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Post by Chris on Oct 17, 2006 7:01:43 GMT -8
Decisions regarding Little League coaches will soon be made by our league presidents and BOD.
What qualities/skills do you think are most important for a Little League coach to possess?
Should coaches use running, push ups, sit ups etc. for discipline purposes?
How often should coaches practice?
Should the minimum play requirement be raised to 3 defensive innings per game?
Should 9 year olds be drafted into the majors?
Should Turlock Little League dump the TOC in favor of a city wide tournament?
What should be done to increase participation in Turlock Little league?
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Post by scrapper on Oct 17, 2006 9:30:15 GMT -8
Hey Chris,
Interesting topics: I will give my two cents worth. I think coaches should be able to use all of the above for discipline purposes. I also think if sitting a player down and suspending them for a game should also be applied in the worst case scenario with proper documented behaviors.
My thinking of the drafting of Nine year olds is a tough one. I will be a little bias on this one, but I see the nine and ten year olds as the same. If I was mananging and I saw a big 9 yrs that can play and see little 10 yrs olds that can't, I would want the 9. I think that most 9's are not ready, but there are a few that get it.
Let's take a look at how many nines there were in National, 2 may be 3 out of 60 kids. Is it that big of an issue. Even in National South there were only 2 or 3 out of 45 players. So, I think it should stay the same. Make it a coaches decision.
I think coaches should practice a minimum of three times a week, but you have to include weekends at least prior to the season, of if you think your teams needs it.
I think we should dump the TOC (sorry Yanks) for a City Wide Tournament. I think that we take the top three teams from each league and let them battle it out for all the glory. I know NS has only three teams but they all were competitive and would have given any team trouble, But you could use with a record based seeding system single elimination call it June Madness with tiebreakers using runs for and runs against. I think the only way to increase participation is to get out in the school. For example, Has a flyer gone announcing the sign-ups yet. Remember with an early sign-up you are competing with Basketball. I think the fall ball program was pretty successful, I think if you can get some of the kids who are not playing football or don't make the football teams and carry them into spring.
This is going to sound bad, but we need to create some fun at the ballpark. Kind of like what they at the Nuts or the Ports. You could probably only do it on the weekends, but like-giv-a ways or raffles or some other type gimmic. Everybody loves free stuff, even if it is a baseball or some food.
The toughest questions is about the coaches, because in a ideal world, you would like your coaches to have played college level players/coaches then down to high school coach level/player and so on. But, in the real world, I think as long as the coaches have some baseball knowledge and a willingness not to win at all costs mentallity. You need to have some compassion and empathy and a willingness to learn the game you are trying to coach. I think coaching is like playing, you have to keep doing it to become better and clinics and thing like that for players are just as important to coaches
That is my two cents worth, I'm sure that there are some other baseball minds that can add to this with more experience than myself. By the Way: GO GIANTS!!! ;D
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Post by Mark on Oct 17, 2006 12:40:25 GMT -8
What qualities/skills do you think are most important for a Little League coach to possess? KNOWLEDGE OF THE GAME AND THE ABILITY TO TEACH IT
Should coaches use running, push ups, sit ups etc. for discipline purposes? TO EACH HIS OWN, BUT I WOULD ONLY USE RUNNING AS IT WILL HELP THEIR GAME AND I DONT SEE SIT UPS AND PUSH UPS HELPING MUCH AT THAT AGE
How often should coaches practice? EVERYDAY, INCLUDING SATURDAY UNTIL GAMES START AND THEN TWICE A WEEK BUT NO LESS THAN ONCE A WEEK AFTER GAMES START.
Should the minimum play requirement be raised to 3 defensive innings per game? 2 INNINGS AND 1 AB SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT. THE 1 AB PART COULD KEEP A KID IN FOR 3 INNINGS AT TIMES ANYWAY.
Should 9 year olds be drafted into the majors? YES. 9 YEAR OLDS THAT ARE DRAFTED BECOME STUD/AS 12 YEAR OLDS. 10 YEAR OLDS THAT GET DRAFTED BECOME VERY GOOD/AS 12 YEAR OLDS. 11 YEAR OLDS THAT GET DRAFTED BECOME GOOD TO DECENT 12 YEAR OLDS. AND FINALLY 12 YEAR OLDS THAT GET DRAFTED ARE USUALLY AVERAGE AND DONT MAKE MANY AS TEAMS.
