Our News

10/16/09	North Carroll Girls’ Fast Pitch Presents “The Elite Catcher’s Clinic” The clinic is under the direction of Coach John Ballard and his assistant professionals. The clinic will cover all the essentials to be a catcher. Dates: January 9^th & 16^th , 2:30-4:30, in Westminster, MD. Cost: $40.00 Contact ncgfp@erols.com Or Call 410-374-6614
09/30/09	Interested in playing quality fast-pitch – give us a call. Come learn, have fun, and be part of something special. For further information call 410-374-6614 or e-mail ncgfp@erols.com
07/28/09	Congrats to Maddison Shimmel for being awarded the 16U 19^th player award for 2009.
07/21/09	Congrats to Dalyce Kump for being awarded the 12U 19^th player award for 2009.
07/21/09	Fury Fastpitch will be conducting tryouts/evaluations in August and September for girls ages 10/12/14/16/18&U.  Tryouts will be conducted at Shiloh Middle School and other locations.  Times will vary by location.  If you want to improve and have some fun don't be fooled by the rest come to the best.  Along with your registration you recieve a free indoor skills clinic during the months of January, Februaury, and March.  All coaches are certified and have a background check.  Insurance is provided for all young ladies in the program.  We offer recreational and tournament fastpitch softball. Call 410-374-6614 or e-mail ncgfp@erols.com for more information.
04/09/09	2009-2010 Pitching Clinic North Carroll Girls Fast Pitch, Inc. Is Proud to Sponsor “The Complete Windmill Pitching Clinic” Under the direction of Coach John Ballard (Prior Pitcher, Certified Instructor, High School Coach, College Advisor) Dates: October 2009 – March 2010 Emphasis will be on: Power of the Pitch Strategy of Pitching Using the “J” and “Box” System of Pitching Climb the Ladder Pitching to Spots Pitches taught are based on individual ability. Call 410-374-6614 Or E-mail ncgfp@erols.com Applications are being accepted now! Sign up before June 30^th and Save.
12/01/08	North Carroll Fury ^Positions are available for both our Rec. and Tournament Travel Teams. We pride ourselves on helping each player reach her potential. If you love softball and want to take your game to the next level Team Fury is for you! For more information contact us at 410-374-6614 or e-mail^ncgfp@erols.com
09/24/08	North Carroll Responds To News Article This is in response to the Sept. 12 letter to the Sports Editor responding to the New Field Usage Policy effecting Independent Sports Organization. It was sent in by the president of the North Carroll Recreation Council. As president of North Carroll Girls’ Fast Pitch, Inc. (NCGFP) a true 501(c)3 Nonprofit Organization I feel compelled to respond. This organization has been around going on 20 years and has install and reconditioned fields through out the North Carroll area to eventually loose them to the rec council. The current field we use we have invested over 50K to make it useable for the school and our organization. Again the rec council says it needs the field when other fields sit unused or not fully used. There is no excuse for this. The rec council has a county contractual employee that’s paid to schedule fields. Everybody pays taxes so I won’t go there. Everybody has kids from other parts of the county or neighboring state so I won’t go there. The writer of that article talks about accountability, like all independents are a bunch of loose cannons. We do complete background checks, we have articles of incorporation to follow, we have operating procedures, we provide schedules of field use to the property owner (also available to the county), we have standards of conduct that parent and players must sign and obey, and all coaches are certified. We also answer to the state and federal government. We as an organization have saved the taxpayers of Carroll County by not asking the county to do anything except provide us with a facility. We do the maintenance and repairs. NCGFP was approved to join the rec council January this year but decline because of the current leadership views, authoritarian attitude, and philosophical views on our sport, and being told we were going to loose our field. With this type of attitude why should we give them our money and assets (none of which you can take if you leave) and the most important thing our kids. I would like to go on the record stating that I believe most rec councils are providing outstanding service to all our communities but there should be other choices. It’s like being told you can only see one doctor or go to one grocery store. We have tried to attend rec council meetings to keep informed on what’s going on in the community and changes from the Parks and Recreation Department. We’ve been asked to leave that only paid members may attend. Insults have been thrown at us, members of the Parks and Recreations, and County Commissioners. Now they are going to hold secret meetings before a meeting. What happen to public and keeping the community informed? In conclusion this independent organization was formed to help kids on and off the field not to avoid accountability. John L. Ballard, Sr. President North Carroll Girls’ Fast Pitch, Inc. 410-374-6614 Everyone needs to go to Rec Council meetings to see what goes on.
