Individual Attention, Quality Coaching Helping Breakers Thrive

Chris Williams

There’s the longstanding catch phrase of there’s no I in team, but for the Breakers organization, the individual and their continued improvements are an important part of the overall team’s success.

The Breakers places an emphasis on the individual and prides itself on a simple philosophy: making each player better at the end of the season than he was at the beginning. That’s not to say the Breakers doesn’t instruct players about the value of teamwork and being a good teammate. The organization stresses it’s a team game and talks all the time with the players about that.

The organization developed in 2010 in response to the financial cuts in the junior varsity programs throughout Broward County. There was one team, 18 players and five coaches.

“We were not very talented, but it was an incredible summer and word just grew from there about how dedicated we were to practice and the actual teaching of the game,” Director Ben Bizier said.

The organization has blossomed to include six teams as well as 12 professional, college and high school coaches. Among them are South Broward assistant Chad Boone, Broward College pitching coach Kyle Leith, former Tampa Bay Rays player and St. Thomas graduate Shawn Riggans, former Cincinnati Reds player and current McArthur pitching coach Derrick Conatser and Ed Bonilla, a coach at Alonzo Mourning High School.

“Coach Chad Boone is probably the best up-and-coming coach in Broward County,” Bizier said. “He’s an assistant at South Broward right now and wherever his first head coaching job is will be a lucky place. He’s incredible with players. I also have Kyle Leith, who coaches with me as the pitching coach at Broward College. He runs a very intense practice and is very astute at addressing individual adjustments. The coaches are the reason we have built such a solid reputation. I spend as much time making sure we have the right coaches in place as I do anything because I know that ultimately they will have the most interaction with the kids.”

Bizier’s baseball background includes playing college ball in North Carolina and professionally in Europe for three seasons. He has been an assistant coach at Broward College for the past four years, the past two as the lead hitting and positional coach.

Combine the experience of all those coaches and what you have is an organization that is fundamentally different.

“Our practices are run in the most professional manner possible,” Bizier said. “We have an outfield coach, a catching coach, an infield coach, a hitting coach and a pitching coach at every single practice and players get individual attention from a coach who understands our program and can relay information and expertise to players. We’re communication-oriented, meaning that players know what we are looking for because we spend time explaining it. We are positive, organized and efficient.”

Ron Williams, father of Ronald Williams, a junior who plays for American Senior High School in Miami, said the reason is clear why players would want to be part of the Breakers.

“Every summer brings a new organization with the intent to put together a showcase team to compete with the elite teams,” Ron Williams said. “My son Ronald Williams has played for several different tournament teams, and I have coached one of them. As a result, I can tell you what separates the Breakers for other organizations is practice. Practice is a vital part of the Breakers’ system. Baseball is a very difficult game especially at the higher levels, so to just expect players to show up and put the uniform on and play in these highly scouted tournaments against some of the best talent in the world is a formula for disastrous performances under pressure from players that don’t practice on a regular basis as a team and an organization.”

Nick Alonso

Another parent happy with the experience his children have received from the Breakers is Mark Hanke, father of Drew and Michael Hanke. Drew is a junior catcher at Cardinal Gibbons and Michael a freshmen at Flagler College.

“[The Breakers program] has set the bar very high with the overall experience when it comes to the showcase organizations,” Mark Hanke said. “I will usually explain to new families that can you get not only the opportunity to be showcased but to also have developmental practices. Not only are there practices that are a full 2.5 hours several times a week, but the coaches will also work on specific positions. It’s like having your own personal coach for the summer. That type of value goes a long way with not only the players but the parents as well.”

Bizier said he gets calls throughout the fall and spring from players who can’t wait until the summer because of the lack of attention they receive from their coaches.

“I can’t say enough about [the entire] Breakers coaching staff,” Monarch’s Nick Alonso said. “During the summer and now in the fall, I have had the chance to be coached by almost all of the coaching staff from the Breakers. They all have different personalities, but the main thing they all have is a positive attitude. There’s no yelling or degrading. They all give positive feedback and instruction and this is what we need. Every coach is respected out there.”

Bizier said the door is open for program to grow and more coaches to sign on.

“My goal is only to help as many players across South Florida as possible while also giving an avenue to a coaching staff to grow as well,” Bizier said. “I have great coaches now, but I’m always looking for others who can help in the vision as well.”

The Breakers participate in all the major tournaments throughout the year, including the East Cobb National Championships in Georgia in the middle of the summer, the JUCO/HS Showcase in Lakeland in the fall as well as big tournaments in Fort Myers, Jupiter and the Tampa/Sarasota area.

The cost to join the Breakers varies from season to season. Costs are higher in the summer because of the volume of major showcase tournaments in addition to practicing three times per week. Bizier said the organization remains competitive and most times is less expensive than those competitors.

The Breakers have had only two graduating classes so far, but there are several players who have benefited from the program. Among them is its first D-I prospect, an unheralded player from McArthur named Jack Welch, who signed with Bethune-Cookman last year. Among his achievements is a three-run home run against Florida International. Archbishop McCarthy players Jason Morozowski and Brandon Roberts went on to play for Florida International and Carson Newman. Two other Division-I commits are Douglas’ Derek Fritz (Florida State) and Western’s Max Balter (UT-Martin).

“My favorite stories are the guys who really didn’t have interest from big schools in Florida but are out there pursuing their dreams at the smaller universities,” Bizier said. “You know these guys love the game.”

Some of those guys Bizier is thinking of are West Broward’s Alex Zapata, who is at Greensboro College in North Carolina, and Dr. Krop’s Larry Molina, who plays for Lake Land Community College in Illinois.

The 18U Breakers team gets together after a championship win.

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