FORT BENNING, Ga., (Feb. 18, 2015) -- "One team, one goal," is this year's motto for the men's post softball team at Fort Benning. Head coach Juan Burney's intent is to take the slow pitch team in a new direction for the upcoming season, which starts in March.
When he was "officially given the reins of the team," Burney said he started practice in October where 25 players, on average, took part and worked on fundamentals and routine.
"I wanted to change the culture of the way we look at Fort Benning softball," he said. "Therefore, we opened the practices up to anybody, so anybody (could) come out and try to better themselves."
Amidst tryouts held from Feb. 10-12, Burney said he is trying to build a team that gels and can represent Benning.
"As of right now, all positions are open because we have a plethora of talent here ... we are trying to tap into all the talent," he said. "All the returning players (from) last year have a full understanding if somebody is out there (who's) better than (them) and can fit into the mold of the team, they are going to get the position."
Burney said base running, fielding, hitting the cutoff man in the outfield and throwing to the chest in the infield are a few skills they worked on.
"Making good throws (causes) for less errors," he said.
Though a balance of infielders and outfielders were present during tryouts, Burney said he's looking for versatile players - players who can play multiple positions in the infield and outfield.
He said in the tournaments they are going to play, which start early in the morning and go on throughout the night if they keep winning, those three or four guys running around in the outfield are going to get tired.
"We've got to be able to rotate guys back and forth," Burney said. "I don't need people to be an expert or proficient at each position, but (they must) be able to play a different position."
Burney said once the team is finalized, anyone can still practice with them, including those who play intramural sports.
"Everybody's welcome - this is a team Family thing," he said. "(Practice) is still open except for the practice prior (to) getting ready for a tournament. Then it's going to be strictly the post team."
Burney said the post team will participate in double-elimination tournaments held in Georgia, Alabama and Florida, and are going to be a part of the spring league downtown with plans of being apart of the summer and fall league.
The furthest they will travel will be Destin, Florida, he said and will play other teams in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and civilian teams.
Burney said there will be 16 to 17 players on the main roster who will dress out on game day and he will carry about five to six additional players who will be on the call-up roster.
"It's going to be a great season," he said. "I think we are going to represent Fort Benning ... very well. We are going to surprise a lot of people when we go out."
Practices will be Mondays and Wednesdays from 5:30-8:30 p.m. at Gowdy Field with one of those days a game day once the season begins.
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