by Coach Kevin | May 23, 2015 | Blog
It’s really important for us coaches in all leagues, whether rec or competitive, to remember that coaching kids is about more than getting wins. First and foremost, it’s about developing character, learning life skills, and acquiring a love of the game of baseball. Now, I’m a competitive person at heart, and I have a very high ethic for helping my players be the best players they possibly can be. I coach every practice and every game with a win in mind, and I’m often successful. However, there are other considerations that come into play, that are even more important. The last time I completed my position charts, I took a look and saw that so-and-so was in the outfield the whole game. This is a kid who is very inexperienced, and has poor throwing and catching skills. However, he has his heart in the game, and he does his very best every time. So, I took a deep breath and put him in at second base one inning. It was hard for me to put him in at second. This wasn’t the best position for getting the win. But it was fair to my eager young player. (His reflexes are good enough that I’m not worried about him getting beaned.) And you know what? He rose to the occasion and stopped a ball from getting through into the outfield. Then he found the ball on the ground behind him, and made a decent enough throw to get the out at first. What a great experience for him! We know there’s a lot to teaching baseball to kids. It’s not...
by Coach Kevin | May 23, 2015 | Blog
A good catcher is a major key to winning ballgames, yet often, all the glory goes to the pitcher. The catcher is usually overlooked, underrated, and not given his due for the contribution he gives to the team. I can relate to this myself. When I have a pitcher who throws strikes, doesn’t give up many walks, and is difficult for the other team to hit, I walk away from this game thinking, “What a great game so-and-so pitched.” But someone had to catch every one of those pitches. He had to block balls, making sure nothing got past him. He had to make plays, with a fast and accurate throw to second, without being able to take his time on the throw. He was constantly involved in just about every play. He had to keep track of when the dropped strike three rule was in effect, and remember to make tags on dropped strike threes. He had to be ready to throw off his gear to go after a little pop fly. The catcher really does more for the team than he usually gets credit for. So just remember, when the pitcher pitches a great game, to also thank the catcher for doing his job, making it all...
by Coach Kevin | May 23, 2015 | Blog
I recently came across an article about a trend in some parts of the country for youth baseball to be shrinking, both in Little League and other leagues. No, no, tell me it isn’t true! Apparently, it is true. This is happening for a lot of reasons. In some areas, select teams are pulling away from rec side of things, and becoming competitive or travel teams. Now, some competitive teams provide a good opportunity for kids. However, often times, the competitive side is way overdone for the age of the kids. It’s too much pressure, and too tough a schedule for many of them. It just isn’t fun any more. So in some areas, there’s a small but steady stream of players moving from rec to competitive to quitting baseball. So this trend results in fewer coaches and players available for rec, and once a league starts this shrinking pattern, it keeps on going. Once they get down to 2-3 teams, no one wants to just keep playing the same teams over and over, so they lose interest. In some leagues, there is a lot of “daddy-ball”, where coaching isn’t as good as it should be. The head coach’s kid gets to play any position and never gets benched, regardless of talent, and his friends get to play in the field while others get overlooked. (I’m glad to say, I personally haven’t been seeing this in our local rec league.) Baseball also gets competition from faster-paced sports like flag football, soccer, and some others. Plus, with the advent of video games, some kids don’t do sports at all. They’re...
