the golden era for I think, baseball overall. And I think a lot of that has to do with the work that the ABCA coaches have done. And I do feel like it's kind of the golden era for the ABCA as well too, because we're at all time highs for just about everything. And how gratifying is that for you 11 years in when you started to see where everything is now with just the game itself, but also with the ABCA itself also. [00:07:12] Speaker C: Well, and thank you for that. I'm just so proud of the where we've gone. We've grown by nearly three times our membership. I think we've done an incredible job bringing the convention to life. The education, the education among all levels, the inclusion at all levels, certainly our diversity and so forth has been tremendous, led by Kerrick Jackson and his group. So I couldn't be any happier with that. But When I started 10 and a half, 11 years ago, it was really based on how do we build up our membership, convention sponsorships, exhibit sales and so forth and really build up our base. And we've done that tremendously well and I'm proud of that. But now it's sort of focused to how do we serve our coaches legislatively and get them through this difficult times. And you talk about this being our golden age. Very few times do you go through difficult times. And I say difficult because the uncertainty but then still be on top of our game at the highest. Usually those don't go together. When you have uncertainty, you have weakness and things are getting worse. But man, our game is at all time high with coaches salaries, facilities operating budgets, certainly scholarships and opportunities financially for our student athletes. So they're not going the whole as deep as they were in the past. But the talent on the field at all levels is just. It's incredible. I watched the World Series and I watched Division 2 and 3 and NEI and I couldn't believe the level of talent and understanding of the game and execution of the game. It's never been better. [00:08:54] Speaker B: Another big part of your job is finding future sites for the convention. And we're going to a new place. We haven't been here since 1975, so this is kind of new for all of us. But next year we're going to Columbus, which I think is the only time we've ever been to Columbus. And for people that have never been to Columbus, I love Columbus. I think it's a great city. My time at the University of Iowa going to play Ohio State. Columbus is a phenomenal city. What are your thoughts on going to Columbus next year? [00:09:19] Speaker C: Well, I'm excited about it. I'm a Midwesterner from Michigan and so it's close to home and what I like. But the reason that really makes it great, the drivability, certainly the number of rooms and the cheap price that we're able to get for our coaches. But the breakout sessions and so forth. But once you leave the hotels right there, the restaurants, the bars, the entertainment opportunities are just tremendous. But also I'm the old school. I like to say that's the building I'm going to be in. That's where I'm going to park. That's where I'm going to walk in. And that is a lot easier than some of the other cities that we've gone to. And so I'm excited about the opportunity it has to bring. [00:09:59] Speaker B: I've almost described it. It's similar to Nashville, but it would be like if Broadway was next to the Gaylord Opryland is really how the Columbus setup is. And that's similar here to D.C. like walking out of the hotel here in D.C. plenty of options for the coaches. I sent that out yesterday via video that I think this is the best setup we've ever had here in D.C. with coaches being able to walk across the street to get to establishments and restaurants. And I think coaches are going to be really happy with The DC setup and then Columbus next year also. [00:10:29] Speaker C: I agree, DC is, I think, going to be one of the all time favorites for coaches. And whenever you go to a new city, there's a learning curve and people don't understand it and maybe don't feel comfortable at first coming to a new place. But the coaches at Gummoe will think this is, this rivals, you know, certainly opera land. And the facility is beautiful, but the amenities outside of it, the learning opportunities that go alongside the. Certainly the convention will be tremendous. So I'm looking forward to this year and then next year equally so. [00:11:01] Speaker B: And special one this year for the Kylitz family because Dan Griesbaum got the Dave Kylitz ethics and coaching awards. So he's on the podcast with me on Tuesday. So how special is that for your family to have one of your dad's former players and assistants? [00:11:16] Speaker C: It certainly is for my dad and I think for, for Coach Greasebaum. He's tremendously proud to be named that great honor Dave Kylitz Ethics Award and couldn't find a better recipient than Danny Griesbaum. And he's done a tremendous job coaching, leading, mentoring