Coaching little league

[TBayXXXVII 2,546]

Cool, good luck.

[BufordT 434]

The human eye can't see the bat make contact with the ball.

[Utilit99 4,099]

Buttermaker wins coach of the year again.

[vuduchile 1,945]

6 hours ago, Cdub100 said:

We didn't plan on playing this year. We've been flag football which my boy has been enjoying. The league president called me and said they really needed another head coach. After talking with my kid and promising to get him more infield time (daddy ball) IF he promises me to work with me at home he agreed.

I just finished day 2 of player evaluations this morning. Basically, if you are not kept by your old team (the coach can keep 9) or new to the league you are put in a pool of players. Where we evaluate your talent and hold a draft. Of the 80 kids in this position, only 2/3 showed up.  So that sucks but not unexpected.

The draft is this Wednesday, I'm probably the only coach with only 1 player (my son) so I'm starting brand new. The good news for every keeper, you lose a draft pick so I should be able to nab the 6 really good players I saw.

Interesting process for making teams.  
 

On the surface, it seems pretty unfair to the new coaches and/or less skilled players.  This way also tends to develop cliques of kids and parents, which isn’t great for the community. 
 

For rec league ball, a complete redraft each year is the best way IMO.  

Anyway, hopefully you can get some decent kids with decent parents.  I’m at the point now where I don’t even care if the kid can play.  If he and his parents are  normal and cooperative, I’ll take them.   
 

Be cautious of those 6 you tagged.    There’s a reason why their previous coach didn’t keep them.  
 

Ask your kid what they think about the kids. Do they get along with their classmates?  Are they good students or do they get in trouble at school?  
 

 

[Cdub100 3,909]

2 minutes ago, vuduchile said:

Interesting process for making teams.  
 

On the surface, it seems pretty unfair to the new coaches and/or less skilled players.  This way also tends to develop cliques of kids and parents, which isn’t great for the community. 
 

For rec league ball, a complete redraft each year is the best way IMO.  

Anyway, hopefully you can get some decent kids with decent parents.  I’m at the point now where I don’t even care if the kid can play.  If he and his parents are  normal and cooperative, I’ll take them.   
 

Be cautious of those 6 you tagged.    There’s a reason why their previous coach didn’t keep them.  
 

Ask your kid what they think about the kids. Do they get along with their classmates?  Are they good students or do they get in trouble at school?  
 

 

You're not wrong about cliques, I didn't grow up in this area and am often ignored and treated like a leaper. My wife did grow up here and everyone likes her.

Good call on the kids I didn't think of that Every single one of them is an existing player. There are all kinds of reasons kids, parents and coaches don't get along so we will see. Unfortunately they all go to different schools.

I'm with you on getting decent kids with decent parents. I told the league president instead of player evals I'd rather do parent interviews.

[vuduchile 1,945]

37 minutes ago, Cdub100 said:

 

I'm with you on getting decent kids with decent parents. I told the league president instead of player evals I'd rather do parent interviews.

Great idea. 
 

The cliques people have created around here are destroying youth sports.  One of the lessons team sports should teach is the ability to work and play with kids who aren’t your best friends. 

[Patriotsfatboy1 1,432]

It is little league.  You will not turn a kid into the next Mike Trout and, if you do have a Mike Trout, you will not prevent him from making the show.  Teach the kids fundamentals and make it fun.  All the other stuff is not really that important.  I would at least let parents know what to expect, although I don't think it is as important with baseball as it might be with other sports.  Parents will still be nuts, though.  

Oh, and enjoy it.  Before you know it, your kids will not be playing sports anymore and you will miss seeing them at this age.  

[jerryskids 6,799]

16 hours ago, vuduchile said:

Interesting process for making teams.  
 

On the surface, it seems pretty unfair to the new coaches and/or less skilled players.  This way also tends to develop cliques of kids and parents, which isn’t great for the community. 
 

For rec league ball, a complete redraft each year is the best way IMO.  

