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Blizzard Elite Program 2015-2016 !

05/22/2015, 4:15am CDT
By Adam Barta, Minnesota Blizzard

This years program includes practice Aug-Mar, fall league, 5 tournaments, arm care program and more !

Blizzard Elite Program 2015-2016 set

Welcome to the Minnesota Blizzard program.

We have worked very hard to continue to improve our program every year since 2003 and I think the 2015-2016 season is going to be our best yet. 

I believe in our development, our coaching staff, our practices, our culture, values and our sense of family.  Blizzard Blue runs deep in our program from the newcomers all the way to our Blizzard Alumni who stay in very close touch with our program.  The Blizzard is passionate about the game, what it can teach and how we can give back to it.  It's the best game in the world and I'm very proud to be a part of it.

I'm very excited about some additions we have made to the program including our arm care program - Beyond Pitching, more individual instruction, our player package which includes J-Bands for each player and more instruction locations including The Cages (Burnsville) and Players Only (Eden Prairie).

I'm also excited about additions to our coaching staff including Blizzard Alumni, Joe Loftus (Vanderbilt/DBacks), Blizzard Alumni, Ryan Burmeister (St. Scholastica), Bryan Lippincott (CSP/Wash. Nationals), Derrick Peoples (LA Dodgers) and Zach Goodwin (CSP). 

Blizzard veteran coaches Brent Peters, Jesse Tollefson, Jake Kurth, Lonnie Robinson, Andrew Woitas, Mike Loberg, Luther Kangas and Minnesota Twin's Al Newman will be back as well !

The AFBL (Advanced Fall Baseball League) will be beginning it's 7th year and will run from September 12th - October 4th (8-10) games while our varsity teams will be playing in the Siebert Fall League from September 12th - October 11th.

Our teams, ages 12u-18u, will travel to such tournaments as the Perfect Game Evoshield Championships at the Red/Indians Spring Training Complex in Arizona, Perfect Game Kernels Championships in Iowa, the Perfect Game World Championships Underclass in Fort Myers, FL.  All of our teams will be going to program favorites like the Desert Fall Classic in Las Vegas, MLK Championships in Arizona and San Diego and the Presidents Day Challenge in Myrtle Beach and St. George, UT.  Included are hotel fees and rental vans (ages 14u-18u).

For a complete tournament schedule, CLICK HERE.

We'll continue to run winter-long practices from October-March but we'll make sure we take 12 weeks off (of throwing) between October and January tournament dates.  We'll be practicing at the Blizzard Baseball Academy, Vadnais Dome, The Cages (Burnsville), Inver Grove Heights and Century College.

We'll continue to provide college consultations, as we have done for the past 10 years in our program, and give kids every opportunity to participate in our ScoutStop showcases in both the winter and summer.

Our tradition of team building will always be a cornerstone as this family of Blizzard is just as tight off the field as they are on the field.  We will cap our year off with our Annual End of the Year Banquet and Awards Ceremony.

I have paired down the Blizzard Big 10 to the Blizzard Big 5 which are at the heart of the program and preached from the first day of tryouts until you graduate from the Blizzard program...

  • Acceptance of Responsibility
  • Loyalty - to your faith, family, friends and the program
  • Humility, Class and Body Language
  • Synergism - team chemistry
  • Kaizin - continuous improvements, every day, in small increments

Tryouts are coming up and I look forward to seeing you there.

You can learn about every detail of our Blizzard program by going to "PROGRAMS" and scroll down to "BLIZZARD ELITE."

"It's a privilage to play the game and to play for the Blizzard, not a right." - David Esplien, Blizzard Founder 

Our rosters start at zero and every spot is earned, not given.

Play with the best against the best in the country.  Blizzard Baseball.

Welcome to the Blizzard Program !  Year 12 !

Adam Barta - Owner
Blizzard Varsity Head Coach and Lead Pitching Instructor

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