young men for countless years. And I was just a young, I don't know how old. I was four or five in the dugout being a bat boy when he was playing. And he was an all American. Just great, great baseball player, leader, person. So I'm excited for him. That's great. [00:11:48] Speaker B: Thanks for your time, Craig. Appreciate you. Let's have a great show. [00:11:50] Speaker A: Thank you very much. [00:11:51] Speaker C: Appreciate you. [00:11:55] Speaker A: I hear John Litchfield, I always call you the, the chief of staff and the office, which is correct because I think it aptly describes what you do for everybody in here. So, John, thanks for jumping on with me. [00:12:07] Speaker D: I appreciate it. [00:12:08] Speaker A: What year is this for you? [00:12:09] Speaker D: This is going to be my 11th convention, so I'm in my 11th year working for the ABCA. [00:12:15] Speaker A: What's different? Is there anything different about this one? [00:12:19] Speaker D: You know, it's interesting. I'm sure everyone knows this is the first time we've been to that region of the country for quite some time. We do have a lot of new people coming, a lot of new faces, which is why we, as an organization, we rotated around the country to get those different people exposed to coaching, education and the ABCA and everything that we have to offer. Honestly, I've been looking forward to this event for the past 10 years because it was back in 2015 that our executive director, Craig Kylitz and myself went on this site visit and signed the contract. 2015, 2021. It was supposed to be there, but we know that we didn't end up having it in person. We had a successful verse drool convention that time, but we really missed out on the national that year. So really looking forward to getting to National Harbor, Maryland and the Gaylord National. [00:13:06] Speaker A: And you said the company that we use for the virtual convention is no longer in business. [00:13:10] Speaker D: That's right. That's right. That's an interesting that you bring that up. Back at that time, everyone who worked at associations was just getting hammered by emails and marketing telling us that hybrid events are here to stay and people weren't going to want to be in person again after Covid. And the opposite is what turned out to be true. We do still offer our live video streaming option for people that have the funding or time to get around, around the country. But the vast majority of people, given the preference and if they can financially do it, they want to be in person, they want the fellowship, they want to dedicate the time to it. And that company, last year we got an email saying. Saying they were completely out of business and they were, and they were just closing up shop. [00:13:56] Speaker A: Do you think that's one benefit for us that came out of COVID is that showed us that we could do some virtual aspects with convention. [00:14:02] Speaker D: We actually streamed. We did live video streaming in January 2020 for the first time. And that was before COVID You know, we recognized that that was a good area. We only had about, I think about 200 people signed up for it that time. Now it's more like a thousand people who do it. And then, of course, that big virtual year, we had over 4,000 people on it, or at least that many computers on it. [00:14:27] Speaker A: You do a lot with the main stage speakers. When does that process start for you? [00:14:31] Speaker D: It's pretty much, as always, ongoing. So, you know, John McCormack is our second vice president this year. He's the clinic chair. He lines everybody up. That person is always assisted by our third vice president this year it's Jim Cahill, and he'll be the second vice president and clinic chair for Columbus in 2026. And he is already working on his list. He already has people committed, he's along. He's in all of the communication, everything. So it never really stops and starts. The next cycle is already going, and. [00:15:06] Speaker A: It looks like we have a pretty good mix of people that have spoke before. But then we've got some newbies on the main stage this year, too. [00:15:12] Speaker D: Yeah, I'm really excited about the lineup that Coach McCormack put together, everybody's been really engaged. The presentations that I've been reviewing, their drafts of their PowerPoints and everything look really great. And I think that the coaches are going to get a lot out of this one, just like they always do, I hope. [00:15:28] Speaker A: For somebody that's been in the past, what's new about the. The Harbor? [00:15:33] Speaker D: Well, it is a Gaylord hotel. It's a lot different style of a facility than Opera Land or the Texan, where those ones are kind of on a huge piece of land and they're very spread out. It might take you 25 minutes to walk from your hotel room to get to the meeting that you're going to. The national is very vertical, and one of the, the really