Anyway, hopefully you can get some decent kids with decent parents.  I’m at the point now where I don’t even care if the kid can play.  If he and his parents are  normal and cooperative, I’ll take them.   
 

Be cautious of those 6 you tagged.    There’s a reason why their previous coach didn’t keep them.  
 

Ask your kid what they think about the kids. Do they get along with their classmates?  Are they good students or do they get in trouble at school?  
 

 

When my daughter decided to play softball we signed her up for a city rec league.  We were lucky to end up on a "no drama allowed" team; coaches and parents were mostly great.  The league had rules about keeping players, but you could fool the system by attaching position players to pitchers and catchers and essentially maintain your team.  We did it to maintain no drama, not to be a rec league juggernaut.  When the girls got older we moved to another league which had mostly club teams; they all had perfectly matching everything, we were the "Angry Birds" and the girls just got whatever color Angry Bird shirt they wanted from Target or Walmart.  We were basically the Bad News Bears, but the umps and league loved us (see No Drama).  We ended up making the championship game; some of the other teams were less than thrilled.

In hindsight I was blessed that, by and large, each of my 3 kids ended up on teams for their primary activities which tended to avoid drama. 

[KayJay1971 239]

My daughter played volleyball for her school team in 7th grade. There was a girl from another school that somehow made it onto my daughters team (not sure exactly why). The coach of the team was VERY new and wasn't the best but no one else offered to do it so we got her. The girl from the other school's parents were very vocal about the daughters playing time and felt she was not getting enough playing time because the coach didn't know what she was doing. After one game the parents practically trapped the coach outside the school in the parking. It was getting increasingly loud and my father walked over to defend the coach. The father of the girl went apesh!t and ended up headbutting my dad breaking his nose! Guy fled. Cops were called. Basically all the other parents took the headbutters side and said my 5'6" dad was the "aggressor". Coach quit that day. Headbutters daughter was guilted into quitting even though it was her dumb@ss dads fault. Some teacher filled in for the rest of the year. They actually did pretty good for the rest of the season. 

[vuduchile 1,945]

On 3/9/2020 at 12:56 PM, jerryskids said:

When my daughter decided to play softball we signed her up for a city rec league.  We were lucky to end up on a "no drama allowed" team; coaches and parents were mostly great.  The league had rules about keeping players, but you could fool the system by attaching position players to pitchers and catchers and essentially maintain your team.  We did it to maintain no drama, not to be a rec league juggernaut.  When the girls got older we moved to another league which had mostly club teams; they all had perfectly matching everything, we were the "Angry Birds" and the girls just got whatever color Angry Bird shirt they wanted from Target or Walmart.  We were basically the Bad News Bears, but the umps and league loved us (see No Drama).  We ended up making the championship game; some of the other teams were less than thrilled.

In hindsight I was blessed that, by and large, each of my 3 kids ended up on teams for their primary activities which tended to avoid drama. 

Glad you all had good experiences.   That’s how it’s supposed to be. 

[vuduchile 1,945]

4 hours ago, KayJay1971 said:

My daughter played volleyball for her school team in 7th grade. There was a girl from another school that somehow made it onto my daughters team (not sure exactly why). The coach of the team was VERY new and wasn't the best but no one else offered to do it so we got her. The girl from the other school's parents were very vocal about the daughters playing time and felt she was not getting enough playing time because the coach didn't know what she was doing. After one game the parents practically trapped the coach outside the school in the parking. It was getting increasingly loud and my father walked over to defend the coach. The father of the girl went apesh!t and ended up headbutting my dad breaking his nose! Guy fled. Cops were called. Basically all the other parents took the headbutters side and said my 5'6" dad was the "aggressor". Coach quit that day. Headbutters daughter was guilted into quitting even though it was her dumb@ss dads fault. Some teacher filled in for the rest of the year. They actually did pretty good for the rest of the season. 

See what I mean people?  

