Our summer 7/8 year-old travel team encountered pitching machines in tournaments a few years back.  We were playing against leagues where pitching machines were commonplace, but our players were totally intimidated.  As parents and coaches, we liked some aspects of the “machine game” while disliking others.  One thing we did not like: imagine a cylinder with the dimension of the pitching mound, raising straight up to the sky.  In order to stop play, a player had to throw the ball anywhere through that cylinder, be it at the machine itself or 20 feet above the machine.  The ball could land in the bleachers, but the play was effectively stopped when the ball entered the imaginary cylinder, making actual possession of the ball fairly irrelevant.  But there were many other characteristics of the game that we did like and that we believed would benefit our kids.

As to the machine argument, the local Little League board’s discussion brought out many pros and cons.  The primary concern on both sides, however, was for player development.  Those against the machines reasoned that the players, parents and coaches would like the “new” game so much that they would be tempted to play the entire game with the machines, and we would not be developing any pitchers. Those in favor of the machines believed it more important at this level to provide a platform for all players to succeed, both in improved hitting and in increased fielding opportunities – hopefully also improving the players’ attention to the game.

Another concern was for player safety: would the machines deliver pitches in such a way that the very best players could really hit the ball with more power, thereby posing a physical danger to some of those fielders who might be less skilled and/or less attentive.

In our Instructional Division, which had to this point been “coach pitch,” there was unanimous agreement to adopt the machines completely.  I had originally thought that coach pitch could continue, but other board members felt very strongly that the coaches were not able to deliver pitches with enough consistency.  That decision has worked out very well, and the reviews from coaches, players and parents alike have been thoroughly positive.

In our league, experience had been that teams comprised of 8 and 9-year-olds would have, at most, 2 or 3 legitimate pitchers.  For these players and others interested in improving their skills, we decided to provide additional pitching training to ensure their ability to compete in the summer tournaments.  For our B-Minor Division (mostly the 8 and 9-year-olds and where player pitching normally began in our league), we reached the following compromise: for the first half of the season, we would start the games with three innings of machine pitch, and the rest of the game would be player-pitch.  We agreed to review the situation at the mid-point of the season and determine our approach for the second half, based upon the collective experiences of our league’s participants.

To address the safety concern, all managers and coaches were instructed to position those playing first base and third base behind the bag, deeper than they might otherwise play to enable more reaction time.

And what happened?  As we neared the mid-point of the season, the machines were such an overwhelming success with all, that those opponents of the machines actually brought a motion before the board to keep them for the remainder of the season.  We’ll continue to use the machines for the first half of the game, but that allows us to get three innings of play in about 60 minutes, and the rest of the time is spent with our players on the mound.

As of now, I can report that the adoption of pitching machines has had a fantastically positive effect on the league.  Not only are players hitting the ball almost every time at bat, but the fielders now are really engaged, not simply looking on as a struggling pitcher walks batter after batter.  Those potential summer tournament pitchers are getting their live action, and the rest of the players are learning to hit, field and throw much better than had happened with this age group in the past.

A final note: many of our players are reporting to their friends at school that the game is much more fun with machines.  Many of these children, who had either not played baseball before or had given up the game in frustration or boredom, are now inquiring about playing next year.  We hope the positive effects continue for our players, and we look forward to an even larger and more vibrant league next year.

But when the kid got to college she learned the truth. She wasn’t there to be a college student; She was there to be a field hockey player. Year-round. Early a.m. workouts, afternoon sessions. Lifting and running came before learning and studying. Classes were what you did when you weren’t with the team.

What happened next was this: the kid who grew out of her sport and grew into adulthood. She made up the scholarship money by working as a waitress. First at a crummy chain, then graduating to finer restaurants. She got her in-state residency after a year of showing income and a permanent state address. She did this by signing a townhouse lease then finding roommates to fill it up.

There were bumps along the way. Work was exhausting. She got stiffed on the rent by one deadbeat. All in all, it was probably harder than playing. But it got her ready for the world outside the lines.

Long story short, the kid graduates this week with a degree in economics. The story has gone from a cautionary tale to one of success. She attacked school the way she played and now graduate school awaits, paid for by a teaching assistantship. The kid, my oldest daughter, is already thinking Ph.D.

Of course, some of these life lessons she learned from playing sports. But most she learned from living life off the playing field, where winning and losing isn’t black-and-white, and where the game is not packaged in manageable time slots, but comes at you relentlessly and unexpectedly.

Thanks to the Positive Coaching Alliance for finding the article.

