About

The Driven Academy is Lincoln’s premier baseball and softball training center. Our number one service is individual instruction.  Our coaches have over 200 years of experience playing and coaching at the club, collegiate, and professional levels.  Combining our talent with state-of-the-art equipment and a passion for teaching the game to athletes of all ages and abilities, The Driven Academy is committed to helping players exceed their goals and achieve their dreams.

Not-So-Secret Philosophy…

Our secret is a focus on the process. Every young athlete enjoys hearing “good job”, but if we only praise the results, we undervalue the work required to achieve those results. What happens when the day comes that someone hits the ball further, throws harder, or runs faster than our child? What’s left for a child with a fixed view of the universe that they are already “the best”? That’s why The Driven Academy staff praises what we value; EFFORT, INITIATIVE, RIGOR, and ATTEMPTING NEW THINGS. These core values foster a growth-mindset approach that helps the young athlete become an adult who is self-motivated, appreciates growth, and measures ability based on being the best version of me.

The long term results on the field that ensue from all that hard work?  We include those for free.

These four pillars act as our foundation.

  1. Continuing Education:Defined as pinpointing what knowledge is of most value for the student, embracing how the student learns, determining how the information should be taught, and finally assessing the student’s grasp of the knowledge. Three parties are intertwined in this process…
    1. The player: drills, instruction, technology (especially the use of video and still frames), game analysis.
    2. The coach: player/coach clinics, coaching seminars, coaching webinars, full-blown clinics given by some of nation’s best clinicians
    3. The D.A. Staff: D.A. will hire the best teachers regardless of past athletic accomplishment. To ensure this, every applicant will be required to submit a resume (with references), interview, and then teach at least one individual and/or group lesson while under the assessment of the Coaching Director. Staff members will be required yearly to attend at least one out-of-state clinic/convention, one in-state clinic/convention, and watch or read relevant material.
  2. Deep Practice: Hard, efficient work. The linchpin of growth through learning is more than “getting after it”, or “busting your tail”. It’s about HOW you work. This is a concept known as “Deep Practice”.
  3. Player Development:The blossoming of a client as a player, person, competitor, and student of the game. Development is created by the meshing of three concepts: Ignition, Deep Practice, Coaching/Mentoring.
    1. Ignition: That moment when it becomes clear to an individual that, “This is what I want to excel at!” It could be a quote, a person, a moment of success, or a simple realization that this activity brings me joy.
    2. Deep Practice: This is the HOW of rigor; the conscious joining of body and mind during every repetition is Deep Practice.
    3. Coaching/Mentoring: The person who best integrates the process of development due to their vision, approach, motivational technique, or matching/contrasting personality type. In essence, the person who provides the guard rails and direction to the “ignited” athlete.
  4. Relationships: The lasting value of athletics lies in the people met, and the goals accomplished with the help of others. We see the teamwork involved in helping a player reach her goal as something that creates a lasting bond.
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What People Say

“At Driven, the athletes are encouraged to see that they can change their physical skills as well as their mental approach to the game. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing kids get excited about hard work and feeling confident in their abilities.”

Mullendore Family

“Not only is our daughter learning from the best, but she is learning to be the best – Driven Academy style with great technique and character. As a parent, I can tell you, The Driven Academy is truly impressive.”

Broad Family

“It is hard for me not to gush about The Driven Academy. Coach Ekeler and the entire staff bring such a positive vibe…you feel it right when you walk in the door.”

Payne Family

Let’s build something together.