I was born and raised in Austin, Texas. In the early 1970s Austin was a much different place than the major economic and technological metropolis that it is now. My younger sister and I spent lots of time at both of our grandparents houses which were right across the street from each other. Our maternal grandparents were very simple people that came from a rural south Texas heritage. My mother's father escaped the farm by finding work with the expanding Missouri-Pacific railroad which would lead them up into the central Texas area in the mid-1960s. The family eventually settled down in Austin. Our paternal grandparents came to Texas from Ohio following World War II. My grandfather was following work with Bell Telephone Company in Ohio, California, and eventually settling in Austin, Texas.
On our paternal side there was a history of high level sports participation. Grandpa Wertz had spent time as a professional boxer in the Cincinnati area and later was also a professional wrestler. His older brother had also spent time as a local boxer and both had been able to have enough local success to take care of themselves. His younger brother was also involved in the sport with less success. Grandpa Wertz was also a very good football player who had an opportunity to attend Ohio State University to play. Unfortunately the family lost both of their parents and were forced to take care of each other. The two oldest brothers both found depression era work with the phone company but all three brothers continued to play with local semi-professional baseball teams where my grandfather would learn how to play catcher. The brother's had a cousin, Vic Wertz, who would play 17 years of professional baseball with the Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians, and St. Louis Browns. The brothers continued to use their athletic inclinations to gamble for money fighting, playing golf, and bowling.
My father grew up playing baseball, football, basketball, and golf. In high school he was a three sport star but was drafted to play professional baseball by the Baltimore Orioles. He turned down the opportunity in order to play college baseball at Wharton Junior College. He was drafted professionally both his freshman and sophomore years by the Boston Red Sox and the Philadelphia Phillies respectively but again chose to continue his college education and career by attending NAIA national powerhouse Dallas Baptist College on a full baseball scholarship. Following his junior year he was named First Team All-American Shortstop and was drafted for a fourth time by the Cincinnati Reds. After signing with the Reds fate dealt my father a change of direction. One week before reporting to the Reds he broke his ankle playing in a city league basketball game. When he reported this to the Reds they released him. My father was devastated but only a short time later did he find out he was going to be a father for the first time.
Needing to be able to quickly provide for a growing family he followed his father to the Bell Telephone Company. While at Bell he was continually encouraged to play for the company's local competitive slow pitch softball team by his fellow employees who had heard of his background. Reluctantly he agreed to come out to play in a week night game. According to my father he popped up four straight times in his first game and was hooked as his competitive nature took over. He spent the next 25 years or so playing competitive slow pitch softball for many different teams in the state of Texas. In 1980 he was named to the All-World Softball Team as he lead the Austin Capitols to the USSSA World Championship. It was shagging in batting practice and catching all those home runs behind the left field fence at softball fields all over the state did I learn how to catch, throw, and hit. Virtually every weekend and many nights a week did I attend practices and games with my father slowly and eagerly learning the skills that would serve me later.
By the time I was in high school I was playing football, baseball, and golf. To my father's chagrin my favorite sport was football and I began my sophomore year on the varsity team and began receiving letters of college interest. My father and grandfather both approached me with concern that I would be injured playing football and they both encouraged me to drop football and focus on baseball. I reluctantly agreed and focused almost entirely on developing my baseball skills. I was named First Team All-District and First Team All-Central Texas for three straight years at three different positions. The summer following my sophomore season I was selected to play for the Austin Slam select high school baseball team with other players across central and east Texas. We traveled all over the state and to places like Miami, San Jose, Memphis, Lake Tahoe, Sacramento, Little Rock, and Oklahoma City playing some of the best high school baseball teams around the country. As a part of my three years spent in that program players were encouraged to instruct young players at the program's baseball facility and to coach in the program's youth baseball leagues. My first coaching experience came when I was sixteen years old as I coached a group of 9 year olds in a Fall baseball league.
Following my senior year in high school I attended McLennan Community Collage to play major Junior College Baseball. For both seasons that I played at McLennan I was named First Team All-Conference and First Team All-Region. I was nominated to the Texas Junior College Coaches Association's All-Star Team in 1991. In 1992 I accepted a full scholarship to play baseball at Texas Tech University. While at Texas Tech I had both reconstructive knee and shoulder surgery which effectively ended my playing career. During my time in college I would always come back in the summers and on certain weekends to instruct young players, coach youth recreational and select high school baseball teams, and to participate in camps for the Austin Slam baseball academy. It was during these times that I was encouraged by Austin Slam founder and owner and thirteen year Major Leaguer Tommy Boggs to share through coaching and instruction what I had been taught as a player from my former coaches. It was during this time that I became passionate about coaching youth sports.
Following my time at Texas Tech I went back to Austin to work on finishing my degree. I attended Austin Community College and eventually finished my B.A. in History at Texas State University. In 1998 I began working at Southwestern Bell Telephone and I married my wife Sherri, who I had met at Texas Tech. We began our family in 2001 with the birth of our oldest son. We eventually ended up having four children, two boys and two girls. All of our kids participate in youth sports. I have continued to coach in my spare time as both a volunteer and a paid staff member. My real passion lies with recreational youth sports as many "select" youth sports programs focus on winning and, in my experience, espouse a flawed business model and developmental philosophy which contributes to the phenomena known as the professionalization of youth sports. Unfortunately, many recreational youth sports programs, due to falling participation numbers, have been pressured into following the "select" program's developmental approach. The result over the years has been an overall dissatisfaction of parents with youth sports and a less than positive experience for young athletes who participate in sports to have fun and for the important social aspects of participation.