great thing that I think people are going to enjoy there is the national harbor area. It's just filled with restaurants, shops, things to do. A lot of the overflow hotels are right there within a couple blocks and in walking distance. And it's just a really cool area. [00:16:09] Speaker A: How proud of all this are you? I mean, you've been here since you guys moved out here. How proud are you of everything that's happened here since you've taken over? [00:16:20] Speaker D: You know, it's. It's a testament to the members and the coaches. You know, it's. It's been a great ride to see the organization grow the way that it has. But like I, I mean, like we just said, it's. It's that second vice president who lines up the speakers. It's our committee members who is our committees that are led by the coaches. It's. It's those more experienced coaches informing their assistants or other younger coaches about the abca. And that's really where the growth comes from. [00:16:49] Speaker A: And I said this with SLOSS on Monday. The attendees are part of, of this thing too. Like it's a living, breathing convention, because I think the attendees have a huge say so on, like, how the event goes itself, too, because they add energy. [00:17:04] Speaker D: To it, no doubt. And, you know, I think one of the great things that we talk about here is we're really fortunate at the time of year that we traditionally have this event. Coaches are getting ready for their season. They're pumped. Nobody has a losing record yet. And they're ready to learn. And then they're ready to take their new knowledge and new. Whatever they find in the trade show. Everything that they're doing, they're ready to take that energy back to their teams. Some of the other associates, the other sport associations, I should say, they traditionally have theirs at the End of the season, and I think the coaches are pretty tired at that point, and so I don't know how much real learning and things go on at those ones. [00:17:43] Speaker A: You have a lot on your plate during the convention. How are you able to manage your time and stay on top of everything that you need to do? Because it's a lot. [00:17:51] Speaker D: We're really fortunate that we have a lot of longevity in our staff, so everyone really embraces their roles, and we have a lot of experience in all the different areas. So I do a lot with the main stage and what's happening in the clinical, a lot with the different meetings that are going on, particularly on the Thursday, Wednesday and Thursday of the convention. But the great thing is, with our staff as it is, I don't have to worry about things that are going on at registration. I don't have to really worry about what's going on in the trade show or anything else. I like to check in and know what's going on in those areas, but I don't have to worry that I have to be running some other area. [00:18:27] Speaker A: Has your routine changed much over the years, like how you handle it now as opposed to how you handled it in the past? [00:18:33] Speaker D: I think, you know, just like anything, you learn a few new things every year, and it's sort of a building process throughout the. Every time you go. [00:18:41] Speaker A: Thanks for your time, John. Enjoy the show. [00:18:42] Speaker D: Appreciate it. And I look forward to seeing everybody out in National Harbor. [00:18:49] Speaker A: Kurt Birkin sponsorships Year two, here with the office. So welcome back, sir. [00:18:55] Speaker E: Appreciate it. [00:18:56] Speaker A: Get to do this all over again. And you and I talked about it the other day. Have things slowed down for you here with year two? [00:19:04] Speaker E: Yeah, I feel much more prepared this year. Last year was drinking through a fire hose for the first few months and. And had to get everything I could ready for Dallas. And I feel much more prepared, much more excited this year than last year was more anxious. But this year it's a lot of excitement. [00:19:20] Speaker A: Lay out for your schedule for people that kind of don't know what you do because you are a little bit behind the scenes. [00:19:25] Speaker E: Yeah. So I'm gonna be basically around the trade show for the most part, Expo theater, just making sure everything's running correctly, making sure our partners, exhibitors, everyone's got everything they need. You know, there's a lot going on. It's a lot of companies, It's a lot of moving parts. So, yeah, just trying to make sure that I'm everywhere I need to be and if anybody needs help, I'm there. For them. [00:19:47] Speaker A: How is the layout? Is it similar to Dallas last year with PG Live and then also the Expo theaters? Is it very similar? [00:19:54] Speaker E: A little bit different. So PG Live is going to be on the atrium area, which is going to be beautiful. It's a great setup that they have a lot of really good guest speakers they've already got lined up. So that's exciting. Expo theater