“I met Jeremy in Jupiter in 2012,” Strickland recalled. “We exchanged business cards at that time, but I stumbled across him this past year at the ABCA and he was talking about what he was doing with PROGRAM 15. I’ve always been trying to create relationships with people who are trying to push the game in the development part and the mentorship part with players in a different direction, people who are real. Talking to him, he was saying things I’d already been saying, but not motivated enough to do on my own. He was trying to do those things. What you want to do is align yourself with people who are like-minded, and that’s why I said we were going to take a chance and partner up with PROGRAM 15 and see where it takes us.”
Strickland will likely field teams at the upcoming National Tournaments in Cypress, Texas in late June and July, 2019. Whether it be his program’s innovations with technology – especially in being one of the first in the country to utilize the Hittrax system – or unique approach to an elite training regimen, the fruits of the labor that comes from that attention to detail with player development will surely be on display.
“I can tell you that from our standpoint, when it comes to development, that’s all our program is. Our focus isn’t so much on the baseball aspect of it…from the traditional method of teaching kids how to play baseball, we were past that five years ago,” Strickland said.
“When Jeremy was talking about the training and development stuff, I’ll be honest, I’m already there. People come to us for development ideas and technology and stuff you can use to help develop your kids, so we already had a good foundation with that. I’d had a lot of relationships with these companies that PROGRAM 15 was looking at, so this was a natural fit. From the development side, that’s the number one thing we think that we’re good at. Players get developed, and it’s different than some of the other programs, even in our area. We know that we’ve inspired other programs to come out and do things. Any time you can find people who are really dedicated to the development side, that’s a natural fit for me.”
The feeling is certainly mutual.
“Rick Strickland and the St. Louis Pirates are a staple of amateur baseball in the Midwest,”said PROGRAM 15/New Balance Baseball Future Stars Series CEO Jeremy Booth. “They’ve earned their national rep through dedication to player development and a no fear approach to helping players in progressive ways. They embody ‘Fearlessly Independent’ and we get better having both Rick personally and the Pirates organization as a partner program. The scout day we held in St. Louis was a huge success, and they’re loaded with prospects. We can’t wait to see them in Houston.”
For the latest Future Stars Series updates and announcements follow @ftrstarsseries on Twitter or visit https://futurestarsseries.com.
ABOUT PROGRAM 15
PROGRAM 15 boasts a faculty and staff that includes multiple Major League All-Stars and World Series veterans responsible for executing the New Balance Baseball Future Stars Series, an initiative between the two organizations to elevate the game of baseball by providing amateur players across all economic levels an opportunity to reach their full potential through the training, development, and guidance of former MLB players, scouts, and coaches. For more information on PROGRAM 15 and the Future Stars Series, visit www.futurestarsseries.com or @program15bb and @ftrstarsseries on twitter.
ABOUT NEW BALANCE
New Balance, headquartered in Boston, MA has the following mission: Demonstrating responsible leadership, we build global brands that athletes are proud to wear, associates are proud to create and communities are proud to host. New Balance is the only major company to make or assemble more than 4 million pairs of athletic footwear per year in the USA, which represents a limited portion of our US sales. Where the domestic value is at least 70%, we label our shoes Made in the USA. New Balance owns five factories in New England and one in Flimby, U.K. New Balance employs more than 5,000 associates around the globe, and in 2015 reported worldwide sales of $3.72 billion. To learn more about New Balance, please visit www.newbalance.com and for the latest press information please visit http://newbalance.newsmarket.com. Keep up-to-date with all of the latest New Balance news on Twitter @NewBalance and newbalance on Facebook.
