Kerry Rodd will be the women's head softball coach at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College and will lead the team into its inaugural season next spring.
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College introduced Rodd as head coach during a press conference on Aug. 1.
"We are very pleased to have [Rodd] lead this program," said Donald Day, Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College president. "He will be a great addition."
The new softball team will begin intercollegiate play in the Minnesota Community College Conference in the 2008 season. Rodd accepted the duties and responsibilities of building the new program from the ground up and looks forward to the challenge.
"This will be a real grass roots situation for awhile because we are building the program from scratch, but that is what excites me so much," Rodd said. "To be able to put our stamp on the program and make it [one] we can all be happy about is important."
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Rodd has coached softball in the area for 14 years at nearly all levels from youth leagues to high-caliber traveling teams, as well as at the college level.
Some of the local teams he's coached include the Minnesota North Stars U-18 team, the Cloquet Heat, and with Ron Tondryk, the Minnesota XPlosion U-18 A Team.
He's also coached four Minnesota State ASA-MSF Champion teams, including the Cloquet VFW Silver Bullets U-14 team last weekend.
Rodd has coached more than 50 players who have gone on to play college softball. He has also been involved in organizing hitting and fielding clinics for younger players.
"Our team will be very involved in the community that way," he said.
Rodd is currently in the process of meeting some of the new players and recruiting other possible student athletes to the program.
"We will work on recruiting most of our players from the immediate Cloquet and Carlton County area as well as the schools within a 70-mile radius of [the college]," he said. "We have already been in contact with many of the area high school coaches in an effort to get our name out there for future players."
Rodd has also contacted possible candidates for an assistant coaching position and will count on part-time volunteer help from Joel Korby and Scott Rodd in the meantime.
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A preliminary agreement has been reached with Jeff Woollett and the Cloquet Youth Baseball/Softball Association for the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community softball team to play their home games at Braun Park, according to Rodd.
"Braun Park is the perfect match for us because of its beauty ... and proximity to the college," he said.
In addition to his position as head softball coach, Rodd works for Quarnstrom Media/WKLK radio and is the sports writer for the Pine Journal. He is a 1976 graduate of Cloquet High School and a 1978 graduate of Lake Superior College.