is going to be in really the main area of the convention center. So last year in Dallas it was up by the clinics. This year it's going to be on the main floor right next to everybody. So it's going to have a ton of foot traffic, should have some really large audiences and we have some really good companies, good products, new products that I'm excited for our attendees to listen and hear more about. [00:20:28] Speaker A: It looks like they get started on Thursday with the Expo theaters, correct? [00:20:31] Speaker E: Yeah, they'll go Thursday. [00:20:32] Speaker A: It looks like Velo Sports, GPR Playbook365 and Pocket Radar on Thursday. [00:20:37] Speaker E: Yep, that's correct. Yeah. So Thursday it basically runs the timing of the trade show. So you know, I, I welcome all the attendees to go over there, check it out. Like I said, there's some great products being demonstrated and a lot of really. [00:20:49] Speaker A: Good information and redefining. College baseball recruiting is at 5 too. So there's actually 5 on, on Thursday. [00:20:55] Speaker E: Yep. [00:20:56] Speaker A: And that looks like a full slate on Friday. So I mean you got Huddle, Arm Care, Pitchcom, Magnus, Driveline, Rapsodo, Game Changer, Pison, that finishes out Friday and then Saturday got E Team sponsor, Hit Tracks, what is the L4 app, our B4 app, 6A 6A analytics and then Sports recruits. [00:21:18] Speaker E: Yeah. So like I said, I mean there's some great companies there, obviously there's some well known companies that everyone has heard about, but they're gonna have some new product announcements and then there's some great new companies, some new partners that we have too that I think have great products that I really, really implore our attendees to go check them out. [00:21:37] Speaker A: I mean how, how can everybody get to everything that we got watch the videos? [00:21:42] Speaker E: Yeah, you can. Yeah. So that, that is the good thing too. If you do miss an Expo theater, we do post them all on our video library afterwards. So I know there's a ton going on, a lot of full agendas, but if you miss anything, don't worry, everything will be posted to the video library later on. [00:21:59] Speaker A: Do you miss being at the college level? [00:22:01] Speaker E: A little bit, yeah. I mean there's a lot of excitement. I love this time of Year. You know, all the coaches are everyone's O and O. There's all the excitement of the season getting underway, and I love just walking around and seeing a lot of familiar faces. Guys that I played with, guys that I, you know, played against. It's just a lot of fun seeing a lot of familiar faces. [00:22:22] Speaker A: Anything else that'll make the sponsors lives easier or make your life easier with sponsors? [00:22:29] Speaker E: Yeah, I mean, I'm just. We've been working really hard the last couple months just making sure everybody's prepared. They've got their booth designs finished, you know, their arrival, the. The move in day. There's just. It's just so many moving parts that we just try to get everything prepared ahead of time. But it seems like everyone's got all the information they have everything they need. So it should be a great show. [00:22:49] Speaker A: For a new sponsor that's showing up for the first time, you know, or new exhibitor. Anything you want to tell them? [00:22:55] Speaker E: Just enjoy the ride. It's long days, but it's great to see so many coaches coming in and out of the trade show. They want to learn, right? I mean, the attendees, they want to become better coaches. They want their programs to be better so they're not just checking boxes off walking around like they want to learn. So as far as the sponsors go, just be prepared to talk a lot and tell your product story and hopefully. [00:23:22] Speaker A: The coaches will understand another record sponsorship year. So congrats. [00:23:26] Speaker E: Thank you. I appreciate it. [00:23:27] Speaker A: Yeah, it's been you and Juan killing it. [00:23:28] Speaker E: It's been a lot of hard work, but yeah, it's been a lot of fun again, just getting to know all these new companies, some of the new products. I mean, I'm a baseball lifer. I've been around the game my entire life. So it's really cool to see, you know, what the technology has been able to bring to the game and you know, how it's just continually evolving. [00:23:48] Speaker A: And you did a great job this fall with the webinar, so I appreciate it. You did a tremendous job. [00:23:52] Speaker E: Yeah, no, the webinars have been great. Appreciate everyone who was able to tune in throughout the year. We're gonna have some more early in 25 as well, so just keep posted on the newsfeed and we'll get some more scheduled out. [00:24:04] Speaker A: Thanks for your time, Kurt. [00:24:05] Speaker E: Thank you. Ryan. [00:24:09] Speaker A: Here with Thuan Clark. I actually, a new nickname for you is you're chairman of the board of the ABCA