If there was ever any doubt as to Mississippi State softball head coach Jay Miller’s status as one of the elite coaches in the country, the proof is in his summer job description. He is the head coach of the U.S. Elite softball team, a national select squad that has served as a breeding ground for some of the US Olympic team’s most talented athletes.
The United States is one of the only countries in the world that fields two Olympic-quality national teams. The Elite team basically serves as a farm team for the Olympic squad, training and cultivating the future of American Olympic softball.
“Our first year (as a team) was 1999, and with the exception of the three or four girls on the team who were Olympians in 1996, all the Olympic players have been U.S. Elite players, and gone through the process.
“(Having the Elite Team) gives us a huge advantage over other countries,” Miller observed. “It increases the amount of talent in our national pool. It (also) allows us to take future Olympians and expose them to international competition. So as the veterans retire, we are able to replace them.”
Miller speaks often with Olympic team head coach Mike Candrea on the state of the Elite team and which of his girls are ready to move up to the Olympic level.
“He asks for my input regularly,” Miller said of Candrea. “We hold tryouts every year, and I will give him a detailed recommendation of which girls he needs to look at, and which are ready for the first team, second team, et cetera.”
Miller has been involved with the squad for the past eight seasons, serving as skipper for the last five. However, this year’s squad has been unique.
“This year’s team was much younger than other teams we’ve had,” Miller said. “We went for players that still had college eligibility, and we ended up with only one returning player from last year’s squad.”
The team competed in the Canada and Champion’s cups and finished with a 13-5 overall record. However, they surrendered their Canada Cup crown to Australia after a loss to China, and also lost out to the Aussies in the semifinals of the Champion’s Cup.
“We only had two practices before we went up to Canada and it was tough to really gel together as a team,” Miller said. “For most of them, it was their first experience with USA Softball.”
While Miller is very concerned with the state of softball on the national level, he also sees the benefits of the US Elite program reaching further than just the quest for gold, but all the way back into the program he is establishing at Mississippi State. Aside from the obvious recruiting benefits that are associated with having a coach use his spare time to coach a team bearing the names U.S. and Elite, there are also benefits to the coach and his staff.
“One major advantage to me is to get to be around (Olympic team head coach) Mike (Candrea) and his Olympic staff. I get a chance to learn from the best coaches in the country just like the players do. Whether its technical (guidance) or strategy, these guys are on the cutting edge. To be able to bring that back to our team here is a huge boost to the program.”