​The Champions Elite Summer Showcase kicks off this week and FloSoftball.com will be there to live stream the action Friday through Sunday at two of the venues, Twin Creeks and Hobgood Park .

One of the top showcase events of the young summer, here's a list of reasons why this event is one you'll want to check out all weekend long!

1. One of the Summer's Best Tournaments

There are big club tournaments every weekend in June and July, but Champion's Elite brings in 125 teams from 14 states including many of the best in the South with a particularly strong representation from the Peach State.
Top teams to watch for this weekend include, but aren't limited to:

• 14U: Atlanta Vipers Trowell; Mississippi Bombers 14U Gold; EC Bullets 02 Byars; EC Bullets 2021- Heath; EC Bullets Aycock; TN Fury 03; GA Power DeMarini Gold; GA Power 14u -- Grace; Firecrackers SC Reese; Central Florida Vipers
     

• 16U: Atlanta Vipers Moore; Frost Falcons 01; Marrucci Patriots 16U Gold; Gold Coast Hurricanes Herrera; EC Bullets Caldwell; GA Academy Power DeMarini Gold-Tunon; Gainesville Gold McFayden; GA Impact Stewart; Team GA Henning


• 18U: EC Bullets Gold Schnute; Atlanta Vipers Vallery; EC Bullets Biele; Marrucci Patriots Gold; GA Power DeMarini 18G Schumacher; GA Impact National Lewis; Gainesville Gold Phillips; Atlanta Vipers Palazzo; SE Intensity Bass; Firecrackers NC; TN Fury 18Gold

2. Great Players Past & Present

One of the top players in softball today, University of Florida pitcher Kelley Barnhill, a 2015 high school grad, and this year's NCAA Div. I National Player of the Year, passed through the Champions Elite as she worked out personally with Event Director Stacy Tamborra who founded and runs the Champions Fastpitch Academy, the host sponsor of the event.

And there's a lot of young promising players hoping to be the next Barnhill will play this weekend including Hot 100 pitchers like Keara Napoli (Atlanta Vipers -- Vallery, 2017), a Georgia signee pictured to the left; Ava Tillman (Georgia Impact -- Lewis, 2017), who is headed to Ole Miss and Kelley Lynch (East Cobb Bullets -- Biele, 2019), an Auburn commit.

Speaking of Andrew Biele's exciting Bullets team, not only does the Georgia-based program have Lynch, it also fields three more D-I bound hurlers in Logan Caymol (Tennessee, 2018), Angelina Biele (Duke, 2018) and Chandler Dennis (Michigan, 2019)

And this 18U team has 11 SEC commits, four ACC verbals and one Big Ten-bound standout in addition to one of the top uncommitted seniors-to-be in outfielder Alison Durrence, a 6-foot power hitter who has multiple SEC and ACC offers.

And that's just one team... there are literally dozens of prospects headed to Power Conference schools who'll be fun to watch take the fields starting Friday on FloSoftball.com.

3. History of the Champions Fastpitch Academy

Behind the stacked event is the Champions Fastpitch Academy, which, founded on Christian principles, began in the spring of 2000 offering private pitching lessons in the Atlanta Metro area, and has now grown to reach a countless amount of kids throughout the entire Southeast.  

Champions' Founder and Owner, Stacy Tamborra, is a former Florida State University pitcher (1996-1999) where she was an All-ACC Most Valuable Player and earned an ACC postgraduate scholarship. She earned a Bachelors of Science degree in Exercise Physiology and a Masters Degree in Kinesiology and Biomechanics.  

After finishing her career at Florida State, Stacy and her husband Steve, a Strength Coach at Georgia Tech, moved to Atlanta for her to continue her education in medical school.  Stacy started doing lessons to pass the time until school started and her career plans quickly changed once she got a taste of the benefits of coaching young softball athletes.

After 17 years in Atlanta, Champions has helped hundreds of young players make it to the collegiate level. The company employs over 15 support staff and instructors teaching pitching, hitting, catching, and defense, and strength and conditioning programs year round.  Champions' staff includes former Division I players and coaches that, Tamborra says, "are specifically chosen based on their character as well as their ability to teach and develop high level athletes."

It doesn't end with this showcase either: from June 30-July 2nd, the Champions Independence Day Showcase will feature top Southeast teams 10U through 18U who can't make it to Colorado and in the fall, the Elite Fall Showcase will see 125 teams from around the country head to Georgia for what has been called one of the "Top 5 Fall Showcase Events."

4. Impressive Staff... Back Where They Started

 Over a dozen former Champions athletes have returned to become instructors over the 17 years the company has been in business.  

Along with Tamborra, the staff includes former Alabama All-American and National Champion Jennifer Fenton-Maloney (pictured slapping while at Alabama); another former Tide standout Chandler Dare, former Florida catcher Kristina Hiberth-Wyatt, ex-Georgia Tech pitcher Carey Schiller-Jones, Kent State alum Jamie Jones, Maisie Steed, who played at Kentucky and Callie Alford, who played at Georgia State.

"One of the greatest joys of coaching," begins Tamborra of her staff, "is to see young people realize their dreams. Champions has had the honor of seeing many of our students' dreams come to fruition. Champions instructors have devoted their lives to being positive role models for today's young people and they desire to develop and nurture athletes on and off the field with the goals of building strong personal character grounded in tremendous work ethic and centered on solid fundamentals.  This focus is where we derive our motto,  'Developing a heart of a Champion that is second to none!'"  

5. Big Time College Coaches On Hand

If a player lights in up this weekend, odds are high her performance won't go unnoticed. Over 150 different universities and colleges and over 200 college coaches will be keenly watching the young talent.

College coaches from every major conference are expected to attend and, of course, the SEC--which had every program make the post-season playoffs--will be well represented from in-state Georgia to programs ranging from Auburn to Ole Miss.

6. Location, Location, Location

With so many great players and teams, it can be a nightmare for college coaches to transverse the countryside trying to make it to various games.

Fortunately, the Champions Elite is located at five Cherokee County locations covering 24 fields total--including the two venues where FloSoftball will be live streaming: Twin Creeks and Hobgood Park--but all the fields are within 20 minutes of each other and, for those coming from out of state, it's easy to get to and around in the Atlanta area.

"We feel our location is a strength," says Tamborra, who has enjoyed working with local standouts such as Barnhill (pictured to the right).

7. Fun Format

"We feel the format for the event is fun!" the founder adds. The Elite kicks off with the standard pool games (two, in this case), but then fields a pair of exhibition games in the middle of the weekend before single elimination kicks in.

Why do break up the pool and bracket action with exhibition games?

Tamborra says the reasons are two-fold.

"First, the exhibitions games are played in a straight showcase format where all players can be seen in a free substitution format," she states. "This allows coaches the option to showcase players when the majority of college coaches are there in the primetime recruiting days."

"Second, playing the pool games first that seed the brackets also gives us time to populate the bracket schedule while teams are playing showcase games.  This way, teams know when they are playing more in advance.  The top three teams from regular showcase then play the top flight No. 1 seed throughout the bracket."

8. Impressive Champions Track Record

Not only do top teams from around the nation battle it out at the Elite Showcase, the host organization has also produced some pretty impressive alumni numbers.
Champions athletes and alumni include 130 Georgia All-State Selections, four travel ball National Champions, 20 Georgia High School "Pitchers of the Year," 55 Georgia High School State Champions, eight Collegiate All-Americans, three collegiate National Champions, one USA National Team member (Kelly Barnhill), and one Canadian National Team player (Kara Bilodeau).  

In addition, over the last 17 years, over 250 Champions Elite athletes have earned college scholarships.

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