CC2013: Meet the coaches

Här presenterar vi de internationella coacher som kommer vara speakers på SBSFs Coach Konvent på Bosön 15-17 november. Tillsammans har coacherna totalt över 100 års erfarenhet - från alla nivåer, från high school till proffsligor.

John Vodenlich

• 2005 NCAA Division III National Champions
• 2005 NCAA Division III National Coach of the Year
• 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010 2013 WIAC Coach of the Year
• 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010 NCAA Regional Coach of the Year
• 2005 WBCA Man of the Year 
• 2004, 2008, 2010 WBCA College Coach of the Year 

Entering his eleventh season at the helm of the UW-Whitewater baseball program, John Vodenlich has taken the Warhawks to heights unreached prior to his arrival on campus. While the Whitewater program has had longstanding success, Vodenlich has set a new standard, turning the Warhawks into a NCAA Division III college baseball power.

During Vodenlich’s ten seasons as head coach, the Warhawks have won seven WIAC championships, qualifies for the NCAA Championships nine times, and appeared in the NCAA Division III College World Series four times, including winning the 2005 NCAA Division III National Championship.

In 2007, Vodenlich was inducted into the UW-Whitewater Athletic Hall of Fame and has been awarded with the WBCA College Coach of the Year in 2004, 2008 and 2010, as well as being named the WBCA’s Man of the Year in 2005.

Since joining the Whitewater program as a player in 1989 and the coaching staff in 1994, over 30 former Warhawks have signed professional contracts, the first being former Major League closer Bob Wickman, who Vodenlich caught at Whitewater.
In addition to his great impact on the game in the United States, Vodenlich also is an internationally known clinician, conducting coaching clinics in Germany, England, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and Hungary.

Before joining the coaching ranks, Vodenlich was one of the best players to ever take the field for Whitewater. Playing from 1989-1992, Vodenlich finished with a .397 career batting average, good for third all-time in school history. His .456 average in 1991 is the second best single season average in program history.
Vodenlich was an ABCA All-American in 1991 and 1992, the first two-time All-American at Whitewater.

Following his collegiate career, Vodenlich went on to play professionally in Europe. 

Vodenlich joined Jim Miller’s coaching staff as an assistant coach in 1994 and stayed on the staff until 1998 when he was named the head coach at Edgewood College.Prior to Vodenlich’s tenure at Edgewood, the Eagles had an all-time record of 33-133 and never had seen a winning season.

Vodenlich needed just two seasons to change that, setting a school record for wins in his first season, but then shattering it the following season, giving Edgewood its first winning campaign in program history.
Following the 1999 season, Vodenlich returned to Whitewater and rejoined Miller’s staff as an assistant coach. With Miller’s retirement coming following the 2003 season, Whitewater didn’t have to look far to find its seventh head coach in school history.

It’s a hire the school certainly hasn’t regretted.

Naming Vodenlich head coach for the 2004 season immediately paid off for the university as the Warhawks set a new school record for wins and made just their second trip to the NCAA Division III College World Series.
2004 was a successful season, but 2005 was magical.
Under Vodenlich’s guidance, Whitewater set a new school record for wins with 45, fewest losses with 7 and made another trip to Appleton for the College World Series. This time around the Warhawks weren’t denied and won their first National Championship.
Whitewater returned to the College World Series in 2008 and again in 2011.
With a B.A. in marketing and public relations from UW-Whitewater in 1992, Vodenlich earned his master's in business administration from the university in 1994.

COACHING EXPERIENCE

• 2004-present - Head Coach, UW-Whitewater
• 2000-03 – Assistant Coach, UW-Whitewater
• 1998-99 – Head Coach, Edgewood College
• 1994-97 – Assistant Coach, UW-Whitewater

Karen Marr

In December 2010, Australian-born Karen Marr was named the new Pitching Coach of the Dutch National Women Softball Team. Karen arrives in the Netherlands on January 7 and is active as Pitching Coach since that date.