09/23/08	North Carroll awarded two scholarships this year. Congratulations to Brittany Keeney and Jessica White.
09/23/08	Congrats to Amanda Reck for being awarded the 19^th player award for 2008.
09/23/08	Congrats to Allison Short for being awarded the 12U 19^th player award for 2008.
04/08/08	****Scholarships**** North Carroll Girls’ Fast Pitch offers college scholarships to high school seniors and first year college students. It’s open to girls that participated in any of our programs for two consecutive years or a certified Coach. Check the scholarship section for more details.
03/01/07	In-Accurate Article Appears In The Carroll County Times 1. There is no field shortage in North Carroll or even Carroll County. There is a scheduling problem. 2. No child in the North Carroll will suffer because of field shortage. Fields set empty most of the time. The children that will suffer will be ours if we’re not able to retain this field. 3. NCGFP did not invest $6000.00. NCGFP invested over $25,000.00(plus). 4. NCGFP was not given the opportunity to respond or provide input to the article. 5. No one from the North Carroll Recreational Council contacted NCGFP to see if there was field availability. 6. After contacting the staff writer she admitted inaccuracies in the article and stated it should not have been published. 7. The only accurate statement is highlighted below. 8. The agreement between the Board of Education and Carroll Count states the Board of Education will make available the school facilities, both indoor and outdoor to the Department of Recreation and Parks. It in turn will provide the facilities to each community. Doesn’t say Recreation Council. 9. Basically they’re telling us if you want to play a sport then you have to play for the rec council and you can only go to one grocery store, doctor, restaurant, etc. Here’s The Article From the Carroll County Times dated Wednesday, February 28, 2007 Field shortage hurts club programs By Marjorie Censer, Times Staff Writer North Carroll Recreation Council representatives say their softball players won’t be able to practice as much as they have in the past because Carroll County Public Schools isn’t honoring its joint use agreement. The school system and the county’s Department of Recreation and Parks have agreed that the schools and its associated groups have first priority on school fields, said Ray Prokop, director of facilities for Carroll County Public Schools. But the county’s recreation councils are next in line, he said. However, Vickie Beard, field coordinator for the council’s softball teams, said the school system denied the council’s application to use a Shiloh Middle School field in Hampstead in favor of allowing North Carroll Girls’ Fast Pitch to play there. In the upcoming spring season, the council’s 13 softball teams — two more than last season — will now have to share four fields, three at Hampstead Elementary and one at North Carroll High School, Beard said. She said players accustomed to two evening practices and one weekend game each week will likely only see one evening practice and a game. Superintendent Charles Ecker said he ruled that North Carroll Girls’ Fast Pitch should be able to use the field because the program partnered with Shiloh’s PTO to restore the field in 2005. The two groups invested about $6,000 each in improvements, which included repairing the backstop, improving the grass and laying dirt, said Shiloh Principal James Carver. Ecker said the organizations verbally agreed that sharing the cost would allow the school’s students to use the fields during daytime physical education classes and entitle the softball program to use the field in the evenings. Representatives of North Carroll Girls’ Fast Pitch could not be reached for comment. Kip Barkley, president of the North Carroll Recreation Council, said the PTO’s partnership with the softball program sets a bad precedent and violates the spirit of the joint use agreement. He said he’s worried other groups could organize similar alignments and take priority over recreation councils at other facilities. “I think it’s a significant issue,” he said. “We’re squeezed for fields all over Carroll County.” But Ecker said the Shiloh arrangement is a special case and that it’s challenging to balance the needs of all the athletic groups. He said he’s planning a meeting with Barkley to further discuss his decision. “We don’t have enough fields in the county, period,” he said. John Schaeffer, coordinator of the recreation council’s softball program, said he never expected the fields to pose a problem for the council’s growing program. Now, he said, he’s concerned about participants, who range from age 4 to 16. “The one that’s going to suffer in the end is our kids,” he said. Reach staff writer Marjorie Censer at 410-857-7886 or mcenser@lcniofmd.com.
08/03/07	Congratulations to Katlyn Whitmore for being awarded the 14U 19^th Player Award for 2007.
08/03/07	Congratulations To Mia Heindel for being awarded 10U 19^th Player Award for 2007.