Should Turlock Little League dump the TOC in favor of a city wide tournament? PROS AND CONS. YOU GET TO FACE THE BEST COMPETITION IN TURLOCK AND MAKE IT A CITY WIDE THING OR YOU CAN FACE THE BETTER COMPETITION OUTSIDE OF TURLOCK
What should be done to increase participation in Turlock Little league? THATS A TOUGH ONE.I FEEL BASEBALL IS MORE OF A YOU REALLY GOT TO LIKE THE GAME IN ORDER TO PLAY IT TYPE GAME. WHERE AS FOOTBALL IS EXCITING AND VIOLENT ON MOST PLAYS AND IT NATURALLY ATTRACTS KIDS.
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Post by Greenie on Oct 18, 2006 10:00:47 GMT -8
What qualities/skills do you think are most important for a Little League coach to possess? Knowledge of the game is important. Being able to teach it the correct way goes along way also. You must be able to show up for the practices and not depend on your coaches to run most of them for you. Should coaches use running, push ups, sit ups etc. for discipline purposes? Yes. It's amazing how a little running can solve things. Not only for discipline but for training too. Use 1 hand to catch a fly, send them for a nice run. They will be using 2 hands very quickly. How often should coaches practice? 5 days a week before the season starts then drop it down to 2 days a week. Should the minimum play requirement be raised to 3 defensive innings per game? At the lower levels absolutely. The majors should be left the way they are. Should 9 year olds be drafted into the majors? Defiantly. There are a few kids every year that belong up there. Like Mcleanhatch said "these will be your studs when they get older" Should Turlock Little League dump the TOC in favor of a city wide tournament? No. Again I'm old school. You play TOC then you go into a 11-12 All Star team!! What should be done to increase participation in Turlock Little league? The $64,000? To start with a new complex would help but we know thats not going to happen. Let's say we do get more kids playing, Where are they going to play? Our field is in use 6 days a week until 9:30 at night. Unless we can gain access to another field we are filled up. Great post Chris, as most of your are P.S. All of this writing and only 1 misspelled word ;D My mother would be proud!!
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Post by Randy Edwards on Oct 18, 2006 13:01:28 GMT -8
OK Guys I have to get my 2 cents plus tax in...I think there is one very important part of coaching that has been forgotten here. Little league should teach more then just baseball to its kids. The coaches need to teach the kids respect for others and them selfs, pride in what the do and how they act. To me its more then the baseball basic it is how they are going to use life skills in base ball and all aspects of life. And if we can instill some of the basic life skills in our kids at the little league level it may carry over into adult hood. Now onto my other opinions.... 1-Dump TOC go Turlock championship.... 2-Running-penalty it has always seems to work for me and the boys. Running a lap seems to helps the kids remember what not to do!! JMO
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Post by Rodney L. Voumard on Oct 20, 2006 5:55:38 GMT -8
Great Topic Chris.....Here you are,
What qualities/skills do you think are most important for a Little League coach to possess? An ability to teach/coach the game, keeping in mind that these players are 9-12 years old.
Should coaches use running, push ups, sit ups etc. for discipline purposes? I'm sure many believe in the group punishment, I for one do not.
How often should coaches practice? M-F until game play begins, then 2-3 times per week.
Should the minimum play requirement be raised to 3 defensive innings per game? I believe the current requirement is fine.
Should 9 year olds be drafted into the majors? There will be an exceptional 9 year old come along every so often , why not let him play in the Majors ? It will be interesting to see the effects that TB players will have, as I believe that this year we will see a HUGE difference in these kids. And a 9 year old would have to be EXCEPTIONAL to play along with some of our 11 & 12 year olds.
Should Turlock Little League dump the TOC in favor of a city wide tournament? YEP, for lots of reasons
What should be done to increase participation in Turlock Little league? Yes...a tough question, Is it just too much competition with other sports ? or do we need a HS or CSUS team to win a division Championship to spark an interest ?
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Post by scrapper on Oct 20, 2006 8:29:38 GMT -8
Hey Chris:
What are your thoughts.
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Post by Mark on Oct 20, 2006 10:06:41 GMT -8
honestly i feel the more "good" 9 year olds you have in Majors, the better your AS programs will be in the LONG RUN. as those young kids will be facing bigger and stronger and older kids for three years but that will prepare them for what is to come their 12 YO AS season
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Post by KEITH on Oct 20, 2006 14:45:12 GMT -8
A 9 YR OLD IN THE MAJORS USUALLY GETS THE MINIMUM PLAY REQUIREMENT AND THATS IT. THEN THIS KID IS AUTOMATICALLY AN 9 YR ALL STAR THAT SUPPOSED TO BE THE STUD OF HIS TEAM. USUALLY THIS KID HASN'T GOT TO PITCH OR PLAY ANY MEANINGFUL GAME TIME AND NOW HE EXPECTED TO CONTRIBUTE TO HIS ALL STAR TIME. I DONT THINK THIS IS FAIR TO THE KID. IF A 9YR OLD IS A STUD HE SHOULD PLAY AAA BALL AND GET THE PLAYING TIME AND EXPERIENCE DOWN THERE. JUST MY OPINION.