In August 2011, Karen is a member of the coaching staff when the Dutch National Softball Team captures its second consecutive title during the European Championship in Italy.

From 2004 through May of 2010, Karen Marr was the Pitching Coach of the softball-team of the University of Louisville in Kentucky. A well-known school that is playing in the strong Big East Conference.

With the Cardinals, the softball-team of the University of Louisville, Karen Marr had an important part in the successes of the last seven years. In that period, the team climbed as high as fourteenth place in the national Top-25. In the years that Karen was active in Louisville, eight of her pitchers were named to All-Big East or All-Conference Teams, while two were named All-American. Furthermore, the team reached the NCAA Tournament in seven consecutive years and her pitchers set a school-record by striking out 457 batters in 2005.

Before coming to America, Karen Marr was the National Battery Development Coach of the Australian Softball Federation. Between 1994 and 2001, she was the Pitching Coach of several New South Wales State Teams, leading seven of them to a national championship. In 1994 and 1996, Karen was the Battery Coach for the New South Wales Development Teams.

Besides that, she also was affiliated with several national Australian teams. In 1999, Karen was the Battery Coach of the national under-19 team which then participated in the World Junior Championship in Taiwan. Three years later, Karen participated with the same team in the ever-strong Canada Cup.

She was then Assistant Coach in 2004 of the National Australian Team that participated in the World University Games in Florida. In 2000, Karen Marr worked as coach with the National Olympic Team of China.
Karen also worked as coach at West Coast Academy in Vancouver (Canada) in 2003 and completed several certification courses of the Australian Softball Federation, including Level 3, which is the highest level for coaches. She also was a lecturer at clinics of the Australian Federation from 1998-2003.

Doug Henry

Henry worked his first season as the bullpen coach for Kansas City Royals, on Ned Yost's staff in 2013... Worked the past three seasons from 2010-2012 as the Omaha (AAA) pitching coach, the past two seasons helping lead the club into the playoffs including winning the 2011 Pacific Coast League title...Served as the Royals minor league pitching coordinator in 2009...

Joined the Royals organization in 2008 as the pitching coach at Class A Burlington...helped lead the Bees to the Midwest League championship...Was the pitching coach for Danville (R) in 2006 and then Rome (A) in 2007, both in the Atlanta chain...Transitioned to coaching in the professional ranks in 2005, serving as a pitching coach in Myrtle Beach (A) for the Atlanta Braves' affiliate in the Carolina League...Began his coaching career in 2002 following his retirement as a player, serving as Pitching Coach for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Playing Career
Pitched for 11 seasons in the Majors with the Brewers (1991-94), Mets (1995-96), Giants (1997, 2000), Astros (1998-2000) and Royals (2001)...compiled a 34-42 record with 82 saves and a 4.19 ERA in 582 appearances, all in relief...Worked in the postseason in four straight seasons from 1997-2000 for the Giants and Astros, compiling a 1.59 ERA in eight outings...Was 2-1 with 15 saves in 16 opportunities and a 1.00 ERA in 32 relief outings for the Brewers in his rookie campaign of 1991, finishing eighth in the A.L.Rookie of the Year balloting...In his final Major League season, was 2-2 in 53 outings for the Royals in 2001, tossing 75.2 innings...Selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the eighth round of the 1985 Draft.

Mark Fuller

After 34 years as Cumberland Head Baseball Coach, Mark Fuller has retired from that position. Mark began his teaching career in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin and then taught at Pittsville (WI) for two years. He came to Cumberland in 1975 and taught history, psychology and political science, as well as a little bit of everything.
He has been the Head Baseball Coach at Cumberland High School for 34 years and an assistant for three.

Fuller’s teams were 482-213 and won ten Conference Titles, 13 Regional Titles and have made the State Tournament four times, finishing State Runner-up in 1998. Prior to his becoming Head Baseball Coach in 1980, Cumberland High School had won 85 total baseball games in the HON Conference from 1951 to 1979, a period of 29 years. The Beavers have had two losing seasons in the last 31 years.

