About Us
We're glad your here!
The rest is history. Now in it's 29th year, the Diamond Gems is one of the oldest and most iconic fastpitch softball organizations in New England, having had thousands of players pass through and many of the areas most well respected coaches playing a role in it's storied history. Established in 1995 by Coach Jim Rines, the New England Diamond Gems have proven successful at the national, regional and local levels in it's 29 years. While in recent years, we've admittedly stayed a bit closer to home, we're proud that 99% of our athletes have made their middle and high school teams and that we have guided more than 200 athletes on their desired path to play in college. Many of our athletes over the years have earned their degrees while playing 4 years of college ball and went on to have careers and families of their own. As a certified non-profit 501c3 in good standing, The Diamond Gems have always offered players and their families a phenomenal value to compete at a high level for the love of the game at a much lower cost than 'for profit' organizations.
We love softball. Really. We do. And we are committed to the development of character as well as the social and mental well-being of all our student-athletes. That said, we believe athletes should participate in other sports or activities, especially at the younger age levels. In doing so, it builds a well rounded athlete physically and mentally and doesn’t burn a kid out on one sport or activity before high school. Representing your school team in any sport should be first priority and believe it or not, we are part of that process. Communication is important to us. We'll work with you and your school commitments whatever they are, because we know that once school is out, you're 100% committed to play softball! (which, BTW, we love).
Time to Adult? Woah! Not so fast! We also have an 18 plus team for athletes who have aged out and any current college players who wish to compete during the summer. This team plays locally so the athletes can maintain summer jobs and still have an opportunity to prepare for their fall college tryouts or workouts.
Sunflowers and #7. Since 2020, The New England Diamond Gems hosts our own annual invitational tournaments for each age level in memory of Jenna DeAngelis, one of our own Diamond Gems that we lost too soon in a tragic automobile accident. We encourage you to learn more about our beloved Jenna and her story by clicking here.
Thank you for visiting!