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Post by crash23 on Oct 20, 2006 15:46:28 GMT -8
A few, very few, 9 year olds can play in the majors... but even they will most likely get min playing time. I think in most cases they are better served playing against their peers. I've seen too many kids to mention play in majors when they were not ready and their self esteem is shot. It serves no good for a kid, no matter the age, to play in majors and go 1 - 22 with 15 plus strike-outs. I'm sure if you looked at the stats there are several, at least one or two, kids on each team that this happens to. We'd be better having four teams where there is better - what's that word the NFL uses - parity... THAT would create better all star teams. I also believe we'd develop more pitching b/c the kid that's good enough to play in the majors at 9 or 10 will most likely get little pitching experience in the majors whereas he would be THE guy on his minor league team. I really like the way Pony ball does it with divisions of only one year apart (9/10, 11/12, 13/14, 15/16, 17/18). I've never seen a nine year old and very few 10 year olds be able to have success against 12 year olds. My definition of succes is for a 10 year old to start and have a healthy batting average (.300 plus). I'd prefer that the last 6 kids on a Little League team are similar enough in talent so that they can split playing time evenly. With most of the teams I've seen there is a considerable drop-off in talent with last two or three players so it's rare those kids get more than the min. If they were as talented as the starters they replace they'd see more plaing time. This, I think, would encourage more kids to keep playing ball... but when they only get the min and have little or no success they move on.
The inference in the Little League manual is that players drafted to the majors should consider it an honor and something they aspire to... Because of the numbers we have to draft each year I believe it's more of an expectation. We certainly are not drafting players based on merit. Many (most!) of the kids we draft do not have the basic fundamentals and have poor throwing and hitting mechanics. In many cases placing them on the field with our best 12 year olds is unsafe, even in the outfield. Too often the pitching machine in tryouts is slowed down to a speed that kids can hit successfully rather than set at the actual speeds they'll be facing in league. We also hit them lazy fly balls and easy grounders. I think this gives everyone (players, parents. coaches) a false perception of the player's abilitiy. We should set the machne at 55 - 60 MPH and see how many can put the ball in play at those speeds... and even then that is fairly slow pitching for the major level.
A highly coordinated kid that has been well coached can have success as a 10 year old. If he is more physically advanced than his peers that helps too. These kids are few and far between. On the AE side we've had a few players over the last few years get drafted as 10s and start - and be successful. The vast majority struggle. In life, generally speaking, success = happiness. If a kid experiences nothing but failure all season he is likely to move on to something he can enjoy success in; PlayStation, skateboarding, whatever. I think that's why we lose so many kids by the time they are 12. I can think of dozens of players that ahve quit since I first started my son in Little League 5 year ago. I think the lack of success is the major reason. If we had more talent in the minors the games would not be walk-a-thons and their would be more excitement. Many minor league games are boring... not what kids these days are looking for. Little League suggests a 2 -1 ratio of minor to major teams. It makes sense. Only those who have the skill level for majors should be drafted. this could fluctuate from year to year... Some years we might have 5 teams, some years 4 - hopefully some years 6. But this should be decided after try-outs. Inconvenient, yes. Best for our kids, no doubt! There's even a suggesion in the Little League manual that only players scoring (I think it's 3 out of 5) get drafted. If we honestly evaluated kids fundamentals this way we'd draft a lot fewer kids. And I think everyone would have a more enjoyable Little League experince.
Another thing Little League (locally as well as nationally) needs to thnk abut is that if the better players become bored, and they are, they will leave the program entirely to play travel ball. Travel ball, or the Cal Ripken league (which also plays real baseball) may soon make Little League a home for nothing but rec players. The same thing has pretty much happened with the City of Turlock's softball program. Rec players play in it, the real competitors play nothing but travel ball. Not that that's a bad thing, there's something for everyone - but I hope Little League is able to keep its best players. If they don't respond to the changing youth baseball market they will resemble the U.S. auto industry of a few years ago when the foregin market was kicking our ass. But I think Little League is headed down that road for the ver same reason our car makers took a beating.
