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Sydney Nielsen '19 Recruiting Profile
ClubEastern Iowa Barracudas
Height5'9"
Weight160lbs
Age23
Primary PositionCatcher
Secondary Position3rd Base
Dominant HandRight
20 yrd sprint (60 ft)3.19
Pro Shuttle (5-10-5)5.44
Pop Time1.99
Video
August 2015Personal Statement
I have been playing softball since I was 4 years old. Over the years I have taken the extra steps to be the best catcher I can be. I have attended various camps throughout the years. I take hitting lessons with Coach Gayle Blevins (Former University of Iowa Head Softball Coach). I also have catching lessons with Coach Nicole Wood (Former catcher and assistant coach at Drake University). As an 8th grader, I was the varsity starting catcher. The program went from having a losing season the previous year to one game away from making the state tournament when I stepped in as an 8th grader. I would like to think that being a positive person and accepting my new role as the starting catcher helped the team gain some confidence. I was the only person in our goal setting meeting that wrote down go to state as the team goal. You might say I was a little gutsy but I had confidence in my teammates that we could do great things. We did great things but fell short of getting to state by one game.
Some qualities that make me a valuable student-athlete for any college program includes my ability to work well with others, being coachable, having a strong work ethic, and my leadership skills on and off the field. I consider myself to be a role model to others by working hard and making good decisions on and off the field. I am committed to putting in the time and effort needed to continue to be successful in both my academic and athletic careers. My softball goal is to be part of a team that competes for conference titles, regional titles, play in the Women’s College World Series and perhaps one day play on a National Pro Fastpitch Team.
Being a good person, teammate, and student is how I was brought up and it is who I am. I feel that I would be a great addition to any program and I will work hard on and off the field every day. Dream big or go home!
Athletics
High School Information
- Years w/ Varsity
- 4 years
- Varsity Starter
- 4 years
- 2018 Varsity Team
- Starter- Jersey: #22
Individual Awards
- 1st Team All-State, Class 4A All-District, 1st Team All-Area, 1st Team All-Conference
Team Awards
- Regional 2nd Place
- 2017 Varsity Team
- Starter- Jersey: #12
Individual Awards
- 2nd team All-State, All-District Team, 2nd Team All-Area, 1st Team All-Conference
- 2016 Varsity Team
- Starter- Jersey: #21
Individual Awards
- 2nd Team All-Conference, 1st Team All-Area, 3rd Team All-State, All-District
- 2015 Varsity Team
- Starter- Jersey: #21
Individual Awards
- 2nd Team All-Area, 2nd Team All-Conference
Team Awards
- Conference 3rd Place, Regional 2nd Place
Club Information
- Seasons of Club Experience
- 7 seasons
- 2018 Eastern Iowa Barracudas (18U Gold)
- 2018 Fall Schedule: Aug. 25-26 Iowa City, Iowa Tournament Sept. 1-2 Lakeville, MN Tournament Sept. 22-23 Oskaloosa, Iowa Tournament Sept. 29-30 Peoria, IL Tournament Oct. 13-14 Chicago, IL Tournament Oct. 19-21 St Louis Tournament Nov. 9-11 Nashville, TN Tournament
- 2017 Eastern Iowa Barracudas Gold (18U Gold Team)
- Aug. 26-27: PGF Stars of Tomorrow in Iowa City/Coralville Sept 2-3: Top Gun Des Moines IA Sept 10: Fairfield IA Tournament Sept. 16-17: Oskaloosa, IA Tournament Sept. 30 - Oct. 1: Iowa City Tournament Oct. 7-8: USA Elite Select Fall Prospects Tourney at Louisville Slugger Complex in Peoria, IL Oct. 20-23: St Louis Showcase, Week I Oct. 27-29: Sun Classic in Orlando, Fl.
