Today we’d like to introduce you to Dan Spring.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I was a 3-sport varsity athlete growing up in Washington, DC and continued my academic and athletic career at Brown University where I played all nine positions, ultimately becoming team Captain as a Senior Pitcher and earning All-Ivy League distinction.
After graduating, I was drafted by the Detroit Tigers and pitched professionally in 2003 and 2004 before retiring from competitive baseball and moving to Hermosa Beach with my now wife, and fellow Brown athlete Marissa.
Throughout High School and whenever I was home from college, I would work at my good friend’s baseball academy first as a junior coach and eventually coaching teams and helping to organize large college recruiting events. I never planned to go into coaching as a career, but within a few months of retiring and not being on a diamond regularly for the first time in my life, I felt a hole in my life without baseball.
Still, with no plans to do anything but get myself around the game again, I started volunteering at some local little league practices in Palos Verdes. A few parents on those teams asked if I would give their kid some private lessons, and then they told their friends, and then a few other parents asked if I wanted to run a summer camp, and Spring Training was born.
By the end of that first year, I was giving maybe ten lessons a week and ran two weeks of Summer Camp. Now I give 60+ lessons a week, run 11 weeks of Summer Camp, other camps throughout the year and a Fall League that attracts over 100 players each year.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s actually been a very smooth road, but I had many advantages before I started coaching full-time that to this day helps all my hard work pay off.
The biggest advantage I had was having mentors in DC who I coached under and with for many years before starting out on my own. From them, I learned not only how to run the business side of Spring Training but also the importance of being true to myself about what I wanted my company to stand for.
The most important thing to me is that Spring Training creates a relentlessly positive sports culture that emphasizes effort, attitude, hustle, and sportsmanship as much as it does skill development. Over the last few decades youth sports has gotten exponentially more serious and competitive – to the detriment of the enjoyment of the players – and I not only refuse to buy into that win-at-all-costs attitude.
I have firmly planted my flag in the opposite camp believing that having a positive baseball experience is much bigger and much more important than what the scoreboard says. Coaches and parents have an obligation to create a positive youth sports environment where young players feel empowered to try new things, make mistakes (and then learn from them), play hard, and most importantly have fun.
There are simply things I won’t do – run club teams, lie to parents in order to get their “business,” hold tryouts for example – that would add a lot of money to my bottom line because I don’t believe them. I’ve also had parents ask me to yell at their kid if he doesn’t work hard or needs motivation. I do not believe that anyone, especially kids, responds well to negativity and will not sacrifice who I am as a person and a coach in exchange for increased revenue.
My response is always very simple and straightforward to parents like that: “There are plenty of coaches out there who will yell and scream at your kid when he makes a mistake, and I’m sure they’d love your business. I’m just not that coach.”
It’s extremely tempting, especially in the early going of a business like mine, to say “yes” to everyone and everything that will bring in dollars. But that attitude is extremely short-sided and 100% unsustainable, and I’m very proud that 15 years later, Spring Training is still true to the ideals that the company was founded upon.
Please tell us about Spring Training Baseball Camp.
Spring Training runs high-quality baseball programs for players up to age 12 – Camps, Clinics, a Fall League, and Private Lessons.
My staff and I know the game inside and out from theoretical, strategy, and technical standpoints. A lot of coaches know baseball though – what truly sets us apart is our ability to communicate with, connect with, and inspire young ballplayers so that information is delivered in best possible for FOR THEM.
We make it easy for them to learn, we are constantly positive and encouraging (because baseball is a tough sport), and most importantly, we make it fun for them. Whenever a kid leaves a Spring Training program he 1) feels better about himself 2) has improved as a ballplayer 3) has learned invaluable life skills and 4) LOVES baseball.
15,000 players (and parents) would agree that we always accomplish those four goals, and I love reading emails from parents about how much fun their son had at a camp or clinic or lesson.
But some of the favorite emails I’ve ever received were from parents whose kids are now teenagers and don’t even play baseball anymore. They basically say, “Hey Dan, Mark isn’t playing ball anymore but he still loves baseball so much – he and I go to Dodger Stadium and have a blast together.”
When that love affair with the game starts very young, it will last a lifetime, and I’m extremely proud to play a role in fostering a love for the game in so many Little Leaguers.
One more story that just happened to me a couple of weeks ago: I was out getting lunch with one of my camp coaches and a former camper (now a senior in college who I hadn’t seen in over ten years) walked up to me and said, “Hey Coach! Are you still doing baseball camp?”
When I responded, “Yes,” he went, “Awesome, your camp was literally the highlight of my childhood.” That 30-second exchange made my year. 2019 is Spring Training’s 15th year in Palos Verdes and I’m so excited for another season of big-time baseball fun.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I have two all-time favorite baseball memories:
First, in 1992 my father took my brother and I to the World Series in Atlanta to see the Braves play the Blue Jays – we were fans of neither team but just being at the World Series was the coolest thing ever.
During batting practice, John Smoltz was shagging fly balls in the outfield, and we had positioned ourselves, gloves in hand, just above the right-field fence to watch the players get ready for the game. John caught a fly ball about 50 feet in front of us and being 11 years old and fearless I screamed, “Hey, John! I’m open!” He turned around, pointed at me, and threw it right in my glove. I caught a ball from a future Hall of Famer at the World Series! It doesn’t get much better than that.
My second all-time favorite baseball memory was from High School when, against one of our two big rivals, we found ourselves down three runs in the bottom of the 7th (last) inning. We loaded the bases with two outs and up walked our clean-up hitter, who to this day is still my best friend – Brendan Sullivan. I was standing a few feet away in the on-deck circle.
With two outs, down three runs, and the bases loaded, Sully hit a walk-off Grand Slam to win the game. I still think it’s the only time I’ve witnessed in person a walk-off Grand Slam in the exact same “two outs, bottom of the last inning” scenario that all kids dream up for themselves when running around the living room playing pretend baseball. Such an incredible moment!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.STBASEBALL.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @SpringTrainingBaseballCamp
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpringTrainingBaseballCamp/
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