As our users were repeatedly kicked out or left hanging in limbo during registration, parents got very vocal, so we had to scramble to make a change.  We looked at the other leagues in town, but then we found Tawala SportsDashboards (www.tawala.com) and were impressed by the demo – clean screens, ease of communication, simplified draft-night roster development, and especially a simpler and yet less expensive registration service – and by their customer service mentality.

In addition to providing the immediate band-aid fix for registration – which was hugely successful, I also wanted to implement the Tawala communication capabilities – the apparent ease of communication with managers, coaches, players and parents was a dream, after having struggled with the database and communication tools of our former provider.  Tawala’s database management, including maintenance of recruiting lists and registration reports, are good, but some necessary improvements are underway.

The Dashboards for players and coaches, in addition to administrators, are a big hit with the parents.  They like the player dashboards –private web pages that they bookmark, that contain the team’s roster and information about the coaches.  There are some hyperlinks enabled on these dashboards, but they are limited in number.  And while you can point the links to any site you choose, you cannot change the names of the links, for example from “Schedule” to something more descriptive.  There is an understandable interest on Tawala’s part to standardize as much as possible and to minimize the amount of customization, and they need to become more flexible on some of these issues.

Tawala was originally developed for completely different applications, but its creators found a striking match between its database, dashboard and communication tools and the needs of local sports leagues.  In its initial customization for this type of use, it was conceived as a tool for athletic leagues that are run either by one-man bands or by very small groups.  Given the strong interest among its clients to use it as a more efficient communication platform for a broad array of applications, the communication tools are being made more robust.  Other features, such as field or umpire scheduling, are not under consideration, although a number of Tawala’s clients have found a complementary partner for these additional services.

More about those tools at another time…

“For more than 15 years, Kevin has donated his time and energy to the boy’s youth basketball. It all started when his son Kevin started playing as a sixth grader, and he volunteered to help coach the team. That same year the eighth grade coach retired as the league coordinator, and Kevin volunteered to take over the responsibility. At that time it was only three teams and 27 players. Kevin took it upon himself to provide the boys with an additional league, due to the fact that many boys were not making the team, but still had the skills to enjoy playing competitive travel basketball. He felt it was important that young students/players have the opportunity to learn teamwork, play with their peers and have fun learning the skills of a sport, and today they now have nine teams with 102 boys playing in four different leagues. He has headed up, and continued his work well past his son’s involvement in the sport. Travel basketball is a daunting task to coordinate, between the parents, the kids and the other towns, and Kevin has always represented Norwell honorably, and with much patience. Many a child has benefited from the time he has spent helping youth basketball and our high school basketball program is better for it.”

“When not volunteering his time to Norwell, Kevin has also worked with the City of Boston to have underprivileged families attend sports events, and has enjoyed for two years in a row helping The Learning Center (TLC) doing a wine tasting for 150 people.”

Got other coaches that have been recently recognized for their commitment? Send me a note to quinn@coaki.com and I will highlight them here.

“After the Heat finished third in the U.S. Specialty Sports Association 12-and-under Division II National Championship in July, the Boys and Girls Club was inundated with new players for the 2009 season. However, enough new adult volunteers to help with the kids didn’t come in as well. As a result, all of the club’s basketball leagues and tournaments, including weekend and after-6:30 p.m. play, have been suspended temporarily. 

“We’re trying to take a break so we can reorganize,” said Anne McCormick, executive director of the Martin Boys and Girls Club. “We just want to do it in a safe, supervised way.”

I am surprised that with unemployment (unfortunately) up, not more adults are able to volunteer their time to help the Boys and Girls Club youth sports teams. It’s a great way to give back to your community and an opportunity to take a break from work, your job search or maybe even your own kids. After all youth coaching is one of the most rewarding experiences you can have - especially with a team that’s highly motivated.

Now, the National Alliance for Youth Sports has released an online rating system.  While it should save time and money for the leagues (it takes a while to tally scores manually for a 200+ kid league), it also will allow the coach to log in and see the ratings in real time.  This will allow the coach to hopefully focus on the constructive feedback and make changes appropriately, resulting in the best possible experience for the children, which is the goal of every league.  You can read more about the new rating system here: NAYS Coach Rating System Announced

You can also read about Georgia’s Recreation and Parks Department taking a leadership role with NAYS in launching the site for their affiliated leagues.  This is a great move by the State to help make sure their leageus are providing the best experience possible for the players and their families.

The trouble began when a parent from the Springfield Youth Club’s Xplosion working as an assistant referee raised a flag in the air and called an offside violation on a Bethesda player, according to the minutes of the disciplinary hearing. After the game, a Bethesda parent approached the referee and accused him of making the wrong call, the report says. The parent “started to raise his voice,” according to the report. More sniping occurred, and “the tone and behavior of the parents was aggressive.” Then another Bethesda parent allegedly yelled at the referee’s daughter, “Your father should be fired!”

