As adults, we have all been guilty of losing perspective on certain things. We are constantly making things out to be more significant than they really are—“mountains out of mole hills.” This is something that we see a lot of in youth baseball, of course. Whether it’s the stressors and expectations associated with travel baseball, parents with unrealistic expectations, or focusing on the won/loss record to the exclusion of everything else, it’s easy to lose perspective with everything that is going on. The problem is that we have a huge impact on the youngsters that are just beginning in the sport. When adults lose perspective, the sport stops being fun for young athletes, which has a huge impact on their future participation and fandom as they become adults and parents themselves. Here are some thoughts on how to keep things fun for young athletes (while staying focused on fundamentals):
Make athletes want to come to practice
Practice should be about teaching the sport and its skills and preparing athletes for game play. This is best done by organizing practices in such a way that everyone is busy. When young players are just standing around, they lose focus, cut up, don’t improve—the list goes on and on. Any athlete wants to feel like they are learning and improving, but it’s also important to throw some fun into practices, which is true at all levels of all sports!
Create a sense of team
Creating a sense of team is important for making young athletes want to be part of the experience. This is done through rituals, routines and shared experiences. Rituals and routines include things like team warmups, chants, pregame routines, home run celebrations, etc. Shared experiences can be on the field or off, and can come in the form of team parties, movie outings and any other events that help young players (and their parents) want to be part of the team and create great memories. All told, these are the things your players will remember, which ultimately improves the culture of whatever team you are coaching.
Teach the sport, not one position
We are doing youth athletes a disservice when it comes to preparing them for high school baseball and beyond if they are only training in one position. By not teaching them the sport and how to play multiple positions, we limit their ability to contribute to future teams. An athlete may love to catch, but if their team already has two studs at the position, they would need to contribute elsewhere.
Working at multiple positions also helps to keep players engaged, interested, and challenged. Coaches always want the best players in their best positions, but keep in mind that nobody ever got drafted because of their 12U win-loss record.
Create fans
The fact of the matter is that the odds are against these kids playing on their high school teams, let alone college and the pros, and youth baseball is quite possibly the last experience in the sport many players will have. Let’s make it a fun experience!
This can only happen if we make sure that youth baseball players have a positive experience. Baseball is a fun sport to watch, a fun sport to play, and a fun sport to coach. Pretty much anyone reading Inside Pitch would agree. As coaches, part of our hope and challenge is to develop fans who will continue to watch the game and eventually introduce their children to it.
In addition to being a special education teacher at McKinney High School (TX), John Cissik is a youth baseball head coach and a Miracle League head coach in Texas.