Young Champions....again

kansasbrittany

kansasbrittany

Banned
For those of you that were around this time last summer, you might remember this group of young men. The jersey color is different this year, as was the age group. Of the 11 players on the team, this was the first year of "kid-pitch" for 8 of them. 5 of them are repeat offenders;) (were with me last year).

Introducing the back to back Big 6 Rec League champions:cheers: (7/8yo group last season, 9-11yo group this season)

teampic5.jpg


I'm pretty sure we're taking this show on the road now instead of hanging around the rec league, in the same age group, for 2 more years. If they couldn't stop us this year, they sure as heck won't be able to when the boys are 10 and 11 (9-11yo age group). Staying in the rec league wouldn't do this fine group any justice:) Any of you that have coached or parented kids in competitive ball that would like to give a guy some advice, feel free to lay it out here or pm me. This will be a new experience for us.
 
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KB,

As a coach and parent of a talented 9 year old, my advice would be to "play up" to competition. Not sure you learn much by playing inferior teams. We see a constant movement of kids to select/elite/premier ball down here in Texas and for good reason. Not sure where you are from, but I'd look at weekend tournaments where you can get a bunch of games in in a short time frame against good teams. Keep it fun and positive and the kids will respond. Good luck, it is a blast to coach them and watch them develop.
 
KB, congrats. I totally agree with Roosterslayer. I coached my older son till he started high school. Your boys will learn more competing with talent than they will crushing a rec league. Make sure you keep it fun, and don't overdo it. My ex partner had a son who was a stellar shortstop. ( started 4 years for Bishop Ward in kck. They won state championship 3 of the 4 years) They became a little obsessed with it and he got burned out bad.
 
UGUIDE, the old guys may not be so attractive....the group of moms on the other hand....:D

Roosterslayer, we live in Alma, KS, so we have Manhattan, Topeka, and KC to choose from for tourneys. We'll probably start in the Manhattan competitive league and enter a few of the bigger tournaments in KC/Topeka.

My son is 9yo now. That group of boys entered their first competitive tournament with some AA teams for the first time this summer and those boys held their own. There's no way we're going back to the rec league, but I had to show the parents some success b/c I need their buy-in (small town, not a large pool of talented atheletes to pick from so we also needed buy-in from surrounding towns in order to fill the team with appropriate level talent). We have the buy-in now:cool:

We did exactly what you indicated early in our rec season; we played down to our competition. Before the competitive tournament we were 2-3 in our rec league. After those 4 games in the competitive tourney, we came back to finish the rec season 18-5 (tourney included). We are moving on up to play "real ball". Be on the lookout for the Alma Prairie Rattlers in 2013;-)

Thanks for the advice and encouragement! Now to set up a tryout and schedule fundraising activities.
 
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I did the competitive traveling team for a bunch of years. We won state a couple of times USSSA major. We won at pretty much every level / age.

It takes 4-5 really solid pitchers to get through the big tournaments. You need to play solid D and be able to hit some. A strong catcher is a really big plus.

One word of caution, there is at tendency to play to win at all costs. Meaning not playing your weaker players much. I don't believe in that. If a kid comes to practice he should get to play, if he doesn't come, and he is the best player, he doesn't play.

Set the rules, explain them to the parents and the kids and then follow them. Otherwise you are going to have problems with the families.

Remember, these are young kids, they develop at different speeds. Some of the smaller kids now will be the stars in a couple years, and some of the stars now will not continue to get better and will be at the bottom of the line-up.

I also don't think it is good to never loose. They need to learn it takes focus and fight to win, and that only happens if they are challenged.

Its fun, but keeping the families together and happy takes work on the coaches part.

Good luck and have fun.
 
Setternut,

I've got 4 pitchers currently that I'd consider solid. The catcher is my son. He's not big, but he's very quick, keeps the ball in front of him, and will throw you out if you don't get a real good jump off the pitch. You're right, I need one more pitcher and I'm looking all over Wamego for one.

We have 5 or 6 solid hitters in the line-up, plus a DH/EH that has to be the biggest, strongest 9yo I've seen to date. I understand what you mean about the less-talented kids having a big impact and coming on in time. I have 1 kid with the biggest heart on the team, but he lacks in natural ability. Several of the other parents have tried to convey their disinterest in having such a player in our mix. I believe I'll stick by that boy's side and guide him until those folks are eating crow.

Thank you for your advice. I will save your words in a document that can be easily referenced and make good use of it. I genuinely appreciate the advice. In fact, once we start with our early spring practices, if you want to come out and smell the grass and watch the team play, I'd welcome further advice on where we're lacking as far as the next level is concerned. Growing up relatively poor in a very small town, I personally never had the opportunity to play beyond rec league, so I'm willing to listen to someone that's been there and done that. Let me know if you're interested and I'll let you know when you can see 'em all together in March next year. Heck, maybe you can just watch a game in Manhattan and tell me what you see. I've noticed that when I'm not in the heat of battle, I notice things about teams that I know the coach is missing.

