Rick DeHart, Instructor, Baseball Pitching (*)
Coach DeHart joins Fox Valley Sports Academy as its third instructor on staff with big league playing experience (Capra, Campbell).  DeHart, a left-handed pitcher, played parts of four Major League seasons with the Montreal Expos and Kansas City Royals from 1997-2003. 

DeHart’s professional career began in 1992 and since that time he has thrown over 1,000 professional innings for several different organizations including: Montreal, Los Angeles and Kansas City.  Coach Dehart also has professional international playing experience playing abroad in Venezuela, Dominican Republic and Japan.

Most recently, DeHart played for the Schaumburg Flyers (Northern League) in 2006; Coach DeHart is currently a player/coach in the independent American Association.  Rick is available for private and group pitching instruction beginning in the fall of 2007.

Jerry Donahue, Instructor, Baseball Pitching & Hitting (7)
Coach Donahue is a former minor league pitcher with the Detroit Tigers organization (AAA). Jerry recorded an impressive 32-9 lifetime record coupled with a career 2.81 ERA during his professional career. Jerry’s career also included two minor league all-star appearances with the Tiger’s organization. Jerry was inducted into the St.Viator’s Sports Hall Of Fame in 2001 for his professional baseball achievements.
Jerry Donahue has been offering private and group pitching instruction in the Chicago area for over twenty (20) years.  Many of his students have continued their careers at the collegiate and professional levels.
Coach Donahue is available for private and group pitching or hitting instruction and is a lead camp instructor during the winter and summer months at Fox Valley Sports Academy.

Ben Erickson, Instructor, Baseball Pitching & Hitting (7)
Coach Erickson is a former scholarship collegiate pitcher and outfielder with several years of group and camp instruction at Fox Valley Sports Academy. As a player, Erickson was Judson College’s first Chicagoland Collegiate All-Conference Player in 1999 and was also an NAIA All-Region selection the same year.

Coach Erickson has spent time as a high school and volunteer assistant coach at the college level.  Ben is the Director of Baseball Operations at Fox Valley Sports Academy and develops and maintains many of the academy’s camp and training programs.

Coach Ben is available year round for private and group instruction and is a lead camp instructor at Fox Valley Sports Academy during the winter and summer months.

Justin Kees, Instructor, Baseball Pitching (4)
Coach Kees rejoins the Fox Valley Sports Academy staff for 2008. He is currently the Associate Head Coach at Elgin Community College, a program which has been to the NJCAA World Series each of the last four seasons. Last season he helped the Spartans to fifth place at the NJCAA World Series and led the pitching staff to a combined 3.51 ERA. Since his arrival at the college, the Spartans have averaged 44 wins a season and Coach Kees has produced three All-American pitchers in four seasons.

Prior to coaching, Coach Kees played professionally in the Arizona Diamondbacks' organization and posted a .625 winning percentage in back-to-back seasons with Lethbridge, a Rookie-Class team where he went 5-3, and High Desert, a Class-A team where he went 6-2. Coach Kees played locally with the Schaumburg Flyers. His career professional record, which spanned over four seasons, was 20-13.

In January 2002, Coach Kees was named pitching coach of the Rockford RiverHawks, an independent team in the Frontier League. Under Coach Kees, Rockford's pitching staff ranked second in the league with a 3.88 ERA. In the 2001 season, he was varsity pitching coach at Barrington High School, where he helped the staff post a 23-10 record.

Coach Kees is available for private and group lessons starting in November of 2007.

RC Lichtenstein, Instructor, Baseball Hitting, Pitching & Catching (7)
Coach Lichtenstein has over 12 years of professional coaching experience, primarily as a pitching coach with the Milwaukee Brewers minor league system. His teams made the playoffs in three of his first four seasons and in 1999 his staff led the Rookie level Pioneer League in ERA. In 2003, Coach RC became the manager of the Alexandria Aces professional baseball team (Louisiana).

During the last two seasons (2005, 2006), Coach RC was the pitching coach for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays Midwest league affiliate.  In 2007, RC will continue with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays organization as a pitching coach for their Florida State League team in Vero Beach, FL.

