Pete Caliendo Interview

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Statsandblogs' Offensive Leaders

Name                     AVG        OB%      SLG         R           RBI         School

Chris Johnson	765	737	1.059	8	3	Wheaton Academy
Thad Daniel	585	579	667	0	0	Proviso West
John Allen	571	667	1.143	6	7	Glenbard East
JP Renfo	571	625	714	2	3	Benet Academy
Josh Crosby	556	636	1.111	5	5	Benet Academy
Jabari Morris	550	619	700	8	10	York
Lee Barns	545	583	726	2	3	Benet Academy
Nick Potaczek	500	643	611	7	10	York

                One of the largest names in the mid-west baseball circles is Pete Caliendo.  The owner and founder of Caliendo Sports International, Pete Caliendo has dedicated himself to identifying and promoting talent.  Statsandblogs had the opportunity to visit and speak with Mr. Caliendo.  In a very informative interview, here is what he had to say.

(SAB) How long have you been involved in working with young amateur baseball players?

Caliendo:  I have been helping with the development of players for over 30 years. I also have been doing the same with coaches, which are very important to train because they are with the players the most.

(SAB) What is the mission and goal of Caliendo Sports International?

Caliendo:  Mission is to set up trips all over the world and the goal is to utilize these trips for the mental, physically development of the players through this once in a lifetime Cultural/Baseball experience.

(SAB) What type of ball player are you looking for in terms of experience and skill set?

Caliendo:  We look for all kinds because then we fit them within the level of their ability. We do not just want very good players to have experience but below average, average, all alike because the experience helps all players grow.

(SAB) What advantages will athletes get from participating in Caliendo Sports International?

Caliendo:

1)    Excellent coaches, better than most, handpicked by Peter Caliendo.

2)    Player meetings at night to review game situations, because this is all about learning.

3)    Practices

4)    Practices with Italian teams

5)    Games, very competitive

6)    Teaching going on during g games, practices and class room work.

7)    When you practice with these players your confidence level and how you do things become better.

8)    Playing with guys you do not know is an experience in itself.

9)    Traveling with people you do not know s an experience in itself.

10)  Not being a team that plays together, hardly any practices before we depart, this is an experience in itself; players need to learn how to adjust and adjust fast, communicate and more.

11) Cultural part, amazing for all, players, families, friends, etc.

(SAB) Has there been any successful college or professional baseball players coming through your program? If so, Who?

Caliendo:  We have lots of guys go on to College, Minor League and the Majors, most notably Jason Werth with the Nationals.

(SAB)  Who are the coaches present and past that work or worked with you since you’ve started?

Caliendo:  We have Tom O’Connell, Jim Hall, Dan Held, Terry Ayers, Paul Twenge, Nelson Gord, Justine Stone, Marc Besteman and JR Richardson who are all noteworthy and accomplished coaches.

(SAB) How does the skill level of American youth compare to the youth in other countries?

Caliendo:  It all depends on where you go. We match up ok but when we go to Japan there is a difference because of the discipline and knowledge of the game. As well in Latin America as for the knowledge on how to play the game. We seem to be losing in the area of how do you play the game. Can you as a player make your own decisions? Instincts of the game. You play the Cubans they have great talent, athletic ability and instincts for the game.

(SAB)What is the Great Lakes Regional Team and how does one get to play on it?

Caliendo:  USA Baseball is proud to present the Great Lakes region of the National Team Identification Series (NTIS). Players from across your region will participate in selection events and tryouts with the aim of being named to the Great Lakes's 14U, 16U and 17U teams. The three teams will then compete in their respective age groups against 14 other regions from across the country in the NTIS, August 23 - 25 and September 6 - 8, 2013, at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C. From the NTIS, USA Baseball will invite a minimum of 35 players to future National Team Trials and National Team Development Program opportunities with the ultimate goal of being selected to represent our country as part of Team USA.

(SAB) If a player is a little short on skill or just slightly underdeveloped, what opportunities are out there to develop his talent?

Caliendo:  The player has to take it upon himself to make the opportunities by going out and researching the best methods, techniques, training programs to better your skills. That would start with Flexibility, Strength, Athletic quickness, vision, Nutrition and the development of the skills.