Carptom,

I've let these boys know that all I expect of them is a solid effort and that they show a healthy respect for my favorite game. Once they're adults, I want them to go help the Royals so they don't "suck" so bad;)
 
KB, I am sure several of your 9 yr olds could pitch better than what the Royals have put out there the last 2 nights. Setternut brings up some good points to remember. Always coach with integrity. Many of the parents when you get more competitive will try to get in your ear about other players playing time, positions, batting orders etc. You know what is right. As I coached up to different levels, I rewarded effort and attitude. That was not always the most popular. If you showed up and tried hard and followed direction you got a chance to play. The main thing for me was not to sacrifice an entire teams chemistry for a couple bad apples, either parent or kid. I had a couple 14 yr olds some years ago. The one played shortstop and pitched, his brother was a center fielder. Both kids were very talented, hit well and the one was a real talent at short. Their dad was a real azzhole. Both kids had terrible attitudes and got on the other boys quite a bit. After having a talk with dad, nothing changed. One game I pulled his kid from short after warmups because he was throwing balls over the first baseman's head and yelling at him for not jumping high enough. His dad went ballistic on me. He pulled both boys off our team. After that we struggled a little filling the positions, but the team chemistry was much better. I know the parents were very gratefull as event the crowd was tense when these kids played.
 
Thank you Carptom, these responses are exactly why I wanted to bring this up with this group. I need this affirmation that the way I handle business is "right". Team chemistry is the only thing that got us through the tournament. One of my "hero" players was displaying a poor attitude again during the tournament. Luckily, I'd given a couple of less-talented kids the opportunity to play his position several times during the season. Those less-talented kids with good attitudes helped save our butts out there. One of those kids is a kid my wife and a couple other dads think doesn't belong on the team. Well, if they don't like it, they're certainly welcome to start their own team.

Again gents, THANK YOU!

I will let you all know when we're playing in a town near you in case you want to come see us.
 
KB,

The biggest problem I run into is the parents for sure, especially in Houston where the competition is fierce and I mean fierce. I grew up in Iowa in a town of 65k people and to say the sports culture is different down south is an understatement. It is sad in my opinion but it is what it is. You specialize in a sport very early on or you get passed up fast. We play both spring and fall ball with not much break time between. We tend to only put up the equipment for maybe a month or two all year between the practicing, lessons with professionals, etc. It is absurd the amount of $ spent here on athletics at such an early age.

At the age group your coaching (same as mine basically), try not to pigeon hole players at certain positions. Try to let them get exposure at different ones especially ones that they enjoy playing. Remember you have to keep it fun for them. Constantly work in new fun drills at practice. It is amazing to watch each kid develop over time and as others stated, the good ones now may get passed in a short period of time.
Protect their arms from themselves pitching wise and try to develop as many pitchers as you can.

It is funny you mention having a big, strong kid. I can't get over the size of these monsters down here. Kids I think look like high schoolers are 11 and 12. It is scary and no wonder so many athletes come from the south.

Keep at it. You are definitely on the right path IMHO.
 
Some night I would be willing to come to a practice. Having played for ksu and coached young boys for years I suspect I could help them with some fundamentals. It would be fun for me now that my son is grown.
 
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Steve,

I will most certainly take you up on that offer! We've got 7 firm commitments and we're having tryouts in the next 3 weeks. We'll schedule a couple of winter hitting/pitching training sessions and we'll probably start our official practice schedule in February, moving outside as early as the weather will allow.

I'll be sending you a pm when the time comes. I suspect you can add a great deal of value to our team. I wasn't fortunate enough to play past 16 years of age; there was no baseball team in my HS. This means I'm reduced to training DVD's and Youtube videos for expanding my understanding of how to teach these kids. A guy like yourself would be a real blessing to our team!

Thank you!!
 
kansasbrittany said:
Steve,

I will most certainly take you up on that offer! We've got 7 firm commitments and we're having tryouts in the next 3 weeks. We'll schedule a couple of winter hitting/pitching training sessions and we'll probably start our official practice schedule in February, moving outside as early as the weather will allow.

I'll be sending you a pm when the time comes. I suspect you can add a great deal of value to our team. I wasn't fortunate enough to play past 16 years of age; there was no baseball team in my HS. This means I'm reduced to training DVD's and Youtube videos for expanding my understanding of how to teach these kids. A guy like yourself would be a real blessing to our team!

Thank you!!
Click to expand...

Would be my pleasure
 
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