office. Since you've been here the longest. [00:24:18] Speaker F: Yeah, 22 years. That'll do it to you. [00:24:21] Speaker A: Love it. I ask you this every year, but what are you really looking forward to in the exhibit hall area? Are there anything layout wise, new? Anything new or what are you really looking forward to? [00:24:34] Speaker F: We're looking forward to just more exhibitors. We have about a hundred more companies than we had last year, which means there's a hundred more things to see. There is a ton of just exciting stuff from software that if you want to meet a nerd out, I can do that. But I don't think you do. But you know, we have the classic rep Soto, I mean hit tracks, you know, anything from, you know, Rawlings, that's our mainstay. Wilson Chandler bats. I mean we have it all. I mean all the netting companies, the net pros. I, I mean I've been thinking of all the great ones that we normally have and then also some newbies like Under Armour, if you can believe that. They haven't been to the show in years, but it's right in their backyard. So Under Armour is a big one. They decided to come out and just check us out since we're in the Baltimore area. I think they're going to be very surprised and I think the coaches are going to be really surprised with what they have to offer. So, you know, some of the other companies like Perfect Game, PG Live, they're gonna, you know, be in several different places broadcasting live, as we already know, and then also at a booth, you know, doing their thing at their booth. So it's gonna be fun. [00:26:01] Speaker A: You know, anything different for the vendors far setup? I mean, what have you heard with the dates? First people getting there, they getting there Tuesday, they getting there Wednesday. When are people getting there? [00:26:11] Speaker F: They're getting there Wednesday, the first, which is. It's a tough time. It is, you know, I'm not going to, you know, lie to you. It's a tough time to be there on the 1st. Traveling on the 1st could be, you know, it comes with his own challenges anytime you travel. But the first is a little bit tougher to travel and also do business. There are less people really wanting to work, honestly. But if you think about it, you know, it's. We go right from the first, we go right into our show Thursday, starts Thursday at 1pm on the 2nd. All right, so it's go from the time that they touched down on the first all the way to the end of the show. So it should be great. That's three days of just non stop baseball. So it should be a great one. One of the things, one of the challenges is just kind of working with the Baltimore area, with, with move in, move out. That's always a challenge. But it's just going to be a really tight situation since we do have so many vendors this year and record. [00:27:21] Speaker A: Amount of vendors, correct? [00:27:22] Speaker F: Yeah, absolutely. [00:27:23] Speaker A: Congratulations, by the way. [00:27:24] Speaker F: Thank you. 375 vendors. Last time we were even on the east coast was in Philadelphia. 2008. So it's 2008, Philadelphia. I would say we didn't have nearly as many, but that's what happens when you grow. So it's kind of growing pains, but it's fun. [00:27:46] Speaker A: And we paid for everybody's insurance last year for the first time, correct? [00:27:49] Speaker F: Absolutely, yeah. Paid for everybody's insurance coming into the show. So that's a worry. They don't have to hold on themselves. ABCA incurred that cost. And just to make sure, you know, it's a tough show because it's. There's a lot of bats being swung, there's a lot of balls, projectiles, a lot of pitching companies, netting companies, you know, anytime, you know, you get baseballs flying all over the place, guys love it. But it comes with its own risk and we took that risk away by just securing everyone's insurance at the show. So anything else? [00:28:28] Speaker A: We're covering for them this year. Are we covering something new for them this year? [00:28:30] Speaker F: Yeah, we're going to cover cart service, which basically is just first time you do your round trip move in. For anybody that's using their personally owned vehicles, they can actually just utilize that first time freebie. And then the second time around it's on them. But at least you get the first time freebie move in, move out. [00:28:54] Speaker A: For returning vendors, who gets to say, hey, I want to go to Columbus. [00:28:58] Speaker F: Oh, wow, that's a good one. Because returning vendors, it's kind of in a rank scale. Like if you've been with us for, you know, like 60 years, like a Rawlings or Wilson, that's a nice little bump. We, that longevity matters. If you're in a, you know, humongous booth, that matters. And then if you're also, you know, contributing in other ways with sponsorship or, you know, really kicking in some marketing or things like that, that we take all those three things into consideration and