[jerryskids 6,799]

5 hours ago, KayJay1971 said:

My daughter played volleyball for her school team in 7th grade. There was a girl from another school that somehow made it onto my daughters team (not sure exactly why). The coach of the team was VERY new and wasn't the best but no one else offered to do it so we got her. The girl from the other school's parents were very vocal about the daughters playing time and felt she was not getting enough playing time because the coach didn't know what she was doing. After one game the parents practically trapped the coach outside the school in the parking. It was getting increasingly loud and my father walked over to defend the coach. The father of the girl went apesh!t and ended up headbutting my dad breaking his nose! Guy fled. Cops were called. Basically all the other parents took the headbutters side and said my 5'6" dad was the "aggressor". Coach quit that day. Headbutters daughter was guilted into quitting even though it was her dumb@ss dads fault. Some teacher filled in for the rest of the year. They actually did pretty good for the rest of the season. 

I'm kinda scratching my head about you.  You seem like a silver spoon kid (your dad, not you, went to defend the coach?).  True?

[KayJay1971 239]

16 hours ago, jerryskids said:

I'm kinda scratching my head about you.  You seem like a silver spoon kid (your dad, not you, went to defend the coach?).  True?

At the time I had a bulging disc in my neck. I wasn’t going to be of much help. 

[frank 2,307]

23 minutes ago, KayJay1971 said:

At the time I had a bulging disc in my neck. I wasn’t going to be if much help. 

 

[Cdub100 3,909]

My son is done with baseball. But my neighbor asked me to help him since due to a lack of volunteers he automatically became the head coach of his sons LL team. He just wanted to help and has never been a coach before. I agreed and went to work.

We started spring season behind the eight ball. The four kids he had on the team are all below-average players to start. 

I did the draft and 2 of my first 3 kids drafted made the little league district team. This was big because these kids should have been kept but for one reason or another, their coach from last year let them go. the third kid didn't make it because the 10u district coach is a POS who is now banned from little league. 

Our spring league was rough going 3-9. But we kept at it.

In the summer league, we are 7-3 and going to make the playoffs. Summer is tougher because it's open to all so the travel ball teams come in. We aren't going to win the championship but I am super proud of these boys. 3 of the kids on my team are from the previous years team that lost every game under a different coach. I'm so happy for them to taste some success.

I'm also happy to report my neighbor learned how to manage a game and run a GOOD practice. He is going to take what I taught him to the next level because his son aged out into the next level.

I'm coaching fall ball and put together a really good team. 3 head coaches from little league put their kids and players on my team.

[Hardcore troubadour 15,445]

10 minutes ago, Cdub100 said:

My son is done with baseball. But my neighbor asked me to help him since due to a lack of volunteers he automatically became the head coach of his sons LL team. He just wanted to help and has never been a coach before. I agreed and went to work.

We started spring season behind the eight ball. The four kids he had on the team are all below-average players to start. 

I did the draft and 2 of my first 3 kids drafted made the little league district team. This was big because these kids should have been kept but for one reason or another, their coach from last year let them go. the third kid didn't make it because the 10u district coach is a POS who is now banned from little league. 

Our spring league was rough going 3-9. But we kept at it.

In the summer league, we are 7-3 and going to make the playoffs. Summer is tougher because it's open to all so the travel ball teams come in. We aren't going to win the championship but I am super proud of these boys. 3 of the kids on my team are from the previous years team that lost every game under a different coach. I'm so happy for them to taste some success.

I'm also happy to report my neighbor learned how to manage a game and run a GOOD practice. He is going to take what I taught him to the next level because his son aged out into the next level.

I'm coaching fall ball and put together a really good team. 3 head coaches from little league put their kids and players on my team.

Nice. I’m not doing it this fall. My son has flag football, soccer and fall ball and my daughter has softball. It would never work. If my son sticks with baseball I’ll get back in. Congrats. Coaching is a great thing despite the issues. 

[Cdub100 3,909]

2 minutes ago, Hardcore troubadour said:

Nice. I’m not doing it this fall. My son has flag football, soccer and fall ball and my daughter has softball. It would never work. If my son sticks with baseball I’ll get back in. Congrats. Coaching is a great thing despite the issues. 