Upon entering graduate school at Michigan State University it was my intention to satisfy multiple personal aspirations. First, I wanted an advanced degree that would allow me to advance my professional career. Second, I wanted a degree that would allow me to better serve youth sports in my community. Finally, I wanted a degree that would allow me to teach and coach following my retirement from my professional career. In the Fall of 2014 I will have completed my graduate work and can begin realizing those personal aspirations. Below you will find links to just a bit more about me...
On our paternal side there was a history of high level sports participation. Grandpa Wertz had spent time as a professional boxer in the Cincinnati area and later was also a professional wrestler. His older brother had also spent time as a local boxer and both had been able to have enough local success to take care of themselves. His younger brother was also involved in the sport with less success. Grandpa Wertz was also a very good football player who had an opportunity to attend Ohio State University to play. Unfortunately the family lost both of their parents and were forced to take care of each other. The two oldest brothers both found depression era work with the phone company but all three brothers continued to play with local semi-professional baseball teams where my grandfather would learn how to play catcher. The brother's had a cousin, Vic Wertz, who would play 17 years of professional baseball with the Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians, and St. Louis Browns. The brothers continued to use their athletic inclinations to gamble for money fighting, playing golf, and bowling.
My father grew up playing baseball, football, basketball, and golf. In high school he was a three sport star but was drafted to play professional baseball by the Baltimore Orioles. He turned down the opportunity in order to play college baseball at Wharton Junior College. He was drafted professionally both his freshman and sophomore years by the Boston Red Sox and the Philadelphia Phillies respectively but again chose to continue his college education and career by attending NAIA national powerhouse Dallas Baptist College on a full baseball scholarship. Following his junior year he was named First Team All-American Shortstop and was drafted for a fourth time by the Cincinnati Reds. After signing with the Reds fate dealt my father a change of direction. One week before reporting to the Reds he broke his ankle playing in a city league basketball game. When he reported this to the Reds they released him. My father was devastated but only a short time later did he find out he was going to be a father for the first time.
Needing to be able to quickly provide for a growing family he followed his father to the Bell Telephone Company. While at Bell he was continually encouraged to play for the company's local competitive slow pitch softball team by his fellow employees who had heard of his background. Reluctantly he agreed to come out to play in a week night game. According to my father he popped up four straight times in his first game and was hooked as his competitive nature took over. He spent the next 25 years or so playing competitive slow pitch softball for many different teams in the state of Texas. In 1980 he was named to the All-World Softball Team as he lead the Austin Capitols to the USSSA World Championship. It was shagging in batting practice and catching all those home runs behind the left field fence at softball fields all over the state did I learn how to catch, throw, and hit. Virtually every weekend and many nights a week did I attend practices and games with my father slowly and eagerly learning the skills that would serve me later.
By the time I was in high school I was playing football, baseball, and golf. To my father's chagrin my favorite sport was football and I began my sophomore year on the varsity team and began receiving letters of college interest. My father and grandfather both approached me with concern that I would be injured playing football and they both encouraged me to drop football and focus on baseball. I reluctantly agreed and focused almost entirely on developing my baseball skills. I was named First Team All-District and First Team All-Central Texas for three straight years at three different positions. The summer following my sophomore season I was selected to play for the Austin Slam select high school baseball team with other players across central and east Texas. We traveled all over the state and to places like Miami, San Jose, Memphis, Lake Tahoe, Sacramento, Little Rock, and Oklahoma City playing some of the best high school baseball teams around the country. As a part of my three years spent in that program players were encouraged to instruct young players at the program's baseball facility and to coach in the program's youth baseball leagues. My first coaching experience came when I was sixteen years old as I coached a group of 9 year olds in a Fall baseball league.
Following my senior year in high school I attended McLennan Community Collage to play major Junior College Baseball. For both seasons that I played at McLennan I was named First Team All-Conference and First Team All-Region. I was nominated to the Texas Junior College Coaches Association's All-Star Team in 1991. In 1992 I accepted a full scholarship to play baseball at Texas Tech University. While at Texas Tech I had both reconstructive knee and shoulder surgery which effectively ended my playing career. During my time in college I would always come back in the summers and on certain weekends to instruct young players, coach youth recreational and select high school baseball teams, and to participate in camps for the Austin Slam baseball academy. It was during these times that I was encouraged by Austin Slam founder and owner and thirteen year Major Leaguer Tommy Boggs to share through coaching and instruction what I had been taught as a player from my former coaches. It was during this time that I became passionate about coaching youth sports.
Following my time at Texas Tech I went back to Austin to work on finishing my degree. I attended Austin Community College and eventually finished my B.A. in History at Texas State University. In 1998 I began working at Southwestern Bell Telephone and I married my wife Sherri, who I had met at Texas Tech. We began our family in 2001 with the birth of our oldest son. We eventually ended up having four children, two boys and two girls. All of our kids participate in youth sports. I have continued to coach in my spare time as both a volunteer and a paid staff member. My real passion lies with recreational youth sports as many "select" youth sports programs focus on winning and, in my experience, espouse a flawed business model and developmental philosophy which contributes to the phenomena known as the professionalization of youth sports. Unfortunately, many recreational youth sports programs, due to falling participation numbers, have been pressured into following the "select" program's developmental approach. The result over the years has been an overall dissatisfaction of parents with youth sports and a less than positive experience for young athletes who participate in sports to have fun and for the important social aspects of participation.
Upon entering graduate school at Michigan State University it was my intention to satisfy multiple personal aspirations. First, I wanted an advanced degree that would allow me to advance my professional career. Second, I wanted a degree that would allow me to better serve youth sports in my community. Finally, I wanted a degree that would allow me to teach and coach following my retirement from my professional career. In the Fall of 2014 I will have completed my graduate work and can begin realizing those personal aspirations. Below you will find links to just a bit more about me...