Former Storm, Spartan, Kougar, Teri Cain returns home for Sycamore Storm Dayz

SYCAMORE – From the moment Teri Cain started her KAOS Fastpitch travel softball team, she had one event circled on her calender.

Starting a program in her new home of northern Kentucky wasn't going to stop her from coming home.

Cain's KAOS is one of the 78 teams that began play Friday in the 15th Annual Storm Dayz Tournament at Sycamore Community Park. Cain is a graduate of Sycamore and Kishwaukee College, plus was a member of the Kishwaukee Valley Storm who played in the first edition of the event.

"It was (a given). I had to," Cain said. "I loved this tournament since they first began it, back when I was with the program."

Cain, who's maiden name is Becker and was a NJCAA All-American her final year at Kishwaukee College, is at the helm of two of the three KAOS teams in the tourney, which begins its second day today. The tournament concludes on Sunday.

KAOS has an 14-and-under, 12U and 10U in the tournament. Cain coaches the 14U and, since a coach unexpectedly quit, the 10U team. She said the Storm was a big influence on her.

"I consider us almost a sister organization," said Cain, whose father Bill Becker is the coach at Kishwaukee College and a member of the Storm board. "I take their philosophies and apply it. This is something, they are why I wanted to continue coaching and start and organization. I just loved being with Sycamore Storm all through the years."

Cain said she started the team out of her Burlington, Kentucky, home because she felt other travel teams in the area – just across the border from Cincinnati – didn't travel enough.

"We decided to start a program that traveled more and got more college exposure," Cain said. "There's a lot of good local teams around there, they just don't get as much exposure or travel as much. That's something we were trying to incorporate in our program."

Cain was an assistant for Kishwaukee College under her father and was an assistant at a couple of high schools in Kentucky before starting the KAOS program, which stands for Kentucky Academy of Sports.

"It's work, that's for sure," Cain said. "I love it. I am fortunate enough to have a lot of really great girls and really great parents to make my life easier. It's always going to be work to please everybody and make sure everybody is happy. I guess the thing most important to me is that I'm giving them everything I told them I'd give them. All my promises, I want to make sure I succeed for them that they get the exposure and they get to learn something."

Becker said it's exciting to see his daughter picking up the coaching torch.

"I think it's awesome," said Becker, who said he has not only coached but coached with all three of his children. "She was asking the right questions to get things started. She understands things from the players' point of view, but from the administration side she was asking the right questions. It was awesome to see her giving back what she has benefited from."

Cain said she not only wanted to return to Sycamore for Storm Dayz, but wanted to attend other tournaments frequented by the Storm, including one last week in Germantown, Tennessee, just outside of Memphis. But Storm Dayz was the big one.

"I love walking around, and it's still the same guys that run the organization, mostly," Cain said. "A few missing, a few new, but it's really good to be back and see everybody. Even the same umpires come back year after year."