Fuller has served as the Head American Legion coach for 34 years, with an overall record of 524-321. The team was third at the Legion State Tournament in 2000.
Fuller is a past president of the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association and current member of the WBCA Executive Board, of which he has been a part for the past 26 years.

Mark was named Wisconsin’s Baseball Man of the Year in 1989 and Amateur Baseball Coach of the Year in 1987 for his work with youth sports. He was named to the State Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995 and is also a member of the Cumberland Baseball Hall of Fame. He was also recently nominated for the American Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame.

He serves as the Clinic Director for the annual Wisconsin State Baseball Coaches Clinic, which draws over 650 coaches each year and is the co-director and only original member of the All-Star Classic for graduating high school seniors and chairs the Wisconsin Coaches Hall of Fame Committee.

Fuller has spoken at numerous coaching clinics across the United States and Canada, including Texas, Ohio, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota and Vancouver, Canada. He has spoken alone, or with co-speaker Marty Paulsen at three ABCA Clinics and three BCA Clinics. Together Paulsen and Fuller are in the process of writing a baseball instructional book called, Baseball-the Right Way.
Fuller taught instructional baseball to Little League players during the summer for 37 years. He worked the University of Minnesota Baseball Camps for ten years, serves as Tour Guide for two Jay Buckley Major League Baseball Tour buses each year, worked in ticket sales for the Minnesota Twins for eight years, was a scout for the Dodgers under Dale McReynolds.

Fuller started the Cumberland Northwest Baseball Coaches Clinic in 1983, which celebrated its 30th year last February. Bringing in speakers including Minnesota Twins GMs Terry Ryan and Bill Smith to players like Jeff Reboulet and Al Newman. The clinic raised over $35,000 for the Cumberland Baseball program.
Mark worked with the City of Cumberland, the Cumberland School District and the Cumberland Baseball Association to fundraise and build Islander Park in Cumberland, a four-field complex, in the city in 2000. The main baseball field received the ABCA 2002 Turface Field Maintenance of the Year award at the San Diego Clinic.

Eric Campbell

A 1980 graduate of Omaha Burke High School and a 1986 graduate of Creighton University (Neb.), Eric Campbell has spent 25 years in the sport industry as a professional player, college coach, college administrator, college instructor, and currently as an administrator at USA Baseball.

Campbell helped lead Burke to the 1979 Nebraska state high school championship. As a player at Creighton from 1981-84, Campbell played a variety of positions and even played all nine positions in a college baseball game.

After being drafted by the Chicago White Sox as a pitcher and catcher, Campbell was released from professional baseball in 1985 and began his coaching/administrative career. After serving nine years in assistant-coach roles at Creighton, St. Thomas University (Fla.) and the United States Air Force Academy (AFA), Campbell served as the head baseball coach at the AFA from 1995-1998. Campbell's 1995 club posted 29 wins, a mark that stands as the second most wins in a season in AFA history.

After serving as a volunteer administrator to two United States Olympic Committee Olympic Festivals and serving as an administrator and coach to various USA Baseball events, Campbell joined the staff at USA Baseball in January 2000.

After serving four years as the primary administrator for the Junior National Team (18U) program and various professional level programs, Campbell now serves as an administrator for USA Baseball National (collegiate) and Professional Teams.
In his eight years at USA Baseball, Campbell has served as the primary or assistant team administrator for 20 national teams. USA Baseball's National Team won gold medals at the 2004, 2006 and 2008 FISU World Collegiate Championships, and he helped guide the 2008 U.S. Olympic Baseball Team to a bronze medal in Beijing. Campbell also served on the technical committee for the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006 and is the team leader for the 2009 squad.

In 2009, Campbell helped lead the World Baseball Classic Team to a fourth-place finish, the Collegiate National Team to a World Baseball Challenge title and the World Cup Team to its second consecutive gold medal.