For the first time ever the World’s Largest Baseball Convention will be heading to Columbus, OH for the 82nd annual ABCA Convention. Today’s episode covers everything you need to know about the convention hearing from Craig Keilitz, Jon Litchfield, Kurt Birkins, Juahn Clark, Zach Haile and Ryan Brownlee.

Our goal every year is to make this a wonderful experience for our attendees, guests, sponsors and exhibitors. I hope you enjoy, and we look forward to seeing everyone at the 82nd ABCA Convention on January 8th through the 11th. Thanks again for your support and trust. Here is to a great show for everyone!

If you run a baseball facility, Swift is the only piece of software you need to manage & grow your business. From scheduling and payments to memberships and retail - Swift takes care of it all. Your coaches can use the app to manage their schedule on the go. And your customers have a sleek & fast way to book online. Lessons, rentals, camps, packages, and more - all in one spot. That’s why hundreds of the best baseball facilities across the country rely on Swift. And now, with their upcoming “AI Front Desk”, you can literally put your business on auto-pilot. Get started in minutes at runswiftapp.com/abca. Spend less time behind the screen, and more time on the field.

The ABCA Podcast is presented by Netting Pros. Netting Professionals are improving programs one facility at a time, specializing in the design, fabrication and installation of custom netting for backstops, batting cages, dugouts, bp screens and ball carts. They also design and install digital graphic wall padding windscreen, turf, turf protectors, dugout benches, dugout cubbies and more.

Download & Subscribe to the Podcast:
https://abca.castos.com
https://www.abca.org/podcast

Online: https://www.abca.org

ABCA Member Benefits: https://www.abca.org/benefits

Become a Member: https://www.abca.org/apply

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Safe travels to all the coaches headed to Columbus this week! The ABCA is excited to welcome everyone for the 82nd annual ABCA Convention. Stay tuned as the Convention Preview Episode drops this Wednesday, January 7th to help make your trip and on-site experience as smooth as possible!

Kicking off convention week on the ABCA Podcast is Lyndon Coleman, head coach at Pasco-Hernando State College and the 2025 ABCA/ATEC NJCAA Division II Coach of the Year.

Coleman led the Bobcats to their first-ever NJCAA National Championship this past spring, capping a remarkable rise since taking over as head coach in 2019. This March, he was also named Athletic Director, following in the footsteps of PHSC legend Steve Winterling—adding another chapter to a career deeply rooted in the program as a former player, assistant coach, and now leader.

Under Coleman’s leadership, PHSC owns a 219-125-1 overall record, including 126-75 as head coach. He earned his 100th career win in just his third full season (March 7, 2022) and has guided the Bobcats to five NJCAA DII Region 8 titles and five trips to the NJCAA DII Southeast District 10 Tournament in North Carolina.

Despite spending the first six years without a conference affiliation, Coleman still built a national contender. When PHSC joined the Sun-Lakes Conference, the Bobcats immediately won the regular season title. In Coleman’s first season as head coach, PHSC also finished third at the NJCAA DII World Series in Enid, Oklahoma—earning him NJCAA and ABCA Southeast District Coach of the Year honors.

In this episode, Coach Coleman breaks down program building, championship culture, leadership growth, and the lessons learned along the journey to a national title.

Brian Johnson is the founder of the social training platform Heroic, a Public Benefit Corporation focused on helping people flourish by embodying their "best, most Heroic self" through integrating ancient wisdom and modern science, with a goal for 51% of humanity to flourish by 2051.

Johnson is the author of the book Areté and has worked with the Navy Seals, Notre Dame Football and the European Rider Cup Team. Johnson has a philosophy background and is known for distilling down complex ideas into practical tools, promoting themes of self-mastery, wisdom, courage, love, and helping individuals activate their potential.

Johnson will be presenting on the main stage at the upcoming ABCA convention in Columbus, OH. In this episode, we cover a wide array of peak performance topics that will help everyone become the best version of themselves. Johnson also just released Philosopher’s Notes which he personally, not AI generated, condensed over 700 books to save reader’s time. Allowing leaders to focus on eight domains of wisdom which are energy, habits, stoicism, mental toughness, purpose, productivity, relationships and leadership. ABCA Podcast listeners can sign up at philsophersnotes.com/ABCA.

If you run a baseball facility, Swift is the only piece of software you need to manage & grow your business. From scheduling and payments to memberships and retail - Swift takes care of it all. Your coaches can use the app to manage their schedule on the go. And your customers have a sleek & fast way to book online. Lessons, rentals, camps, packages, and more - all in one spot. That’s why hundreds of the best baseball facilities across the country rely on Swift. And now, with their upcoming “AI Front Desk”, you can literally put your business on auto-pilot. Get started in minutes at runswiftapp.com/abca. Spend less time behind the screen, and more time on the field.

The ABCA Podcast is presented by Netting Pros. Netting Professionals are improving programs one facility at a time, specializing in the design, fabrication and installation of custom netting for backstops, batting cages, dugouts, bp screens and ball carts. They also design and install digital graphic wall padding windscreen, turf, turf protectors, dugout benches, dugout cubbies and more.

Download & Subscribe to the Podcast:
https://abca.castos.com
https://www.abca.org/podcast

Online: https://www.abca.org

ABCA Member Benefits: https://www.abca.org/benefits

Become a Member: https://www.abca.org/apply

X/Twitter: https://x.com/abca1945

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abca1945

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ABCA1945