About Us
After many years of giving private instruction at local facilities, Leslie felt it was time to have a "home of her own". In 2009, Leslie opened All*Starz Training Facility in Lodi, NJ. Although All*Starz is just a 2 lane facility, Leslie and her staff have created a "private" environment where players, parents and coaches come to learn the fundamentals of the game. It is "by appointment only" to ensure that the facility is focused on those who choose to train with us.
Over her 36 years in the sport of softball, Leslie has served as an assistant coach for Bloomfield College (Div.2), nationally ranked Montclair State University (Div.3) as well as Felician University (Div.2). Specifically as a college level pitching coach, Leslie played an integral role in each of these teams post season play. Recently Leslie traveled to the Czech Republic to the U18 European Softball Championships to watch and support Ryan Rose Burke (Nutley, NJ/St. Mary's HS). Ryan began her softball career at 9 years old taking pitching and hitting lessons with Leslie. Ryan Rose and her team won the Bronze Medal and will be playing in the 2024 World Championships in Brazil. From the experience, Leslie met and spoke with many people at the event and has been inspired to introduce the sport of softball to Armenia. The social media outlet Armenian Sports News recently interviewed her about this new project which she will begin working on in the new year. Previously, Leslie spent time training Britney Guzman (John Jay HS/Bloomfield College) to prepare her for international play in Puerto Rico. She accompanied Britney to Puerto Rico which resulted in her receiving an invite to try out for the Puerto Rican National Team and accompanied her to Plant City, Florida.
Leslie has a long history of both participating in as well as organizing clinics for players of all ages as well as for coaches. Leslie has worked alongside some of the biggest names in softball: Margo Joncker (former pitching coach for the USA olympic team), Dina D’Aquino (former coach of the NY/NJ Juggernauts professional softball team), Jaime Wohlbach (Head coach East Stroudsburg University, Former Assistant Coach Peru National Team, Current Assistant Coach for the National Team of Chile, USA Softball 12U All American Games - Head Coach for Region 1 Team Stripes, an international clinician, and former Pro Player), local softball legend Frank "Butch" Baldino (NJ High School Softball Coaches Hall of Fame Inductee) and most recently former All*Starz student Kayla Rosado (Monmouth University) and her father, Fernando, who is currently the Head Coach for the 16U Team Nitro as well as a fastpitch softball player himself.
Along with many local organizations and high school programs Leslie was sponsored by Subway Restaurants in conjunction with Williamsport, PA to conduct a clinic for the Newark Ironbound softball program. Leslie also served for 5 years as the director of the Yogi Berra Museum summer softball camp. During that time, Leslie worked closely with Dave Kaplan who was the founding museum director as well as Yogi Berra’s co-author.
Leslie has also had the privilege to work with past MLB players as well. Tommy Rowe (Baltimore Orioles and NY Mets), Jose Antigua (Chicago White Sox) and most recently Ramon Nivar (Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles). These experiences helped and continue to help Leslie's understanding of mechanics as well as the game itself.
In 2019, Leslie was chosen as the Head Coach for the Northeast Region Team 2 of 3 for USA Softball's 12U All-American Games. In 2021 and in 2022 she was an assistant coach, under Jaime Wohlbach, for Region 1 Team Stripes. The games are held at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City. This event will provide National exposure to elite athletes in the 12u age division and has been designed to identify and highlight the best athletes from across the country. Designation to a USA Softball All-American team is the highest honor a player can receive and instantly brands the player as one of the top athletes in the United States. Only 360 girls Nationwide will have the opportunity to wear the USA Softball Jersey at this elite event.
As a player, Leslie received pitching instruction from the top instructors in NJ and PA: Roz Bostonian (former pitcher for the Budweiser Belles), Vicky Morrow (All-American at University of Michigan/member of the Pan Am softball team), Carol Erickson (former head coach at William Paterson University), Betty Zwingraf (taught Olympian Michelle Smith), and Darryl Stofflet (Lehigh Valley Fastpitch Hall of Fame). Her playing experiences include participating in the 15u ASA National Softball Tournament in Marietta, GA. with the North Jersey Shiloh. At 16, she played ASA Major level softball with the North Jersey Regals and continued playing ASA Class A softball with the Linden Arians. An All-County and All-State pitcher from Leonia High School she posted a 70-18-1 career pitching record and a career batting average of .390. At 18, she pitched against the Raybestos Brakettes who’s roster included Dot Richardson and Sheila Cornell (both members of the USA Olympic softball team) and Kathy Arendsen, Barbara Reinalda and Pat Dufficy (all members of the Pan Am softball team). Leslie was a 4-year starter for Muhlenberg College and posted a 40-45 career pitching record, 64 complete games and 477.1 total innings pitched. In 1993, she was nationally ranked with the 23rd best era (1.67) in Div. 3. She also had a .349 career batting average as well as numerous All-Conference, All-Region honors and Centennial Conference Player of the Week recognition 2 years in a row. Leslie was named both the Sophomore and Senior "Athlete of the Year" for Muhlenberg College. In 1995 Leslie was invited to play and coach in Italy’s professional softball league (Milan).
A former high school history teacher and head softball coach at Hasbrouck Heights HS for 8 years, she received the 2005 Governor’s Teacher’s Award and in 2006 was named a “Claes Nobel Educator of Distinction”. Leslie currently resides in Hasbrouck Heights with her husband Michael, son Dane and their English Bulldogs Pebbles and BamBam.