I lose a lot of good kids to football and other sports which is fine. Those other sports help them in other ways.

[Cdub100 3,909]

Fall ball went great!

We finished 8-2 only losing to a travel ball team. The boys had so much fun everyone kept asking me to coach it again.

Spring ball:

The plan was for me to be an assistant coach on my buddies team but we had to split the team so I was the head coach of the Marlins

I kept 6 kids 2 of which I wouldn't usually keep. The first was a good kid, but a terrible player. The second is a terrible kid, but an average player. Which sucks because his dad is cool and helps me coach.

We really struggled with injury but somehow are in the championship game Monday. 

 

 

I've also taken over the 11u LLWS team. The coach wasn't doing sh1t so I took the team over. These poor boys haven't received the same attention and love the other ages have. We aren't going to go far but they won't get beat 28-0 like they were last year. And no matter what happens I'm not going to no show on them like the other DB coach.

 

Summer ball:

I've gained a reputation as a good coach so parents are trying to get on my team. Far more requests than spots available. We should be very good.

Oh, and I'm keeping the good kid/terrible player and cutting the toxic kid.

[Hardcore troubadour 15,445]

2 minutes ago, Cdub100 said:

Fall ball went great!

We finished 8-2 only losing to a travel ball team. The boys had so much fun everyone kept asking me to coach it again.

Spring ball:

The plan was for me to be an assistant coach on my buddies team but we had to split the team so I was the head coach of the Marlins

I kept 6 kids 2 of which I wouldn't usually keep. The first was a good kid, but a terrible player. The second is a terrible kid, but an average player. Which sucks because his dad is cool and helps me coach.

We really struggled with injury but somehow are in the championship game Monday. 

 

 

I've also taken over the 11u LLWS team. The coach wasn't doing sh1t so I took the team over. These poor boys haven't received the same attention and love the other ages have. We aren't going to go far but they won't get beat 28-0 like they were last year. And no matter what happens I'm not going to no show on them like the other DB coach.

 

Summer ball:

I've gained a reputation as a good coach so parents are trying to get on my team. Far more requests than spots available. We should be very good.

Oh, and I'm keeping the good kid/terrible player and cutting the toxic kid.

Nice! Way to go! They pulled me out of retirement twice this year for my sons coach pitch games. I still got it! 

[Cdub100 3,909]

1 minute ago, Hardcore troubadour said:

Nice! Way to go! They pulled me out of retirement twice this year for my sons coach pitch games. I still got it! 

I like to say I hold the record for most little league strike outs! 

[Hardcore troubadour 15,445]

19 minutes ago, Cdub100 said:

I like to say I hold the record for most little league strike outs! 

Lol. 

[Cdub100 3,909]

Summer ball update:

We made the playoffs going 7-3-1 and are playing our best ball. I hope we do well.

Fall ball starts next Saturday.

[Cdub100 3,909]

Summer

For everyone who don't care. We lost to the eventual champs 9-5 in Summer playoffs. They (Reds) beat the cubs 18-4 in the championship game. So I was happy with our performance against them.

Fall

I was burnt out from coaching so much this past summer and spring. We went 3-7 in fall ball. We knew it was going to be tough because we were playing up but most games were very competitive.

2024

We had our draft last Wednesday and I grabbed 6 of the top 9 on my draft board. I should have a very good team. First practice this wednesday.

 

[Gladiators 1,992]

Good on you Cdub. Coaching is an awesome  way to give back and have a positive impact on some kids’ lives.

I sort of miss coaching, but am happy to just be a parent watching my kids play. Maybe I’ll get back into it when my kids are grown up.

[Cdub100 3,909]

28 minutes ago, Gladiators said:

Good on you Cdub. Coaching is an awesome  way to give back and have a positive impact on some kids’ lives.

I sort of miss coaching, but am happy to just be a parent watching my kids play. Maybe I’ll get back into it when my kids are grown up.

It is rewarding.