One thing they could do to have the 11s & 12s play real baseball - and they need to play on 70 foot bases and throw from a 50 foot mound. Thirteen year olds (that's what many kids are by all stars) throwing from 46 feet is insane!
Little League is a great thing - but they need to make some changes. Dinosaurs usually lose the battle...
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Post by lboullion on Oct 21, 2006 19:47:17 GMT -8
Well said Craig. I have a pretty decent 9 year old this year and would love for him to play in the majors but after reading Craig's reasons for staying down it makes since.
Success = happiness.
I have seen it first hand. Still I think the option should be available because some 9 year olds are going to be big and ready for majors.
L Boullion
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Post by Mark on Oct 21, 2006 20:55:34 GMT -8
something to think about.
whats better for a really good 9 year old?
1. playing majors with min. playing time and good coaching, with real practices
or
2. playing in AA or AAA with first year coaches that know absolutely nothing about baseball but are just there because the team didnt have a coach?
i know those are the extremes but there more than likely to occur from a lesser extent up to the extent i just mentioned.
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Post by scrapper on Oct 23, 2006 8:12:29 GMT -8
I don't know what this is all about in regards to the nine-year olds. But if you don't want them don't draft them. This issue is totally up to the coaches. Like I said earlier, on the National/National South side and correct me if I am wrong there were approximately four nines out of approximatley 90 kids that were in the majors.
I think Crash had some good ideas regarding some changes. Everything evolves and Little League should have to recognize that. The kids are getting bigger, by all-star time, you have at least 5-6 13 years olds with the new age change.
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Post by tmurphy on Oct 25, 2006 8:13:10 GMT -8
Craig very well said as you and I have discussed in the past I think if we make our minors more competitive and with better coaching instead of just asking dads to fill in because we do not have enough voluteers in the long run our majors and all star programs will be alot stronger. Also what is hard for some people to understand is you can not coach 9/10/11 year olds the way you do high school players because like Craig said they will say I do not have to do this I have a play station,skateboards and other things I could be doing besides out here being yelled at as I have seen in the past and not having fun. As far as your coaches I think a review board for coaches as far as finding out what knowledge they have of baseball instead of just because they are a good friend of someone on the board or another coach in the league. I will say this and be done with it as far as the American/ American East board last year my son did not play in the league because he already had a full schedule. I had a friend ask me to help him coach because he had no help and besides he had to have his wife sit in the dugout and a kid coach first for him all this happened because of personal vendetas that some of the board members had toward me. They voted me down as a coach and would not allow me to help this coach and I feel like I have good knowledge of the game and by no way do I know everything about the game but I have won several league titles also won the city championship in the minor division and even served as league president . Since then I have worked with some of these people's kids since then but it is pretty sad all the time and effort I donated the last 4 years and also umpired that this is what your so called BOD runs their league but that is all water under the bridge and that does not include everyone that served on the board last year the people know who they were as I do also from some real friends that were on the board last year telling me who these people were. I will end with this as far as 9 year olds my son was brought up to play for the 10 year old all star team when he was 9 and down in the minors I was asked by Jim Oliver who coached the team if he could do this and I told him that was strictly up to him because he was the manager and I was staying out of it. You would not beleive what he had to go through to get this done and then afterward how he was crusified for this because he took a spot away from a 10 year old that was in the majors all year with minnimum playing time. To top it off I had a very good friend tell me this year that a certain board member said that a few kids were not coming back because my son was put on the all star team instead of them. Then people want to know if Tyler is going to play Little League this year, you tell me if this was your son would you want him to participate in a league when some of those same board members are back this year. I feel the board members should keep their opinions and differences to their self unless you have proof that a certain person has caused harm or mistreated a kid while he was coaching or involved with the kid how can you keep him from wanting to help the kids of the community. Good Luck to everyone in the Little League this year as I hope everyone has a great year.
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Post by mflema on Oct 25, 2006 18:09:11 GMT -8
I want to tell someone at the beginning of the thread, that we can not send notices home through the school at this time. (The school is having their lawyer look into it for blah, blah, blah, blah reason). So untill this can happen we are looking for new and efficient ways of letting everyone know. So yes it has been thought about, but we can not pass out flyers this year (yet) in the school. We are going to be handing them out at Football games, Basketball games, and what ever we can. We will also be having a float in the Christmas parade ( Need a chairman) for all four leagues and advertizing that way.
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