Welcome to the first post of Coaching Made Easier!
Watching the final rounds of the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania this past weekend got the adrenaline flowing in this old coach’s veins. What player or coach involved with youth baseball has not fantasized about the thrill of being in Williamsport with all the world watching. There is nothing at this level compared to the magnitude of the Little League World Series.
Young and old around the country–the world for that matter–huddled around their TVs to watch the games. Their highlights made the famous web-gems of ESPN’s Baseball Tonight. I cannot imagine the excitement of coaching or playing at that level.
On Saturday, August 23rd I observed a never-say-die group of kids and coaches from Waipahu, Hawaii come from a 5-1 deficit to score 7 runs in the top of 6th to beat Southwest Lake Charles, Louisiana 7 to 5. They exhibited pure determination as they stayed in the game and continued to make contact with the ball. Sunday’s championship game was almost anti-climactic as the Hawaiian team cruised past the team from Matamoros, Mexico 12 to 3. I had a sense that after their determined victory they could have beaten the New York Yankees (no reflection of the year the Yankees are having). Nothing could keep those boys from their championship celebration that afternoon.
The chances of any of us volunteer youth coaches making it to that illustrious level are slim but what we can do is to make sure that we do the very best job we can and give 110% to our teams. The reason I captured my coaching methods in a book was to share the “system” that I developed through trial and error as I coached my son’s teams from the time he was 6 until he was 16 – being his head coach for the last 9 years. We had an impressive win/lose record but, more importantly, the boys and their parents had enjoyable experiences. The parents came to the games in droves, bringing their extended families with them to cheer on our team, the Sparrow Records “Birds."
How to build that “team” attitude and foster great relationships with the parents, while playing great baseball is at the heart of my new book, Coaching Made Easier: How to Successfully Manage Your Youth Baseball Team.
You can download the first chapter for free here Chapter 1.
While there are many books and resources that will teach you how to train your team to hit, throw, or pitch, there are very few resources that focus on how to successfully manage all aspects of the game.
That is what I want us to discuss in this blog. To keep the discussion going, I’ll be regularly sharing my tips and secrets I’ve discovered throughout my years in coaching, and I hope you’ll join and share your experiences, too. Together, we’ll build a community of first year and veteran coaches dedicated to providing a remarkable experience for their team and parents.
I look forward to all viewpoints and to some spirited discussion.
Thanks for joining in.
Rod Huff
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