Successful Coaches: Nick Zumsande

To be the head coach of a team, one needs to have a good work ethic and a vast knowledge about baseball. From making practice plans to deciding final line-ups, every little decision can determine a team's success. In this article, the head coach of the Clear Creek-Amana, Nick Zumsande, discusses his time as a head coach, how he got there, the upcoming season and what it means to be successful.

SUCCESSFUL COACHES SERIES
Presented by Chloe Williams- PBR Iowa Intern (2021-2022)

Nick Zumsande, Head Coach, Clear Creek-Amana Clippers

Zumsande has been the head coach of the Clippers for the past 3 years. He played baseball at Iowa State for college and got his Master's at Northwest Missouri State. After that, he started coaching there. Then Muscatine CC contacted him and he started to coach there for 12 years. After that, he was an assistant coach at Iowa State, Iowa, and Indiana State. Next, he worked for the Miami Marlins as a scout for 11 years. He decided that he didn't want to work for them anymore and that's when he came to Clear Creek-Amana. 

Zumsande attributes what success means to him to the kids he coaches. He says, “It's all about players and there has to be commitment. The talented players that are committed to excellence formulate a successful team.”

Describing the culture of his team Zumsande says, “I think the culture is still a work in progress here. My first year here was the COVID year and we weren't even sure we were gonna play. I inherited a bunch of committed guys that were well coached in the past and everything worked out and we ended up going to play in the state tournament.

He continues, “I still do believe we have a lot of work to do culture wise. When I say culture I'm really pointing toward expectations and getting young people to expect to excel every year.”

Looking forward to this season Hodges talks about the potential of his team, “I've got a good core returning. I think they've worked hard. I think they're a talented bunch.  I look forward to seeing those guys on a daily basis once we kick off. We'll have a relatively young pitching staff, but that doesn't mean they don't have talent either. Hopefully they mature and the talent matches up to the expectation and the level of what they need to do to be competitive.”

Zumsande has helped the Clippers prepare for this season by doing the basics. He says, “I think our off season has been really good. We've taken advantage of the fall pitcher catcher program and I think you can see the improvements that they made. We've been hitting on a regular basis. There's been a regular hitting regimen that, has been voluntary, but a lot of guys have attended it. And obviously we'd been into a pitcher catcher throwing program probably since the mid of February.”

Zumsande has had a great amount of success with the Clear Creek Amana team and this year will be no exception. Him and the Clippers are looking forward to playing a great season of baseball.