JCJ Athletics · Lakeville, Minnesota

Home of theMinnesota Mirage

JCJ Athletics is a nonprofit youth softball organization in the south metro Twin Cities. We run the Minnesota Mirage — our 12U club team — and clinics that are open to any athlete who wants to get better, whether she ever wears our jersey or not.

Meet the team Talk to us

Named for Jim Jensen, who spent his life coaching kids and believed girls deserved real coaching and someone willing to expect a lot of them.

The Minnesota Mirage team in teal uniforms alongside an orange pickup truck
The Roster

Meet the Mirage

Our 12U team for the 2026–27 season.

Evie S. in a Mirage Softball shirt at the batting cages
6
Evie S.
Bailey M. in her Mirage uniform
7
Bailey M.
Aria S. in her Mirage uniform
9
Aria S.
Peyton U. in a Mirage Softball shirt at the batting cages
10
Peyton U.
Alice J. in her Mirage uniform
12
Alice J.
Amelia S. in a Mirage Softball hoodie at the batting cages
13
Amelia S.
Kennedy W. in her Mirage uniform
15
Kennedy W.
Harper S. in her Mirage uniform on the infield
23
Harper S.
Kennedy G. in a Mirage Softball shirt at the batting cages
29
Kennedy G.
Hazel P. in her Mirage uniform on the infield
78
Hazel P.
Harper H. in a Mirage Softball shirt at the batting cages
99
Harper H.
Fall 2026

Where to find us

Our 12U fall tournament schedule. Come watch.

Sep18

Coach Jack Thibault Charity Challenge

Twin Cities metro, Minnesota
USSSA Qualifier
Oct2

USSSA Minnesota Fall State Tournament

Twin Cities metro, Minnesota
State Tournament
Oct11

MFA Trick or Treat

Brooklyn Park, Minnesota
One Day

Dates shown are start dates. Fields and game times are set by the tournament directors closer to each event — message us and we will point you to the bracket.

Our Story

He raised the bar
for female athletes

Jim Jensen sitting on volcanic rock in falling sleet, smiling, with hikers climbing the slope behind him
James Christian Jensen
November 1944 – December 2025

Jim Jensen was one of the first coaches in his community to take girls' sports seriously — and to say out loud that they had been handed less.

He spent his life in youth sports, coaching from elementary school through high school, whatever sport needed someone that year. Then he had a daughter, and he started paying attention to what the girls were actually given: the fields nobody else wanted, whatever coach was left over, and underneath it a quiet assumption about how much you could reasonably ask of them.

He set about raising all three — the facilities, the coaching, and the expectations. The last one mattered most to him, because expectations cost nothing and they change how a girl sees herself.

That is the idea this organization is built on, and it is why we carry his initials. We intend to keep pushing on what a girls' program is expected to be.

  • Leave every place better than you found it
  • It is never too much to ask you to do what you are capable of
  • There is no I in team
The Program

What a season
with us looks like

Three things we try hard to get right.

01

Coaches who can teach the position

Pitching mechanics, catcher footwork, a swing that holds up when it matters — taught by people who know how to teach them. That is what club ball should add, and it is the part we care most about getting right.

02

A standard, held kindly

Jim's line was that it is never too much to ask you to do what you are capable of. We coach to that. Effort and attitude are things we actually talk about, alongside whatever ends up in the box score.

03

A price that isn't the deciding factor

We are a nonprofit and our coaches are volunteers. Fees go to field and dome time, tournament entries, and equipment — nobody is taking a margin or a salary out of this. If cost is the only thing standing between an athlete and the program, tell us and we will figure it out.

What It Costs

The whole number,
before you ask

$2,000
Full 12U season
December 2026 – July 2027
12U season fee$2,000
Coaching and practices — all coaches volunteerIncluded
Tournament entriesIncluded
Winter training and dome timeIncluded
ClinicsIncluded
UniformNot included
Travel, hotels, foodFamily covers

Where the money goes

JCJ Athletics is a nonprofit and every coach here is a volunteer. Not one dollar of your fee becomes anyone's paycheck. It goes to field and dome time, tournament entries, and equipment — and that is exactly why the number above can be what it is.

