Coach McKinney is by all accounts the grandpa (Maybe Great Grandpa) of travel softball . Coach McKinney is entering his 43rd year of coaching travel ball, and as of the start of the 2020/2021 season has over 4000 games coached.

Denny started playing fastpitch softball in 1957 at the age of 9 years old in southwest Wisconsin . Denny was taught much about the game form his uncles who were farmers by day, and ball players on the weekend. He thought for the first years of playing the standard softball uniform was a pair of bib overalls and work boots. To this day he will tell you some of his greatest memories are traveling from one small Wisconsin town to another on Sunday afternoons playing the local town team.

Denny put away his playing gear around his 50th birthday, and as he said there were just too many softballs flying past his head that he just did not see. Denny coached his first fastpitch game back in 1978 when in his words he gave his daughter no choice but to play. Along with coaching travel ball Denny coached at Hononegah High School with Head Coach Steve Stromquist from 1987-90. Denny was part of the only Hononegah High School team to adavnce to the IHSA state finals in 1989. He will tell you that it was his great luck the majority of that team played for him during travel season and today are still some of best friends. Denny tells you in his words that he has had the privilege of being part of three Class A National Championships. He will always follow that with if the ball bounced one way or the other at times in every one of them the team would have finished in 10th. Denny defiantly understands the softball gods have to give you a hand in any successes your team enjoys.

Coach Denny is very old school in his style. His philosophy is how you teach the game to be played is more important in how you swing a bat or throw a ball. When Denny is asked what he feels has contributed the most to any of his success he will tell you it always comes back to three things.  1. Good players-2 Good Coaching- & 3 Good Parents. He says if you are missing anyone of those three you are playing up hill and using mirrors.