National YOUTH BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS CROWNS 2021 CHAMPS
Steel Sports hosted the 2021 National Youth Baseball Championships on July 19-25 at Baseball Heaven in Yaphank, NY. It marked the event's return after the 2020 edition was canceled due to COVID-19. Three national champions were crowned in the 11U-13U age divisions with 32 teams competing. Aside from the strong competition on the field, teams enjoyed an interactive concourse all week long with a DJ, stage show, Under Armour trailer, interviews, games, HitTrax demo and more.
FloBaseball provided live broadcast coverage of 19 games during the week, an NYBC record. Over half the field played in a broadcasted game, including every team in the 12U division.
Congratulations to this year's champions: MVP Hustle Ruiz in the 11U and 12U divisions and the New Jersey Renegades in 13U. Next year's NYBC is set for July 25-31, 2022 back at Baseball Heaven.
GLOBAL FIVE5 National CHAMPIONSHIP RELAUNCHES IN VIRGINIA BEACH
BY JACOB KEPPEN
The Global FIVE5 National Championship took place over the Fourth of July weekend in Virginia Beach. The festivities were kicked off with a grand opening ceremonies celebrating all of the participating teams.
“Our inaugural, re-envisioned Global FIVE5 National Championship was a huge success in Virginia Beach!” exclaimed Felicity Day, Vice President of Steel Experience and the event director responsible for running the event.
In the U9 bracket, Atletico Columbia out of Rhode Island finished in first place in pool play, going undefeated, including a 3-2 win over second place Trap Boys. The New York East Trap Boys would avenge their opening contest defeat with a 2-1 victory over Atletico in the final to win the National Championship.
Boston Bolts 2010 East Pre-EYPD put their name in the headlines, going undefeated and winning the U11 Boys bracket. The boys from Boston only conceded one goal to runner-ups Real SC out of New Jersey en route to the national championship. Not to be outdone by their fellow Bostonians, Boston Bolts 2008 East Elite swept the competition on the way to a U13 championship.
For Boys U16 and Girls U11, Steel was the word in Virginia Beach. Steel United Massachusetts took home the U16 Boys championship. The Massachusetts outlet only conceded once in a 1-1 draw with Steel United Golden Steel. Steel United Virginia would bring the club their second championship, winning the U11 Girls bracket. Steel United Virginia’s U14 Girls team nearly brought Steel their third title of the day, but came up short with South Shore Select winning the final match, 4-0.
In addition to the games, there were other other fun activities at the re-envisioned Global FIVE5 National Championship. There was the Yokohama Tire Challenge where players had to see if they could kick the ball through the tires in each corner of the goal, a TeqBall table, soccer tennis, a food truck, a photographer taking action shots and the Fine Designs tent selling merchandise, all while the DJ played tunes to keep everyone swaying.
It was much more than just games being played in a tournament. As Day said, “It was a great family-friendly event with a fun, festival atmosphere – a true great Xperience!”
Morgan Stickney PREPARES FOR PARALYMPICS
Morgan Stickney, a champion swimmer headed for the 2021 Paralympics in Tokyo will be working with Steel Partners and Steel Sports to speak to children and their parents about her journey as an athlete and activist, and about how life lessons learned through sports like grit and perseverance helped her to overcome obstacles and succeed as a Paralympian. Morgan will also join the Steel Sports National Advisory Board with Julie Foudy, Nancy Lieberman, Dusty Baker, Bobby Valentine, Eric Karros, Tziarra King and more.
Morgan will be featured on two episodes of the Steel Sports Podcast in the upcoming weeks where you can learn about her remarkable story. Despite significant obstacles, Morgan never gave up on her dreams of competing on the world stage. Now, she is a proud member of the 2021 U.S. Paralympic Team, competing in the 400-meter freestyle and 50-meter freestyle.
We're proud to be part of Team Stickney, and will be rooting for her hard in Tokyo!
STEEL SPORTS BRINGS COACHING SYSTEM to SL POWER
At the end of July, Steel Sports brought its Coaching System and positive developmental relationship approach to SL Power, a Steel Partners Company based in California. Steve Jones, Senior VP of the Steel Sports Coaching System, and Ali Haehnel, Senior VP of Social Impact, presented on sessions involving leadership and our core values of Teamwork, Respect, Integrity, Commitment. The Steel United CA 2009 Boys Elite team joined the group on the beach for a fun training session and gave the SL Power team a signed Steel United jersey to take home!
TEAM STEEL EXPANSION
Starting this fall, Team Steel will now have operations in four states as California and Colorado hosted tryouts in July and Pennsylvania is next up in August. Colorado saw a massive increase with over 125 players attending tryouts, and the program could increase to seven teams from two in its inaugural season! Los Angeles Dodger legend and Steel Sports Advisory Board member Eric Karros recorded a special pre-tryout meesage for the young players in California. Check out EK's message below!
CORE VALUES CONTEST
In the spirit of Steel Sports' four core values, Steel Partners is sponsoring $40,000 in prizes to employees who exhibit Teamwork, Respect, Integrity and Commitment. Lucas Milhaupt's Wilson Wei was recently nominated and randomly selected as the Teamwork $10,000 grand prize recipient. Steel Partners' employees are encouraged to nominate their teammates in the Respect, Integrity and Commitment categories. Winners will be randomly chosen in each category with the nominees and nominators receiving $5,000 each.
HOFSTRA BASEBALL HIRES CATALANOTTO
Steel Sports Advisory Board member Frank Catalanotto was named the head baseball coach at Hofstra University on July 7. A Long Island native who enjoyed a 14-year Major League Baseball career, Catalanotto spent two years (2019-20) as the head coach at New York Institute of Technology. He led the Bears to their first-ever Division II College World Series appearance in his first season, winning a program record 37 games.
In 2020, Catalanotto had the nationally-ranked Bears off to a solid start to the season as they had nine wins in their first 14 games before the COVID shutdown occurred. New York Tech was ranked No. 24 nationally when the season ended.
Welcome back to coaching, Frank!
Scenes from New Jersey's SUMMER TROPHY
July 10-11 — LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ — U8-U16
Staff Spotlights
We are excited to announce Felicity Day as our Steel Sports Staff Star for July. Felicity went above and beyond organizing and executing two overnight camps with over 100 kids in Massachusetts. In addition, she led her team through obstacles in July, directing our Global FIVE5 event at The Rave Athletic Complex in Virginia Beach. All of these events show a true testament to her hard work, determination, and teamwork.
July’s Impact MVP is New Jersey's Stuart Sharples! Stu raised over $2,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project Carry Forward 5k. He had an initial goal of $250 but was determined to pass that goal and keep the momentum going, and he exceeded $2,000 in donations! He shared footage with our Steel Sports communities and inspired us all while running the 5k wearing a weighted vest to represent the "carrying" of a wounded warrior. Way to go, Stu!
NATIONAL INTERN DAY
On July 29, Steel Sports and Steel Partners celebrated National Intern Day with a virtual town hall hosted by Executive Chairman Warren Lichtenstein. In this online event, interns and co-ops from each business unit were invited to ask Warren about career growth, networking, and opportunities to improve our internship program. Through Steel Grow, the internship and co-op programs aim to foster an environment of personal and professional growth so each employee can achieve their full potential within the Steel Partners family. To further celebrate, interns and co-ops received a branded hoodie and Bluetooth speaker for the town hall. Brian Seay (featured in photo), a Steel Sports Social Media and Content Intern, will be graduating from Rowan University in 2023 with a Double Major in Radio, Television, and Film and Sports Communication. His favorite project with Steel Sports has been the Steel United Summer Kickoff party. We are lucky to have him on our team!