- 2016 barracuda purple 18u (18U)
- 2016 19th Annual St. Louis Softball Showcase October 21-23, 2016 (https://www.eteamz.com/STLEXPOSURE/). My USSSA Profile: http://www.usssa.com/fastpitch/PlayerLocker/#/?gdSport=16&PlaID=4818334
- 2015 Eastern Iowa Starz (14U USSSA/ASA (Fall 2015/Spring 2016))
- My coach has the following tournaments for the spring 2016: 3/26 Line Drive to End Hunger, 3000 4th Ave. East Moline IL., 4/2-4/3 Quad Cities Ice Breaker Moline, IL., 4/15-4/17 ASA State Tournament Des Moines, IA., 4/23-4/24 Mt Pleasant Spring Fling Mt Pleasant, IA., 4/30-5/1 Iowa City Slugfest Iowa City, IA.
- 2014 Marion Indians (14U ASA/USSSA Fall 2014-Spring 2015)
- I moved up to 14U during the 2014-2015 season. During fall ball, the team played in the Mt. Mercy University Softball Tournament in North Liberty IA. My first at bat was a home run straight over center field.
- 2012 12U ASA and USSA Softball: Marion Indians (12U ASA/USSSA (2011-12 & 2012-13 & 2013-Spring 2014))
- I have had several coaches from Cedar Rapids to Des Moines, IA comment that I am by far the best catcher they have ever seen at this level. I played on the !2U during the following seasons: 2012-2013 and 2013-2014, at which time I moved up to 14U.
- 2009 10u ASA/USSA Marion Indians Softball League (10U ASA/USSSA (2009-10 & 2010-11))
- I played on the 10U team during the following seasons: 2009-2010, 2010-2011, 2011-2012, at which time I moved up to 12U.
Coach References
- High School Head Coach
- Scott Fruehling
- Private Coach
- Gayle Blevins (Hitting Coach/Former UofI Head Coach)
- Travel / Club Coach
- Steve Hull
- Travel / Club Coach
- Ken Thimmesch - Barracudas Gold
- High School Head Coach
- Kim Knapp
- Travel / Club Coach
- Don Vanourney
- Position Coach
- Kyle Sherm(Diamond Dreams/Catching Coach)
- Position Coach
- Nicole Wood (Catching Coach)
Events
- Camp/Event
- Southeast Iowa All-Stars Exposure Camp
- 8/06/17 to 8/06/17
- My camp sessions included catching, hitting, base running and infield. After lunch, we were put into teams and we played 3 games all while working with college coaches from all over Iowa....ISU, Iowa, Simpson, Luther, William Penn, Indian Hills.
- Camp/Event
- 2016 Iowa USSSA All-State Showcase
- 7/23/16 to 7/23/16
- http://usssa.com/fastpitch/AllTourn2/#/?gdSport=16&stateID=42&classID=1093&classID=1025&classID=1026&classID=1054&classID=1086&seasonID=20&statureID=0
- Camp/Event
- USA Elite Select All American Tryouts
- 4/24/15 to 4/24/15
- http://usaeliteselect.com/all-american/ (Central Region) Team Selections for the central region will be held on May 15 6p cst (http://www.usssalive.com/usaeliteselect). All American Games will be held July 13-16 in Orlando, FL.
- Camp/Event
- Coach Gayle Blevins Catching Camp
- 1/02/15 to 1/02/15
- http://www.ddsportsacademy.com/gayle-blevins-catching-clinic.cfm
- Camp/Event
- Gayle Blevins Pitching/Catching Camp
- 8/05/14 to 8/07/14
- Catching Techniques: receiving/throwing, framing, blocking. Defensive drills. Catching workouts and strategies.
- Camp/Event
- Coach Schneider Hitting Camp
- 7/28/14 to 7/28/14
- Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School held a hitting camp featuring University of Wisconsin assistant coach/hitting coach Randy Schneider. The clinic was offense based. Attendees of this camp worked with one of the top hitting coaches in the country. This camp is a great opportunity for athletes attending to learn from Coach Schneider and to be seen by a Division 1 softball coach. The primary focus of the camp was to improve the athlete's hitting skills.
Training
- Hitting Lessons
- 1 year
- I have had a few hitting lessons with Coach Joe Yegge (HC Kirkwood Community College Softball Program).
- Coach Schneider Hitting Camp (University of Wisconsin assistant coach)
- 1 year
- Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School held a hitting camp featuring University of Wisconsin assistant coach/hitting coach Randy Schneider. The clinic was offense based. Attendees of this camp worked with one of the top hitting coaches in the country. This camp is a great opportunity for athletes attending to learn from Coach Schneider and to be seen by a Division 1 softball coach. The primary focus of the camp will be to improve the athlete's hitting skills. Sydney attended this camp in Cedar Rapids IA (Kennedy Softball Complex) July 28, 2014.
