The Head Coach of DuPage Training Academy’s 18U Elite program is Sarah O’Malley-Fisher. In six seasons as Co-Head Softball Coach at the University of Illinois - Chicago, O’Malley-Fisher’s team won two conference tournament championships, one regular season conference championship, and made two NCAA regional tournament appearances. At UIC Sarah developed 12 All-Conference First Team players, 11 All-Great Lakes Region players, and four All-Americans. Prior to her arrival at UIC, O’Malley served as assistant and coached for the Whiteford/Stonecity Sharks 18-Under team to an 18U National Championship. Although Sarah is now raising a young family, she remains a highly sought after personal coach with a long list of students she schools in the time proven techniques. Joining Sarah’s coaching staff on the DTA Elite are several very experienced non-parent coaches who will follow Sarah’s lead and teach the fundamentals needed to generate success in Travel Ball, High School and beyond. It is Sarah’s goal to develop DTA Elite players to be positioned to be more successful and recruitable.
Casey Slechta : Assistant 18U Coach
One of the assistant coaches at the 18U level is Cassie Slechta. Cassie graduated from Walther Lutheran High School (Melrose Park, Illinois) in 2008. Throughout her high school softball career, as a four-year varsity starter, Cassie earned many awards for outstanding athletic achievement including: All-Area 2007, Most Valuable Pitcher (Edwardsville Invitational 2007), Walther Lutheran Zemke Christian Athlete Award 2008, United States Marine Corps. Distinguished Athlete 2008 and United States Army Distinguished Athlete 2008. Cassie went on to play at the collegiate level for Concordia University Chicago (River Forest, Illinois) where she currently plays under the talented coaching staff of Alison Aguilar Haehnel (UIC record holding pitcher) and Shavaughne Desecki (DePaul All-American). She has also taken lessons under the pitching instruction of Tori Nyberg (Stanford 2003, Northwestern Pitching Coach). Cassie is a two-time qualifier of the Northern Athletic Conference All-Sportsmanship Team. In 2010 she was awarded the Concordia University Chicago Coach’s Award for her outstanding performance and dedication on the field and in 2011 was named the Concordia University Chicago Defensive Player of the Year. In her collegiate career, Cassie has started 109 out of 111 games.
Tom Lux : Assistant 18U Coach
Another assistant for the 18U DTA Elite coach Tom Lux. Tom covers all aspects of the game and brings a positive approach to help players master time tested hitting fundamentals. In 20 seasons, Tom has coached in over 900 youth softball, travel team and national tournament games for the DuPage Training Academy, Glen Ellyn, Wheaton-Briarcliff and Glendale Heights Softball Associations. As a parent of two recently recruited, and very successful college softball players, Tom can provide his perspective on what it takes to prepare for and navigate through the college softball recruiting process.
Kayla Kramer : Head 16U Coach
Head Coach of the 16U DTA Elite is Kayla Kramer, a former West Chicago High School standout who earned two varsity letters and earned All-DuPage Valley Conference honors at shortstop her senior year. Kayla was also the fifthleading hitter in the conference (.416) and set the school’s single season record for home runs with 10 as a senior. Kayla was selected to the Chicago Sun-Times Super 60 in Illinois as one of the top 60 seniors in the state and was unanimous All-conference. She went on to play for the highly ranked Kankakee Community College Cavaliers softball team where she helped lead the Cavaliers to top 5 National finishes each of her two years at KCC. During her freshman year at Kankakee, Kayla hit .333 with four home runs and 37 RBI in 107 at bats. During her sophomore year, Kayla Hit .363 with 57 hits in 157 at bats and belted 10 home runs. She also earned all-region honors her sophomore season at KCC and turned in a .948 fielding percentage at shortstop with 50 putouts and 95 assists. After, Kayla finished her career at Northern Illinois University where she played both infield and outfield for the Huskies. In 2009, she was the team leader in triples, was ranked third on the team in both batting average and RBI’s and fourth in runs scored. She also produced five multi-hit and four multi-RBI games.