                (SAB) Mr. Caliendo, thanks for your time and good luck in what you are doing.

          As mentioned previously, Statsandblogs encourages all athletes to tryout for special teams to increase exposure and experience.  Work out, sleep well and nurture your body with the best products.  Sportsandblogs highly recommends Nutrilite products because they are safe and are made with the lowest amounts of sugars without sacrificing taste.  Visit www.amway.com/salaminc to learn more abut sports nutrition. 

                             Statsandblogs happily present the coaching Bios of Pete Caliendo’s team. 

Tom O'Connell

Baseball Adviser to the Director

The first high school coach ever elected President of the American Baseball Coaches Association, Tom O'Connell has spent 41 years coaching baseball. From 1969 - 2000 he coached at Pulaski High School in Milwaukee, where his teams won more games than any sport in the school's history. Ten years ago, he took over as coach at Catholic Central High School in Burlington, Wisconsin and continued his success there. His Hilltopper teams have made the State quarterfinals the last seven straight years and have won four Wisconsin State Championships in that time - 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2010. O'Connell was recently named the Diamond Sports National High School Coach of the Year by the ABCA for 2010, the second time he has been so honored. He has also been named Midwest Coach of the Year four times. In 1995, he skippered the USA Baseball North Team in the United States Olympic Festival in Colorado that featured four future major leaguers.

Long involved in the ABCA, O'Connell chaired its High School Division from 1984-1996 and now serves on the Board of Directors and heads the Ethics in Coaching Award Committee. He presided over the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association and organized their successful Clinic and Convention for twenty years and, in 1991, was named their Man of the Year He has been inducted into three Halls of Fame: the Old Time Baseball Players Hall of Fame in Milwaukee, the WBCA Hall of Fame, and in 2007 became only the 16th high school coach to ever be inducted into the ABCA Hall of Fame in its 64-year history. An accomplished author, O'Connell has published three books with Human Kinetics Press, Coaching Baseball: Techniques and Tactics, the textbook for coach licensing in the USA, Coaching Youth Baseball, a manual for youth coaches, and most recently the best selling, Play Ball: 100 Baseball Practice Games. For the past eleven years he has been an ISG officer and has organized winter coaching clinics in Germany, Spain, Slovenia, Czech Republic, The Netherlands, Ireland and Austria. O'Connell has served as an Envoy Coach for Major League Baseball since 1993 - spending twelve of his summers developing players and coaches in Europe - and is a scout for the Baltimore Orioles

Jim Hall

Head Coach: 17U

Jim served as head coach of the Lockport Porters Baseball Program from 1991?2005. Coach Hall's teams won Conference titles in '92, '93 and 1995, 1997?'01, 2003?'05. The Porters also won 9 regional titles during that time, as well as State Final appearances in '92 (4th), '97 (2nd) and '98. The Porters were IHSA State Champions in 2005 after a 40?3 season. The Porters also finished 3rd in Summer State Tournament in '96 and '03. Coach Hall served as President of the Illinois High school Coaches Association. Inducted into the Illinois High School Coaches Hall of Fame, Marist Hall of Fame and the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Most recently coaches Team Illinois.

Dan Held

Assistant Coach: 17U

Dan played professional baseball from 1993-2001 in the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets minor league system. He played in the Chinese Baseball League and with Team USA in Sydney, Australia (Intercontinental Cup). He then spent one year as the hitting coach for the Batavia Muckdogs (Single A) and four years with the St. Louis Cardinals as their Bullpen Assistant, including the Cardinals 2006 World Series Championship team. Dan is currently the Executive Director of the Indiana Bulls and resides in Noblesville, Indiana with his wife Lynn and their two children, Tea and Boston.

Terry Ayers

Head Coach: 15U

Terry Ayers loves the game of baseball and has dedicated his life to coaching. After graduating from Western Michigan University in 1966, where he played for ABCA Hall of Fame Coach Charlie Maher, Terry received his Masters of Arts degree from Northwestern in 1970 and was a graduate assistant in football. His high school coaching career began in 1972 as head baseball coach at Fenton High School in Bensenville Illinois, where he had a lifetime career record of 334 and 231 until retiring in 1989. After Fenton, Terry coached AAU baseball taking them to the National tournament three times and had a lifetime record of 198 and 79.

