Its a great experience. Some of the best times of my parenting career. Do it. Your appreciation and understanding of the game will be greatly enhanced. Our teams were always competitive, and I'm most proud of the impact I had some of the little Johnnies. Managing talented kids is easy. Its really hard to get production, fun, desire and skill into the bottom of the order types. I was actually pretty good at that part, mostly because I know what it feels like to love the game but be lousy at it. I took the absolute last player in the draft (yeah that kid), and he earned the leagues sportsmanship award. By the end of the year, he was catching balls in the outfield, and progressed from a 3 pitch strikeout (nearly every time) kid to even earning a few walks and hits by the end of the year. Very satisfying, maybe even more than my kid's perennial all star status.
Mine just finished a great high school career last year, 3 year letterman, 3 year playoffs, garnering all-district honors all 3 years on varsity. First home run in high school was a varsity grand slam as a sophomore. After that, they couldn't keep him off varsity.
1st team all-district, and the team's silver slugger (best hitter) for the last two years.
I'm kind of in the heartbroken stage. It looks like his college career has flamed out almost before it started. He could/should be playing in many scenarios, but not the one that has occured. Its been a heck of ride. On the plus side, its currently cheaper paying for college than what we paid annually for select ball, lessons, equipment, travel, etc. He's looking for adult leagues to play in, and now umpires for the same league he played in.
As far as resources, the Little League/Harold Reynolds DVDs are great. PM me, I may still have a copy of all 10. Barnes and Noble used to have a great selection of "coaches" books. For the time being, you are doing great to keep them from chasing butterflies, learning skills, and having fun. With my kid, I stopped practices early while he was wanting more. It was really effective in building up the desire, and love of the game.
I was most effective as a practice coach, not as much as a game manager but I loved the chess match aspect, and got a lot better at it. Practices always worked best when I taught a skill, they practiced it, then played a simple competitive game using that skill. They absolutely loved it. You've always got more to work on than time, so plan accordingly.
Post game talks are great teaching time. Give away a few cheap baseball cards for great plays, or great effort, and you'll find them fighting for recognition.Mini Baby Ruth bars work great too and I hear that some coaches like candy too. Game balls for the big star of the game and even if you have to give away two some games, make sure every little Johnny gets one over the course of the season. You don't have 12 kids on your team. Its more like 36, and the parents can be the biggest challenge. When you get to drafting teams, after all the talent is gone, draft based on parents. Hot moms are in short supply.
Hybrid Mode