 

[Cdub100 3,909]

Springball has come to a close. I only had two returning players and I drafted the rest. We finished the season 10-3 lossing in the National League Championship 12-11.Pretty good for a rag tag team of misfits. I'm taking a 9u little league team into a local LLWS tourney. No rest for the wicked. Summer ball starts up after that.

[BunnysBastatrds 2,442]

On 3/23/2024 at 8:47 AM, Cdub100 said:

It is rewarding.

 

 It is. I coached my daughter’s team since was six to fifteen. Incredible experience teaching them all of the aspects of the game and life learnings playing the game. Your a good man.

[Cdub100 3,909]

On 6/24/2024 at 11:23 PM, Cdub100 said:

Springball has come to a close. I only had two returning players and I drafted the rest. We finished the season 10-3 lossing in the National League Championship 12-11.Pretty good for a rag tag team of misfits. I'm taking a 9u little league team into a local LLWS tourney. No rest for the wicked. Summer ball starts up after that.

Finished the 9u LLWS tourney 2-1. Out only loss came in the last inning of the first game we were up 3 but blew it. That loss cost us from going to the championship.

The summer team was loaded, and we dominated the league. We ended up winning the championship. 

Fall team had a mix of kids from spring/LLWS/Summer teams and some kids from a crappy summer team. We went 8-2 and also won the championship. The fall league is for development and fun. But it was loaded.

My Spring team is looking very good. I lost my two assistant coaches and brought back 4 players, because their kids aged out and moved up a division. My two new assistants seem good enough. I let them work with the higher-level kids, and I took our two lowest performers aside to teach them how to catch and throw. Winning the championship is our primary goal.

I was selected to be the 11u LLWS coach so I'm in the process of building that team.

[Hardcore troubadour 15,445]

10 minutes ago, Cdub100 said:

Finished the 9u LLWS tourney 2-1. Out only loss came in the last inning of the first game we were up 3 but blew it. That loss cost us from going to the championship.

The summer team was loaded, and we dominated the league. We ended up winning the championship. 

Fall team had a mix of kids from spring/LLWS/Summer teams and some kids from a crappy summer team. We went 8-2 and also won the championship. The fall league is for development and fun. But it was loaded.

My Spring team is looking very good. I lost my two assistant coaches and brought back 4 players, because their kids aged out and moved up a division. My two new assistants seem good enough. I let them work with the higher-level kids, and I took our two lowest performers aside to teach them how to catch and throw. Winning the championship is our primary goal.

I was selected to be the 11u LLWS coach so I'm in the process of building that team.

Nice. My son started travel ball, 9u, last summer. When do these kids start throwing strikes? I don’t remember everything being a walk a thon at this age. Did they move the mound back over the years? Right now we are at 46 feet. And when I was a kid we didn’t pitch off a mound until later. It was all flat pitching at the younger ages.  

[Cdub100 3,909]

Just now, Hardcore troubadour said:

Nice. My son started travel ball, 9u, last summer. When do these kids start throwing strikes? I don’t remember everything being a walk a thon at this age. Did they move the mound back over the years? Right now we are at 46 feet. And when I was a kid we didn’t pitch off a mound until later. It was all flat pitching at the younger ages.  

Travel will have them pitching off a mound. At 9u your pitchers should be around 50% or better on strikes. Every year, add 7-10% to the strike %

Typically, if the field is dual-use use it'll be flat unless they bring in a portable mound.

[Hardcore troubadour 15,445]

6 minutes ago, Cdub100 said:

Travel will have them pitching off a mound. At 9u your pitchers should be around 50% or better on strikes. Every year, add 7-10% to the strike %

Typically, if the field is dual-use use it'll be flat unless they bring in a portable mound.

They bring in those portable mounds. I don’t think it’s helping.  Kids get bored in the field, and I’m hoping he walks instead of swinging at junk, which I forbid. On a side note I focked up my rotator cuff good and I have tennis elbow from throwing so many pitches, so I bought a manual pitching machine by Louisville slugger called the blue flame. Works pretty good. I have it at 35 mph right now.