His team came oh-so-close to winning the TC-USA Nationals this week, falling in the last inning of a 5-4 loss to the Corona Angels, but EC Bullets Head Coach Greg Schnute has to be please with how his team is coming together this summer.

Marissa Beasley was at the semi’s and final game on Thursday and had a chance to catch up with the fun, but tough, coach right after his team advanced into the semi-finals.

“Coach Schnute had a bright personality and was willing to share some laughs with us in-between games,” says Marissa. “Here is a little bit of what he had to say not only about his team, but also giving advice to players looking to make it to the next level.”


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Q: What is your favorite memory from coaching this particular team?
A: I think they have great attitudes and I think they never quit. That’s the one thing about this group, they love to play the sport and sometimes you don’t always have kids that love to play. They are ready to go every day and play all day long and that’s the thing that sets them apart from a lot of other teams. And they love to compete and so far we’ve done a really good job of competing and these kids are getting better, and that’s what its all about.



Q: How does your team benefit from playing in TC/USA Nationals?
A: Well, we get to play the best teams and that’s what were all about. We travel all over the country- we went to Southern California back in June, we went to Boulder and played there. We want to play the best teams and we want to be challenged by other teams; we want these kids to have to play against them to have to get better. We’re not afraid of anybody.

Q: How do you motivate your team?
A: Well you know with this age group–16, 17, and 18– it’s not easy. I have three daughters and a son and my daughters were always the challenge (laughs). And so now I’ve got 18 young women that challenge me all the time, but this is a group with a great attitude and they always show up ready to play and they want to play. It’s not a hard group to motivate that’s the good thing. If you spend a lot of time trying to motivate, motivate, motivate then you probably aren’t going to accomplish any goals. So this group here has been really easy to work with.

Q: What advice would you give to a player looking to play at the Top 10 level?
A: Well if they want to play at this level, they need to start now, fortunately or unfortunately, at a young age. They’ve got to start playing at nine or 10 years old. Colleges are now recruiting kids that are 14 and that are eighth graders or freshmen, which we never saw four or five years ago. I think we are becoming more like college football and recruiting is going to get tougher and tougher—kids are going to be recruited right up until signing day. It’s a very, very competitive environment and if you want to play at our level you have to start young and you just have to keep working at it.