Coach Michael Bastian
Owner/Operator of The Fastpitch School
Coach Bastian’s professional coaching experience spans 25 years internationally as well as in the United States, encompassing all levels of softball. His experience includes having served as the Head Coach of the Chinese National Softball Team from 2005-2008, USA National Team coaching staff member from 2000-2005, assistant coach for the 2003 USA Softball Junior World Championship Team, as well as having coached in the WPSL and colleges throughout the United States. He has also served as a private instructor to members of the USA Olympic Team. Additionally, Coach Bastian has acted as a director and instructor of numerous international, national, and collegiate camps. His many years of international and domestic clinical presentation experience includes having been a featured speaker at many International Softball Federation (ISF) clinics around the world, as well as well as having been a featured speaker at the 1996 NFCA Coaches Convention, college camps, and numerous softball clinics held throughout the United States.
Presently, Coach Bastian owns and operates The Fastpitch School, and has developed Team TFS club franchises, as well as Team TFS International. In addition, he offers private elite softball lessons through The Fastpitch School. Due to the time spent and relationships formed while coaching and teaching in China, Coach Bastian also formed the Chinese Softball Foundation, a non-profit organization, which aids Chinese softball players as well as fosters international softball development. The experiences and skills Coach Bastian gained while coaching in Asia have been very beneficial. Few individuals in the sport offer the diversity, experience and ability to uniquely share their knowledge with others.
Xin Miao
Director- Asia and International Operations
Xin Miao brings extensive and knowledgeable sports management experience to The Fastpitch School. A former athlete on the Beijing Provincial Softball Team from 1992-1998, she then traveled to England to further her education, earning a Masters degree in Sport Management. After earning her degree, she returned to China to work for the baseball organizational department during the 2008 Olympic Games. She has spent the ensuing years in various management and leadership roles, such as Secretary for the Director of Mu Xu Yuan Sports School, Secretary General of the Baseball and Softball Branch of Beijing University Sports Association, and Director of Xin Mei Sports Culture Development Co., LTD. Currently, Xin Miao serves as the Head Coach of the Women’s Softball Team of North China University of Technology.
David Heintzelman
General Manager- Team TFS North Texas (NTX)
A former U.S. Army Officer, with a graduate degree from Johns Hopkins and undergraduate degree from Delaware, brings discipline and strong organizational skills to Team TFS. He has worked 20 years at several Fortune 500 companies (Verizon, Verizon Wireless, Nokia, and Nokia Siemens Networks) where he has held various sales, marketing, operations and general management positions in North America and Internationally. Coach Heintzelman has spent 10 years coaching youth fastpitch softball in Texas, serves on the Grapevine Baseball Softball Association Board and is a proud member of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
Monti VanBrunt
Head Coach- Team TFS NTX 18U
Monti VanBrunt joined the Team TFS Texas Organization after a stint at NCAA Div II Mount Olive College Trojans in Mount Olive, NC.Prior to Mount Olive, Van Brunt spent six years coaching softball and baseball at the international level.
VanBrunt coached the Tex Town Tigers Club to a Gold medal in the 2011 European Champions Cup. He was named the 2008 Dutch Federation Softball Coach of the Year and the Sport Ambassador of the city of Enschede after leading Tex Town Tigers to the Dutch League Championship with a 35-7 record. VanBrunt coached players who earned Dutch League Best Hitter, Best Pitcher and MVP awards in 2008 and 2007, including Best Hitter of the 2007 European Championship and 2007 ISF (International Softball Federation) Junior World Championship. Monti spent one season in the Italian Softball League coaching for BSC Legnano, who was the reigning European Cup winner.
VanBrunt participated at the Elite level of the game of Fastpitch as part of the coaching staff of China’s National Softball Team in 2006 ISF World Championship, finishing with a fourth place. He is in a group of only a few coaches in the world to have coached Olympians from 4 countries (China, Italy, the Netherlands and Australia), and was crucial in developing the youngest Olympic softball player in Olympic softball history.
Brent Herndon
Assistant Coach- Team TFS NTX 18U
Coach Herndon was born and raised in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. He attended Newman Smith High School in Carrollton, Texas, where he played baseball. Upon graduation, he played shortstop for two seasons at Paris Junior College in Paris, Texas, and Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Brent is happily married for 21 years to Cindy Herndon, and has two daughters- Samantha, age 11, and Chelsea, age 17.
Coach Herndon coached recreational softball for approximately 5 years in the Carrollton Farmers Branch Girls Softball Association at the 8u, 10u, and 12u levels. He has served as an assistant coach for approximately 4 years at the 14u, 16u, and 18u Club levels, including having served as an assistant coach to Monti VanBrunt since his joining of the Team TFS Texas coaching staff.