“We have taken a strong stance,” Diapoulis said. “It’s important. This isn’t the World Cup. . . . And for the parents to be shrieking on the sidelines and belittling people goes against everything we’re trying to do. . . . It’s not acceptable behavior.”

“It’s embarrassing,” one of the parents said. “This is seventh-grade soccer.” Across the way, Potomac lawyer Philip Page watched his daughter Jacqueline play through binoculars, which was “very maddening.” Especially because he wasn’t even at the game where the unsportsmanlike conduct occurred. “We accepted our punishment, and we’re abiding by it,” Page said. “One of the functions of sports is to teach sportsmanship. When we as parents violate that, the girls need to see there are consequences to those actions.”

While I don’t agree with government intervention, I am a big fan of leagues stepping up and setting (and enforcing) clear rules for everyone involved in youth sports - to make sure the games are conducted in a fair, professional and fun manner. What kind of lesson do you think kids are learning when they see their parents behave in this fashion?

“Tennis ball drill – teaching young players to use their feet properly to catch fly balls. Here’s a drill to help younger players learn to get in the right position to catch fly balls.

The problem

Quite often I see young players have difficulty getting into good position to catch fly balls. It’s usually caused by a combination of two or three things. Fear of the baseball, and lack of experience in reading the flight of the ball, and a tendency to wait till the last moment to lean or stab at the ball, off to one side or the other. What we want is to teach them the importance of using their feet to get them into good receiving position.

The drill

Using tennis balls the baseball coach hits or throws the tennis balls, first medium height, then higher and higher (a tennis racket really works well when you want to hit them high). At first, instead of having the kids catch the ball, we have them position themselves so the ball lands at their feet, ideally about a foot in front of the lead foot. If they want to make it a little harder, they can even try to have the ball land on their foot. This forces them to get around behind the ball, then come in on it, like an outfielder has to when he needs to come up with a hard throw to the infield. It forces them to get centered to the ball. After they get good at getting centered, they start to catch the ball instead of letting it fall at their feet.”

Read the rest of the story over at the Baseball Tutorials blog and subscribe to its newsletter for some good tips.

Each year Pop Warner recognizes the most academically accomplished Pop Warner kids with its Academic All-American status, and it recently named its 2009 winners in the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th+ grade. Each winner (hold your breath!) is invited to attend the 49th Annual Scholar All-American Scholar Awards Banquet, taking place on Friday, May 22 & Saturday, May 23, 2009 at the Coronado Springs Resort at DisneyWorld in Lake Buena Vista, Fl. A worthy reward for achieving this status, I say.

What does it take?

To be eligible for the PWLS All-American Program you must be in 5th Grade or higher for the Pop Warner Season, have a 96% Grade Point Average (GPA) from your previous school year’s report card and have a Complete Full-Year’s Report Card from your previous school year to prove eligibility. 

After the applications have been processed, Pop Warner determines National First Team All-Americans (35 football, 25 cheer per grade), National Second Team All-Americans and National Honorable Mention Scholars.

• A final score is calculated for each student that consists of up to 100 points (85%) for the student’s grades for the prior school year, along with up to 18 points (15%) awarded for the attached Addendum sheet of activities and achievements.
• Once the scores have been calculated, First Team All-Americans are selected. The top 35 football players and 25 cheerleaders per grade (plus ties) are selected as National First Team All-Americans.
• Second Team All-Americans are then determined by Pop Warner based upon the number of applications that were submitted for that year. Last year’s total was approximately 3,800 Second Team All-Americans

Congrats to our local heros James Alonso, William Bird, Kyle Blue, Beau Courtney, Garret Cox, Michael Dunmire, Caleb Jones, Thomas Monaco, Scott O’Korn, Logan Weber, Robert Woodard, Giulio Giannini, Jonathan   Rosko, John Trebel, Braxton Berrios, Justin Bethea, Bradley Cochran, John Emmett, Michael Frink, Myles Harris, Nicholas Koehler, Alexander Kunkel, Griffin Morehead, John Mullan, Ross Pryor, Marquese Richardson, Jordan Sellers, Nathaniel Smith, Cameron Sykes, John Elliott, Daniel Farrell, Scott Henion, Alexander Pritts, Cody Sterrett and John Elliott. Say “Hi” to Mickey for us.

You can learn more about the program and the award on the Pop Warner Scholastics Program site or click here to view Pop Warner’s FAQ on the All-American Program.