then we rank everybody. So it's almost like in a draft. [00:29:38] Speaker A: System, I equate it to parking at college football or basketball games. [00:29:43] Speaker F: Absolutely, absolutely. [00:29:45] Speaker A: Similar system to what they have for. For college football and basketball. For parking. [00:29:49] Speaker F: Absolutely. So obviously the. The folks that have been there the longest and are just deep and entrenched with the abca, they're gonna go first, and then it just, you know, trickle down, trickles down from there. But I'll tell you what, if you've been in it for a while, you're gonna start to see things move for you. You know, getting ahead of 300 other companies, that's not easy. So if you find yourself somewhere in the middle, you're. You're doing okay. [00:30:20] Speaker E: But. [00:30:20] Speaker F: But right now we have, shoot, I think a hundred companies that have already said that, yes, we're coming back in 2026. Once we get on site, the rest of them pitch in and jump in for 2026, which is going to be Columbus, Ohio. So that should be fun as well. [00:30:38] Speaker A: Do you want to give Freeman a shout out? Russ a shout out? [00:30:42] Speaker F: Yeah, long time Freeman guy. Russ Wingard want to almost like an extension of our staff. Freeman is, by the way, came to. [00:30:52] Speaker A: Our barnstormers at Northern Illinois. Shout out to Russ. Guys doesn't even really coach, but he came to our barnstormers at Northern Illinois this year. [00:31:00] Speaker F: Yep. Chicago guy won't hold that against him. But, yeah, he came to that barnstormer, and he's been with us for just as. For as long as I can remember. So. What a fantastic guy. Great leader. I think he puts on, you know, people don't see what he does in the back of the house, but, you know, you know how it goes. If you're a baseball coach, it's the work that you do behind the scenes that really, really matter. And so he's that guy for us. [00:31:27] Speaker A: How proud of you are. Are you of all of this? You're in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, the old office. Now you're here in North Carolina. How proud are you of everything that's happened here? [00:31:40] Speaker F: Well, I don't know. You trying to make me cry? No, this. This is. This is. We've come a long way from Dave Kylitz's, you know, leadership to now, Craig Kylitz's leadership. It's. The office has grown. We've added new pieces, great staff. I mean, I am very proud of this group. It's one of the best, you know, just. Just leaders around here. I can't say enough about it, you know, from our. Our oldest guy here, which is me, to our youngest pup. I mean, they dig in and they just go after it the entire year. So I'm proud of what we've accomplished on the baseball side of things, the legislative side of things, and then also with the education side of things. And I think we got more Stuff kind of, you know, in our back pocket as well. So it's always great when you're not done. You know, you've done a good job, but you're not done yet. You got more in the tank. So I feel like that's this group, so it's fun to be around here. [00:32:51] Speaker A: How have you stayed motivated every year? It's hard. You top it every year. So how have you been able to stay motivated? Because it, for you, it's like, it's not okay. We're done with this year in D.C. you, you immediately turn around. It's like, okay, now it's time to get back and get after it and, and let's focus on Columbus. How are you re engaging every year? Because I think you do a phenomenal job with that re engaging. [00:33:14] Speaker F: Well, just like anything else, I mean, the new year is a new challenge and you know, just like I hate to keep making the baseball reference, but that's what we got. It feels like a new season every year. Every venue has its own challenges and so we try to really, you know, keep the, the focus the main the same every year. So it's, how do we really educate the high school guys? How we make it economical enough for them to be there? How, you know, how do we make the right food choices? How do we make the right venue choices for all these guys? So each year is the same mentality, hey, we got to get better. We don't have a choice. So I think that's kind of the mindset, hey, we just got to get better. [00:34:08] Speaker A: How close are food options for the vendors? [00:34:10] Speaker F: Oh, man, right outside your door for some. And then they have a little marketplace as well that's, you know, not so close, but it has more variety. So we have some grab and go options outside the trade show floor. So that's going to help coaches and vendors out as well. So that, that's going to be clutch for us. But other than that, if you go off property just across the road, I'm not trying to say you go, you know, leave the place for hours on end, but just right across the street we have a ton of restaurants. It's almost like we take over the whole