A comparable Minnesota club season runs $2,750 to $4,500. If the fee is the one thing keeping your daughter off the field, say so when you reach out. That conversation stays between us.

Coaches

Who's on the field

Every one of them is a volunteer. This is who your daughter would actually be working with, and none of them are doing it for a paycheck.

Coach Mike

Founder

Founder of JCJ Athletics with a long history in youth sports. Mike's interest is in helping these athletes find success far past the game — in life.

Coach Heidi

Pitching

A pitcher herself, Heidi leads the pitching program — mechanics, and the mindset it takes to stand in the circle when it isn't going well.

Coach Cass

Coach

Eight seasons on Mike's coaching staff.

Coach Matt

Coach
Winter 2026–27

Winter hitting
clinics

Hitting with our coaches three nights a week, December 6 through February 28. Open to any 10U or 12U athlete — she does not have to play for us. Twenty players a night, and that is the whole thing.

Dates
Dec 6 – Feb 28
Nights
Sun · Mon · Thu
Time
8:00 – 9:00 PM
Where
The Cages, Burnsville
Ages
10U & 12U
Spots
20 a night
All-Star

One night a week

$325
Dec 6 – Feb 28

Come one night each week, and pick which night week to week. You reserve your nights on our sign-up calendar, so if something comes up you take a different night instead — nobody is locked into a fixed day.

MVP

Two nights a week

$500
Dec 6 – Feb 28

Two nights every week — twice the reps for less than twice the price. You reserve both nights the same way. This is the one for an athlete who wants her swing to look different by spring.

Registration is open

Pick your package and register below. Twenty spots a night, first come, first served — and once they are gone, registration closes. After you register you will get a link to the sign-up calendar, where you reserve the nights your player will attend.

Register now Ask a question first

No clinic on Thursday, December 24 or Thursday, December 31, and the last session is Sunday, February 28. Payment is due at registration and is what holds the spot. All sales are final — we do not offer refunds. Once the twenty spots are gone, registration closes and anyone after that goes on the waitlist. Mirage players attend as part of their season fee and reserve their nights like everyone else. If cost is the one thing keeping your daughter out of this winter's clinic, reach out and we will talk.

Sponsorship

Put your name
behind the Mirage

We are a nonprofit, and the number on the season fee is a decision, not an accident. Sponsors are how we keep it there.

A comparable Minnesota club season runs $2,750 to $4,500. Ours is $2,000, and we would like to keep it that way — or lower it. Every dollar a sponsor puts in is a dollar a family does not have to find.

Sponsorship is also how we say yes when a family tells us the fee is the only thing standing between their daughter and the field. That conversation happens more than you would think, and we would rather never have to say no to it.

If you run a business in the south metro and want your name on something that gets a kid on a field, let's talk. We will figure out what makes sense for you — there is no packet and no pressure.

Talk about sponsoring

Where sponsorship goes

  • Winter dome and gym time. The single most expensive part of the off-season in Minnesota, and the part that decides how good a team is by June.
  • Tournament entries and travel for a fall and summer schedule that puts these athletes in front of real competition.
  • Equipment — balls, nets, screens, catching gear — so no athlete is held back by what her family can buy.
  • Keeping the fee where it is, and covering it outright for a family who needs that.
Also from JCJ

Clinics, open to
any athlete

Beyond the winter hitting clinics, we run free skills clinics — pitching, catching, and off-season work. Any athlete can come. You do not have to play for us, and they are included for the players who do.

We will also bring a clinic to an association's in-house program. When we are in your gym we are there to coach, not to scout — a clinic is not a tryout.

In the off-season, every athlete can keep her throwing arm healthy with our 10-minute arm care routine. It runs on a phone at home: press start and follow the animated player.

Ask about a clinic Arm care at home
Get In Touch

Start a conversation

A real person reads every one of these, and you will hear back. There is no drip campaign on the other end of this form.

Text to join
Text MIRAGE to 651-888-8396
Facebook
JCJ Athletics
Where we are
Lakeville, Minnesota — south metro Twin Cities