The Varsity Shop Training Center

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Mark Sackett: Coach Sackett is a Level 1 instructor for the nationally recognized “Doyle Baseball” school whose headquarters is in Winter Haven, Florida. He is annually certified as an ongoing Doyle Baseball Instructor and directs several Doyle’s Midwestern programs. Mark also develops and instructs many of the Doyle week long events that take place in Florida on an annual basis.Coach Sackett is well known throughout the Michigan area following several years of high school coaching experience at all levels. He coached the freshmen and junior varsity teams at Troy High School, the varsity team at Troy Athens High School, and is currently a volunteer assistant at Birmingham Groves High School working with all three levels. One highlight in Coach Sackett’s career was his position as an assistant at Birmingham Seaholm during1988 when the Maples won the Class A State Baseball Championship.In 1999, Coach Sackett started the Michigan Red Sox baseball team which has now grown to five teams at several different age levels (www.michiganredsox.com). Mark coaches the 18U team while assisting with instruction at the other levels.In 2005, Coach Sackett developed the Michigan Motor City Pride Fall Showcase team (www.motorcitypride.net). The Pride competes during the fall and is geared towards exposing high school aged players to college coaches and scouts across the Midwest who are searching for new talented ballplayers looking for the opportunity to reach the next level of experience. Since its inception, the Pride has assisted over thirty players get the opportunity to participate at the collegiate level with three of those players drafted by Major League Baseball.Don Watchowski: Coach Watchowski is currently in his fourth season as Head Baseball Coach at Birmingham Seaholm High School. He leads a program that includes six coaches, three teams, nearly sixty student athletes, two trainers, a supportive booster club, and one of the finest baseball complexes in the state of Michigan. Don also runs complete off-season programs that include a high intensity resistance-training as well as speed- training regimens. In each of his three head coaching seasons, Seaholm Baseball has demonstrated significant improvement in all aspects of the game including improving team batting average nearly 70 points, team slugging percentage by 100 points, and doubling their prior season’s win total in each successive year.Coach Watchowski’s playing career was focused primarily as an elite infielder. During his start at Eisenhower High School, Don was an All-Area and All-State shortstop. Upon graduation, Coach Watchowski accepted a baseball scholarship to attend Michigan State University. His Division 1 NCAA career included a three-year stint at Michigan State University and one year at Missouri State University.During his senior season, Coach Watchowski batted .331 and led his Missouri State Bears to a National Top 40 ranking, as high as #23, and an NCAA Division I Tournament bid. Following his collegiate career, Coach Watchowski signed a professional contract within the Central Professional League. Coach Watchowski retired from baseball in 2002 and now focuses on player development and instruction.He currently teaches at Royal Oak High School and is near completion of a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from MSU. Coach Watchowski has a motto that is the foundation for his stance on success, both on the diamond and in the classroom: “Work Hard, Work Smart, and Work Together.”Dylan Putnam: Coach Putnam has over 5 years of NCAA Division I coaching experience. He has coached and mentored 10 student-athletes who moved on to professional baseball. At Oakland University, Coach Putnam was hired as the University’s first ever, full-time head coach. His stint lasted from fall of 2005 to spring of 2007. In his first season of 2006, he led the Golden Grizzlies to a 13-11 record in the Mid-Continent Conference and the team’s first appearance in the Mid-Con Championship Tournament in four years.Coach Putnam spent three years on staff with the Michigan State University Spartan baseball program where he served as the team’s pitching coach, recruiting coordinator and academic liaison. While at MSU, he also worked as an academic micro-coordinator for Student-Athlete Support Services and as a Crew Supervisor with the MSU Athletic Grounds Maintenance staff.A 2002 graduate of Michigan State University, Coach Putnam played baseball for the Spartans as well as at Tulane University in New Orleans, La., where he started his career in 1997. While a member of the Green Wave pitching staff, he was a Conference USA All-Freshman team member and an Academic All-Conference honoree while the team finished in the top 20 nationally in both the ’98 and ’99 season. Coach Putnam also served as a team captain during his senior campaign at MSU.Coach Putnam heard his name called twice in the Major League Baseball draft, first for the New York Yankees in 1997 