island. So whenever you get that many baseball minded folks around, you better have some options for them for that nightlife. And I think that national harbor has that for us. [00:35:03] Speaker A: For people that don't know, Juan's office is right next to mine, so he's my suite mate. So, Juan, I appreciate you. It's always a pleasure. [00:35:09] Speaker F: All right, appreciate you. [00:35:13] Speaker A: It'S that time of year again here with Zach Hale. We are doing it. What year is this for you in the office? [00:35:22] Speaker G: 10 going on 11 now. It flies by, but like you said, always pumped to get to this time of year. And this week of the convention is always an exciting one. [00:35:32] Speaker A: And I think it shows how good the job is here. Because you've been here this long. I think a lot of people get to a spot and they're like, well, I should go somewhere else. And most of you guys in this office have been here for a while, so I think it shows how good the job is. [00:35:44] Speaker G: Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, really, just how enjoyable it is to connect with coaches. And then we have a great team internally, so it makes it fun. And then really, when it comes to years like this where we're at a new venue, kind of gives us new challenges and new things to work around. So that always keeps it exciting and fresh. [00:36:05] Speaker A: What is different about this setup that people that have been to the other Gaylord properties may, you know, not got caught off guard, but might be different this year for them? [00:36:13] Speaker G: Yeah, that's a good question. You know, obviously, Nashville is its own beast. Walking around there, you really got to pull out a map and know how to navigate it. The nice thing about the Gaylord national is it's more condensed, so you'll notice it's smaller, it's easy to navigate. Once you're in the convention area, all the meeting space is right there. It's easy to get from one clinic to the Q and A to another clinic and just hop around. So way easier to navigate. And then there are food options, restaurants and sports bars, restaurants right within the hotel. But then you walk outside the front door and, you know, you've mentioned it, Ryan, but you're in your own Little City. There's 40 restaurants, shops, all these things that are walkable within a block or two. And so it gives it a cool feel. And when we get there and you know, the 8,000 coaches and then you got a couple thousand exhibitors taking it over, it's going to be like its own baseball city. So I'm pumped for that. [00:37:11] Speaker A: Anything new on the app? [00:37:13] Speaker G: Yeah, there's a new layout this year. It's going to make it easier for attendees to quickly see what's happening when and and where within the hotel. So excited about that new layout, as always. You know, I would recommend downloading it early, going in there, building your agenda so you get alerts of can't miss events, and then make sure you have your Push notifications on. We have a lot of pushes scheduled to go out and just reminders if. If anything's updating or taking place throughout the days, that'll be the first and best way to get it. So definitely make sure to get in the app and check out the new layout there. [00:37:55] Speaker A: How do you handle things? I think everybody does this a little bit differently, but you've been doing it for so long. What are some things that kind of help you stay on task with everything that you need to do? And by the way, I give you a huge shout out because you do put our schedule together for everything, which people, probably from the outside looking in don't know this. You put all of our schedules together, which is a huge help. So I appreciate you, my friend. [00:38:14] Speaker G: Yeah, absolutely. No, it's fun like we talked about, but really, I mean, it's just like coaching in a sense, that it really starts with kind of a game plan and an idea in my head, and then start laying everything out and getting everything organized into, you know, this can go here and fit here and. And then it makes sense. So, you know, something that we've kind of worked together on is making sure those hot stoves are. Are close together at night because, you know, you may want to hop in here and then hop over here to. To this one quickly. And you're trying to catch as many things as you can as a coach and being there. And so we want to make it as easy as possible for you to get exactly the education and the clinics and everything that you're looking for and get there quick and easy. So it really starts with that and then laying it out. And like I said, seeing it all come to fruition and then seeing everyone there and catching up with people you haven't seen in a year and hearing them enjoying themselves is really what it's all about. [00:39:15] Speaker A: Are the hallways bigger? [00:39:17] Speaker G: They are this year. So there will still be