Coach Lichtenstein has worked over ten years as a pitching coach and three as a Manager and Director of Baseball Operations. Coach Lichtenstein has also taken two USA Select teams on tours of Holland, Belgium & Aruba as well as having spent the last decade specializing in private and camp instruction.

In 2001, RC Lichtenstein authored a book entitled, “Preparing to Win- The Complete Pitcher”. In 2003, RC produced a one (1) hour video follow-up to his book. Both instructional items are on sale at Fox Valley Sports Academy.

Coach RC is available for group and private instruction during the winter months at Fox Valley Sports Academy.

Ron Madej, Instructor, Baseball Pitching, (*)
Coach Madej was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in 2005.  He had a great rookie year with the Vancouver Canadians where he posted a 2.81 ERA with 28 SOs.  The left-handed pitcher then spent the 2006 and 2007 season with the Kane County Cougars.  He was selected pitcher of the month on three separate occasions with the Cougars. 

Ken Nagler, Instructor, Baseball Hitting, Pitching & Fielding (2)
Coach Nagler is a former collegiate pitcher from Winona State University in Minnesota. Prior to his college playing experience, Ken was a four-year player at Elk Grove High School. Coach Nagler’s playing experience also included a stint pitching for the Winona Chiefs a summer travel, an organization that has been in existence for over 50-years.

TJ Nall, Instructor, Baseball Hitting & Pitching (6)
Coach Nall is a current professional pitcher in the Washington Nationals organization, playing most recently in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) with the Las Vegas 51's and Southern League while with the Los Angeles Dodgers system.  TJ was a member of the 2002 South Atlantic League All-Star team, posting a 0.63 ERA in the first half. Coach Nall also played in the Arizona Fall League in 2003, spent 2004 in Jacksonville (FL) and was also selected as an All-Star for the Southern League in 2004 and 2006.

The 2006 season was a career year for Coach Nall. He led the Southern League in strikeouts (155) as well as won 8 consecutive decisions for the Jacksonville Suns. He finished the year 10-7 and had a 2.82 ERA. Coach Nall was the Southern League pitcher of the week three times in 2006; he was also the Dodger organization pitcher of the month in June, going 6-0 with a 1.10 ERA. Coach Nall tallied his first professional homerun in '06.

T.J. was an area standout while at Schaumburg High School playing for the Saxons the same year they captured the Illinois State Baseball Title (1997). Nall was named to the Chicago Tribune All-State Team in 1999 as a third basemen, and was drafted shortly thereafter in the 8th round by Los Angeles- as a pitcher.

Coach Nall is available in the winter months for both private and group instruction at Fox Valley Sports Academy.

Tim Nolan, Instructor, Hitting, Ballistic Training (3)
Coach Nolan joined the Fox Valley Sports Academy staff as an instructor from the national speaking and coaching circuit in 2003. As the inventor of six (6) U.S. Patents, Tim's ProCut Bat Weight is used worldwide from youth baseball and softball circles, through professional baseball leagues and prominent college programs.

Anne Vogt, Instructor Softball Hitting, Pitching & Fielding (5)
Coach Vogt [VOTE] is a former high school and collegiate standout from the Fox Valley area. While at Larkin High School (Elgin, IL) Anne was three-time All Area selection as well as the Courier News’ Player of the Year in 1992. Coach Vogt was also an NJCAA All-American at Elgin Community College and also received NAIA All-Region honors at Judson College (Elgin, IL).

Following her playing career, Anne became the assistant softball coach at Elgin Community College from 1997-1998 and became Head Coach at ECC from 1998-2000. In 2002, Coach Vogt returned to the Elgin Community College softball program where she is currently Head Coach. The 2006 campaign for the Lady-Spartans saw Vogt’s squad break the Elgin Community College record for wins in a season; Vogt was chosen as the Skyway Conference Coach of the year in 2006.

Anne is also the Director of Softball Operations at Fox Valley Sports Academy.  She is responsible for designing and maintaining many of the academy’s softball programs and is a lead instructor for all of the academy’s softball winter and summer camps; she is available for group and private instruction on a year round basis at Fox Valley Sports Academy.