In 1990 Terry became the regional Director for Doyle Baseball School. As regional director he was the lead instructor in hundreds of baseball schools for players and coaches. Giving coaching seminars in Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, Kentucky, and Illinois. He also is a member of the Pitch and Hit Club of Chicago where he serves as Secretary and Board of Directors. He co-chairs the annual Showcase for the Club. In 2009 received the Pitch and Hit Club Charlie Hum Service Award for contributions to the community service in baseball.

Terry has spoken at several state coaches clinics Illinois, Iowa, Oklahoma, as well as the National Baseball Coaches Clinic in 1999, as well as the American Baseball Coaches Association Clinic in 2001. Terry has attended every clinic since 1973. He serves on the ABCA Hall of Fame Committee for the past twenty-one years also, served on the expatiators committee for five years prior to being on the Hall of Fame Committee.

In 1999 Terry was elected into the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He received the Len Diforte Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998. Other honors are coaching in the Pan American Games and International baseball in Europe.

In 2006, Terry came out of retirement after his son was finished playing college baseball at the University of Louisville. He is currently the volunteer assistant Pitching Coaching at St. Charles North High School, in St. Charles Illinois. Helping the team win a Conference Championship in 2007 as well as the Regional Championship in 2007 and 2008. The team has compiled a record of 78 and 29 with a team era of 2.15 this past season.

Terry lives in Elgin Illinois with his wife Carole, they have two children, daughter Sarah and son Stephen. Both children are married and he is now a grandfather too.

Paul Twenge

Assistant Coach: 15U

Paul Twenge was named as the Minnetonka High School activities coordinator and head baseball coach starting with the 06-07 school year. Coach Twenge spent the prior 19 years as head baseball coach at Valparaiso University in Indiana, where he also served in various athletic administrative positions. Before his years at Valparaiso, Paul spent six years as director of athletics at Anoka-Ramsey Community College, where he was also head baseball coach. In addition to coaching the Skippers, Paul has joined the staff of the Excelsior Legion baseball team. Coach Twenge has a Bachelor of Science in social science and physical education from Mayville State University in Mayville, ND, and a Master of Science in health, physical education and recreation from South Dakota State University. He and his wife Dawn have three children: Alyson, Alex and Axel.

Nelson Gord

Head Coach: 13U

Gord began his coaching career at Play Ball USA in Des Plaines, IL and purchased the facility from previous ownership in 2008. He has coached at every level of amateur baseball including two years in the college ranks (Harper/2005 & Oakton/2009). Nelson's coaching career followed a successful playing career which started at Buffalo Grove High School where he was an All-Area player and the Mid-Suburban League East Player of the Year in 1999. The numbers he put up as a senior at BGHS earned him a scholarship to play NCAA Division I baseball at the University of Illinois @ Chicago. While at UIC Nelson was twice named to the All-Horizon League Team and started for the Flames for four years at 5 different positions (C, 1B, 2B, 3B, and SS). The versatility Gord showed as a college player allowed him to sign a professional contract with the Schaumburg Flyers in June, 2004. Nelson found himself playing all over the field in his 3 years as a Flyer and earned a spot on the 2006 Northern League All-Star team after setting career highs in hits, stolen bases (27), and set a all-time Northern League record by being hit by 28 pitches. After the 2006 season Gord signed a contract with the Houston Astros and went to spring training with the club in 2007 as a catcher. He then finished the season with the Kansas City T-Bones where he set career highs in 2Bs, HRs and RBIs. On September 2, 2007 Gord was honored and played all 9 positions in a 9 inning game. He also went 2 for 3 in the game, capping off what was to many a mediocre career, but to him a "dream come true". Gord's passion is in helping kids both on and off the field. His work with groups such as the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Pitch & Hit Club of Chicago, the ABCA (American Baseball Coaches Association) and the APBPA speaks volume about his love for our national pastime. Nelson and his wife, Sarah, reside in Wheeling and they have a daughter, Lacey Marie, who was born in June 2009.