traffic, you know, anytime you get 8,000 coaches and then you get the exhibitors in there. But yeah, the hallways are bigger this year. It's got a similar feel somewhat to last year, with the main clinic hall will be down at one end, and then you'll walk down to the other end to get to the youth clinic hall. And. And there will be some food options down there, and you'll pass by the. The Expo theater, but the hallways are bigger. [00:39:48] Speaker A: So I was asking because of the hot stoves, because you mentioned the hot stoves. I'm like, okay, it just looks like there's more room for. For more Demonstrations post hot stove. [00:39:56] Speaker G: Yeah, yeah. I mean, anyone that wants to hop out and do a breakout here and there, there's a lot of open space. This, this hotel has a big atrium area. And so whether it's the hallways, the main atrium lobby area, there's. There's likely to be educational stuff going on the whole time. [00:40:13] Speaker A: Always a pleasure, Zach. [00:40:14] Speaker G: Yep, enjoyed it. Looking forward to seeing everyone. [00:40:20] Speaker A: I wanted to give some updates of my own Hair, this is Ryan. So, hey, if you're traveling today, this is Wednesday. So we did release five Barnstormers videos last week. And so if you are traveling and got to kill some time, I would jump on there. They're great. Shout out to Pat Cohan and Cohan content, who did the editing this year for that. So we've got a slew of more videos coming out after the convention videos release in the spring. So jump in there. And if you're kind of dabbling, if you haven't signed up for your membership yet, that's a great way to kind of get back in the fold here with your membership. I do want to give Boston College, niu, Mizzou and Pepperdine for hosting us this fall. It means a lot. Have not ironed out our dates yet or locations for the fall, but working on that after the convention. But we'll look forward to seeing everybody in the fall at another Barnstormers event. We got a couple new things. We got new hot stoves, so if you haven't put them on the agenda yet, we added a baseball operations hot stove that Sam Jormin's gonna run. Shout out to Sam. Her dad Pudge is in the D.C. area, but Sam's done a tremendous job at the College of Charleston. So we have a great panel with that. And then we started Youth and Travel Hot stove this year for the first time at Jordan Baltimore, who's on our youth and travel committee, has done a tremendous job of putting those panels together. So put those on your itinerary and make sure you get there. The youth and travel hot stove starts right after the youth stage finishes on Saturday. So we're doing 25 minute segments, I think is what it looks like, because we're doing 25 different segments in that time. So. And then the baseball ops hot stove is Friday at 7. So this is first time we've ever run something at that time. But that was the only kind of time slot we had available to squeeze something else in for both of those. We've never had anything going on Friday there at 7 and then Saturday in the afternoon. So that was really the only place we could squeeze anything else in. Small college stuff we got coming up. Division two meeting is going to be big. They're actually trying to get on the docket 18 hours in the fall and then 52 games in the spring. So they have a lot to talk about and then looking forward to seeing everybody else. Youth travel and high school will start together on the Thursday night business meeting, make things a little bit easier. We have so much crossover with those three divisions that we wanted to get everybody together and then shout out to Taylor McCullough at perfect game, who's putting another recruiting panel together for that Thursday night meeting. So we wanted everybody to get together. The high school coaches missed a little bit of that last year, so we wanted to start everybody together so the high school coaches don't miss anything. Another great lineup of youth stage speakers. Shout out youth state speakers. You always do a great job. I handle the youth stage speakers. So they've done a good job on their presentation, so it should be another great lineup. And then I wanted to give the diversity committee a shout out, shout out to Kerrick Jackson and everybody. They've got their meetings going on Saturday morning. I thought they did a great job last year in Dallas of setting up workshops for people in the morning on Saturday that continues to grow and grow and grow. So shout out to our diversity committee and all the hard work that they do year in and year out to help us grow and make us better on that front. So wishing everybody a great show, Looking forward to seeing everybody. This always gets my juices going. It's a great reminder of when I used to coach, so I appreciate everybody showing up. So even if you're on site or you're watching from home, appreciate everybody's support and let's have a great show. Sa.