- Gayle Blevins - HItting Lessons
- 5 years
- Hitting lessons with former University of Iowa Head Coach Gayle Blevins.
- Catching Lessons
- 2 years
- Coach Nicole Wood has been working with me on my catching skills. She was a catcher and utility player for Drake University during the 2004-2005 seasons, returned as an assistant coach in 2007. Coach Wood's background information: http://godrakebulldogs.com/coaches.aspx?rc=139
- Diamond Dreams (Catching Lessons)
- 1 year
- I have had some additional catching lessons at Diamond Dreams Coralville, IA with Coach Kyle Sherm.
Additional Sports
- Basketball
- 4 years
- Club/Travel Team
- I participated in AAU league for my first 4 years. Then I participated 7th grade school basketball and my team only lost one game that season. I was a started on the 8th grade school basketball team and my team went undefeated in 8th grade.
- Track
- 2 years
- Freshman Team
- 4/16/2015 8th grade Marion Track Meet: I took 2nd in shot put, ran 12.7 in the 100 meter leg of the sprint medley which we took 1st place and in the 4x400 I ran a 1m 13s 400 and again we took 1st place.
- Basketball
- 3 years
- Varsity Team
- Played on both JV and Varsity in 9th, 10th and 11th grade. We made it to state all 3 seasons: 2015-16 semi-finalist, 2016-17 state runner up, 2017-18 STATE CHAMPS).
Statistics
| Statistic | 2018 Varsity Team | 2017 Varsity Team | 2016 Varsity Team | 2015 Varsity Team | 2014 Marion Indians |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BA | .465 | .513 | .346 | .333 | .550 |
| GP | 36 | 36 | 34 | 36 | 38 |
| AB | 114 | 115 | 104 | 111 | 80 |
| R | 13 | 36 | 6 | 14 | 34 |
| H | 53 | 59 | 36 | 37 | 44 |
| 2B | 8 | 16 | 11 | 9 | 7 |
| 3B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| HR | 9 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| RBI | 37 | 48 | 29 | 39 | 27 |
| Slug% | .772 | .913 | .538 | .514 | .825 |
| BB | 11 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 8 |
| SO | 4 | 2 | 5 | 16 | 7 |
| OB% | .520 | .540 | .398 | .368 | .591 |
| Sac | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| SB/Att. | 2/3 | 7/7 | 3/3 | 23/0 | |
| Put outs | 196 | 147 | 98 | 132 | |
| Assists | 25 | 27 | 20 | 23 | 29 |
| Errors | 3 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 6 |
| Fld% | .987 | .972 | .983 | .963 | .973 |
| Team Record | 19-17 | 14-22 | 12-22 | ||
| Thrown Out Runners | 12 | 12 | 7 | 3 | |
| Attempted | 42 | 45 | 20 | 55 |
Academics
Grades
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Test Scores
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Academic Accomplishments
Are you in honor classes?
NoAre you in AP/IB classes?
NoRegistered with the NCAA Eligibility Center?
YesAwards and Activities
- Awards10th grade honor roll all 4 terms, received the Principal's Award for maintaining at least a 3.5 GPA all school year - Academic Letter 9th grade honor roll all 4 terms, received the Principal's Award for maintaining at least a 3.5 GPA all school year and got my Academic Letter 8th grade honor roll with a 3.29 GPA 7th grade honor roll with a 3.25 GPA
- Activities1/8/2017: Got a job at my local Pizza Ranch working 12-15 hours on the weekends. 10/27/2016 - 1/13/2017: Volunteered in Ms. Sarah McGlynn's 7th grade math class for one hour each day during the term and earned 50 volunteers hours toward my silver cord. Fall 2016: I am a volunteer coach for the Marion ASA 10U program. May 2015: Participated in our school's One Day In May. All the high school students go out into the community to do clean up work in the parks, plant flowers, clean dog kennels, visit with the elderly. I volunteer at Hilltop Ranch working with horses and assisting the children that are learning how to ride.
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