Justin Stone

Assistant Coach: 13U

Justin is the lead instructor at the Bulls/Sox Training Academy and is in charge of Academy Elite Programming. Justin is a former Division 1 collegiate player and coach and is currently one of the most sought after hitting instructors in baseball. There is nothing that Justin's trained eye can't see and that has resulted in hitter after hitter finding their stride under Justin's tutelage. In fact, 21 of them have signed professional contracts. Justin has spent hours and hours with White Sox Hitting Coach, Greg Walker, either at U.S. Cellular Field or in spring training working with the Major League club while refining the teaching techniques that he employs each day at the Academy. Justin also works very closely with the White Sox scouting department in evaluating talent. As good as Justin is as a hitting instructor, he's equally magical with middle infielders. His catching and pitching skills are also extraordinary. All this adds up to a teaching package that can handle your every need. It also means that Justin is in very high demand and will often be booked months in advance. Don't despair; every instructor at the Academy has passed Justin's personal evaluation so your athlete will be in good hands regardless of instructor choice.

Marc Besteman

Director: Wisconsin

Marc Besteman is a young up and coming baseball professional in Illinois . He was one the youngest Head Varsity Coaches in IHSA history at age 24 when he was named Head Coach at Guerin Prep in 2009. After Guerin he spent two season as the hitting coach at Oakton Community College. In his first season at OCC the raider hitters finished 8th in the nation with a 364 team batting average and broke the school record for team home runs (72) and runs scored.

Marc's playing career includes spending time with the Canadian Junior National Team, a season with North Central Texas JC, and being a 3 year starter at Northern Illinois University.

JR Richardson

Director: Indiana

Richardson has been coaching amateur baseball since 2001 when he assisted Bill Angelo at Elgin Community College. During his tenure at ECC the Spartans set team records for most wins (54), runs scored (547), hits (680) and stolen bases (188).

Since 2007 Coach Richardson has served as the Varsity Baseball Assistant Coach and Hitting Coordinator at St. Charles North HS (IL). Since joining the program Coach Richardson's NorthStars have set team records for most wins (33), batting average (.370), hits (394), slugging percentage (.531), on-base percentage (.464), rbi's (281), doubles (76) and homeruns (27). They have also won 3 regional championships in the last 5 years and 2 Upstate Eight Conference Championships.

in 2010 Richardson helped recruit and select the Great Lakes Regional Teams that participated in USA Baseball's NTIS Program. He also coached the 15U's on the field at the National Training Complex in Cary, NC.

Collegiately Richardson played at Elgin Community College where he was a first team All-Skyway Conference selection and a first team All-NJCAA Region IV selection. Richardson continued his playing career at the University of South Carolina-Upstate where he lead the team in on-base percentage and finished second in batting average before a shoulder injury ended his career.

Richardson has his BA in Organizational Leadership from Judson University and his MA in Psychology from National-Louis University. JR currently resides in Elburn, IL with his wife Kathy.

Darin Everson

Assistant Coach

Fifteen years in professional baseball as a player, scout, hitting coach or manager.

Six years of professional managing and hitting coaching experience with the Florida Marlins organization and for Washington of the Frontier League.

Seven years as a professional baseball player for the following MLB organizations: Montreal Expos, Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Red Sox and in the Frontier and Northern Leagues.

Two years as an associate scout for the Baltimore Orioles.

Owner and director of the Elite Baseball Academy; home of the Premier Midwest Catchers Camp.

Two time NAIA All-American Honors as catcher, playing at Mayville State University.

2010 Minnesota American Legion Graduate of the Year.

Four years of Premier Collegiate Summer League Coaching Experience: Northwoods League Manager and Hitting Coach; Alaska Baseball League Hitting Coach.

Three years as head baseball coach for Oregon High School, WI.

Five years as assistant baseball coach for Madison Area Technical College, WI.

Played four years of college baseball, graduated from Mayville State University. Played baseball at Ada-Borup high school, MN.