and for the Oakland Athletics in 2001. He spent the summer of 2002 with the Washington Wild Things of the Frontier League as a relief pitcher. He has extensive experience in the creation and execution of successful baseball clinics and camps that include all aspects baseball development and conditioning with a specialized focus on pitching skill sets.Frank DiVito: Coach DiVito will begin his eighth season as the head varsity baseball coach at Troy High School. During his tenure, the Troy Colts have won three league titles, two district titles and one regional championship. Many of his former players have gone on to play college baseball, several of which play at the Division I level. In 2007 Coach DiVito was selected to coach the top seniors in the East-West All Star Game played at Comerica Park. In addition, he was selected by his coaching peers throughout the area as the Eccentric Newspaper 2007 Coach of the Year.Prior to arriving at Troy High School, Coach DiVito served as the assistant coach at Oakland University the first year it was granted Division I status. He has also worked for the Detroit Tigers as the batting practice pitcher prior to home games.Coach DiVito started his coaching career as the head baseball coach at Andover High School where he spearheaded a fundraising effort to renovate the baseball facility and helped lead the Barons to their first league title in 30 years.Coach DiVito has conducted many clinics throughout the Oakland County area for all age levels and is currently the Physical Education Coordinator and Teacher in the Bloomfield Hills School District. He specializes in the development of programs that focus on hitting, fielding, and throwing skill development.Tiffany Worthy: Coach Worthy was a four year varsity letter winner for the University of Michigan Softball Team (2003-2007). She was a part of two Big Ten Tournament Championships, two Regular Season Big Ten Championships and the 2005 NCAA National Championship Team.Coach Worthy’s individual achievements include being named Captain of the 2007 Michigan Softball Team, All-Big Ten Tournament honors in 2006 and being named to the All Big Ten Second Team in 2007.During the 2006 season, Coach Worthy led the Wolverines to a Super Regional appearance with a .364 average in 5 NCAA Tournament games during which she launched home runs in three straight games. She carried this momentum into her senior year with the Michigan Wolverines. As Captain, she led the team with 36 RBI’s and homered in back-to- back NCAA Regional games to lead U of M to a third straight Super Regional.A native of Yorba Linda, California, Coach Worthy attended Lutheran High School of Orange County where she was named Best Offensive Player all four years of her varsity career and lead the team with a .700 career batting average.Coach Worthy is extremely passionate about the sport of softball and is eager to utilize her experience and knowledge helping to train and develop the potential of young aspiring female athletes. Her experience includes extensive travel teams and as a player/coach at many levels. Coach Worthy has run several successful softball clinics and camps where she focuses her training on hitting, catching and fielding skill development.Jaime Jackson: Coach Jackson is one of only three nationally certified SPARQ trainers in the State of Michigan. He has trained athletes in the Troy and Rochester School Districts for more than 25 years. He has spent more than two decades teaching physical education and health programs with extensive middle and high school coaching experience in football, track, and baseball at the varsity level.Coach Jackson has traveled the country teaching educators how to incorporate technology into their physical education programs to increase athletic performance. In November of 2005, he received the Michigan Physical Education Teacher of the Year Award in Traverse City, MI. For more than 20 years, Coach Jackson has worked with top world speed trainer, Tom Shaw with speed camps and training programs in New Orleans, at The University of Michigan, Florida State University and most recently, at the Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida (January 2008).Coach Jackson was a 3 year starter on the Central Michigan University Football Team and a wide receiver and punt returner on the MAC Championship teams of 1979 and 1980. He was also a top sprinter on the CMU Track Team.Coach Jackson has worked with various professional athletes who have benefited from speed training programs: Donovan McNabb, Levi Brown, Tom Brady, Hines Ward, And1’s Spyda, Jason Fabini, Tony Parrish, Laron Landry, A.J. Pierzynski, Anthony Spencer, Jarvis Moss, Ryan Harris, Chris Leake, and twenty 2007 NFL Draft picks.He recognizes the importance of building speed to increase performance in all sports. “Improving speed, power, agility, reaction and quickness can give you the edge you need to move to the next level of your game.” Coach JacksonFor more info on SPARQ Training or the SPARQ rating system visit: www.sparqtraining.com