Mental Game Expert Since 2008 John Kelly has been teaching the mental side of the game to hundreds of athletes from coast to coast with the goal of building “rock solid” sports confidence, mental toughness and an increased joy for the game in an ever competitive youth sports environment. John has experienced consistent success working one-on-one with athletes of all ages, all competition levels and all sports. John also does group and team trainings for top college, high school and travel softball programs across America. John has a unique talent to both educate and inspire athletes at all ages to play their best and love the game! John has authored five books and three audio programs/online courses centered on fastpitch softball and the mental game. He is also a contributing writer for Fastpitch TV and Max Preps as well as co-host on the national “Softball Zone” radio show based in Ohio. John’s “Softball Smarts” blog and Facebook have a vast following in all 50 states and several countries. Fastpitch Game Coach John is currently the Head Softball Coach at Ave Maria University in Florida and a former a member of the Georgia Tech Softball coaching staff. John has been coaching youth sports since 1996 when he coached the JV baseball team at La Jolla Country Day, his Alma mater, and exclusively fastpitch softball since 2003 at the recreational and All Star levels at North Shore Girls Softball, and at the travel level with The Next Level (“TNL”) 2010-2016. John coached and managed at every age level of TNL, including the 18 Gold level. In total John has coached in excess of 1,200 fastpitch games. In addition to John’s on the field responsibilities with TNL he was also Recruiting Coordinator and worked diligently with TNL athletes, their families and dozens of college softball coaches to find the best fit for college athletic and academic scholarships. John is also the former Head Softball Coach at Scripps Ranch High School in San Diego and in his first season won the C.I.F. State Section Division 1 Softball Championship in 2015 (the first section softball title for SRHS since 1999), and won an Eastern League title in 2016. Playing Experience John was a four sport athlete in high school (football, baseball, basketball, track), earning 1st team CIF honors in baseball his senior year. John also raced yachts competitively with peers who went on to win Olympic medals and America’s Cups. In college John played baseball at both the University of Denver and the University of San Diego as a pitcher and outfielder. John also briefly played football at USD before an injury ended his season. com.