Ok, Ok Ok, enough already. Sorry for the lack of posting lately. There's been a ton of stuff going on at work plus today was the first day returning to work after 4 days of the flu. Ugh, I can't stand being sick. It is such a waste of time.
Little league practice started this week. This is my 13th year coaching and I must say, I'm usually a little more pessimistic after my first practice of the season, but this year I was pleasantly surprised at how my team looked. We are a very young team (I have 3 eight year olds), but impressively, one of the best pitchers on the team is an 8 year old.
This past Saturday was the last tryout before choosing teams. I was sick on Saturday, but of course still managed to make it to tryouts. Every year, we seem to see less and less talent. Why is that? Do we blame the video games, do we blame the parents, or do we blame the coaches? I think its probably a combination of the 3, but I think the first 2 are the most influential in the initial talent development of a child. Just think, if a kid was to throw a baseball for every 5 minutes spent on the Xbox, think of how much better he would be at throwing a baseball. We as parents have go to spent more time throwing with our kids. You don't have to know about baseball to throw with your child. 30 minutes a day would make such a huge difference.
One thing that personally bugged me while watching the tryouts, was watching kids that I had coached in the past. Not the good kids, but the kids that were a challenge, the ones that didn't know much about baseball. None of them, whether they were once players of mine, or of another coaches, hadn't improved much, if at all. Does this mean we failed as coaches? Did we focus so much on winning or so much on developing the "better" kids, that we failed to teach those that needed it most? After all, it is so much easier to teach a kid who already has some sort of skill set.
This was on mind the entire day. As a minor league coach, one who coaches kids ranging from 8 years old to 11 years old, what are my goals with these kids? Is it to have an undefeated season or is it to teach baseball. I worry that in that in past, it may have been the winning season. Maybe it's because I'm getting older, but I want this year to be different. I want to teach. I want every kid to be a better player at the end of the next 7 weeks. I want the kids who can hit the ball to hit the ball harder and farther than ever before. I want those kids that can't currently hit the ball to be able to get into that batters box and have the confidence knowing they're going to hit that pitch. I want every kid on the team to experience both the stress and the joy of pitching off of a pitching mound. I really want this year to be something new and very educational. I have and excellent assistant coach and some great parents. I think most of us will be on the same page when it comes to the goals of the season. Teach the kids as much as possible and let that dictate the outcome of each game.
With the parents permission, I'll do my best to keep you informed of how the season goes. I'm looking forward to a fun summer. I've got a great group of boys and I have no doubts the season is going be both fun and exciting.
Little league practice started this week. This is my 13th year coaching and I must say, I'm usually a little more pessimistic after my first practice of the season, but this year I was pleasantly surprised at how my team looked. We are a very young team (I have 3 eight year olds), but impressively, one of the best pitchers on the team is an 8 year old.
This past Saturday was the last tryout before choosing teams. I was sick on Saturday, but of course still managed to make it to tryouts. Every year, we seem to see less and less talent. Why is that? Do we blame the video games, do we blame the parents, or do we blame the coaches? I think its probably a combination of the 3, but I think the first 2 are the most influential in the initial talent development of a child. Just think, if a kid was to throw a baseball for every 5 minutes spent on the Xbox, think of how much better he would be at throwing a baseball. We as parents have go to spent more time throwing with our kids. You don't have to know about baseball to throw with your child. 30 minutes a day would make such a huge difference.
One thing that personally bugged me while watching the tryouts, was watching kids that I had coached in the past. Not the good kids, but the kids that were a challenge, the ones that didn't know much about baseball. None of them, whether they were once players of mine, or of another coaches, hadn't improved much, if at all. Does this mean we failed as coaches? Did we focus so much on winning or so much on developing the "better" kids, that we failed to teach those that needed it most? After all, it is so much easier to teach a kid who already has some sort of skill set.
This was on mind the entire day. As a minor league coach, one who coaches kids ranging from 8 years old to 11 years old, what are my goals with these kids? Is it to have an undefeated season or is it to teach baseball. I worry that in that in past, it may have been the winning season. Maybe it's because I'm getting older, but I want this year to be different. I want to teach. I want every kid to be a better player at the end of the next 7 weeks. I want the kids who can hit the ball to hit the ball harder and farther than ever before. I want those kids that can't currently hit the ball to be able to get into that batters box and have the confidence knowing they're going to hit that pitch. I want every kid on the team to experience both the stress and the joy of pitching off of a pitching mound. I really want this year to be something new and very educational. I have and excellent assistant coach and some great parents. I think most of us will be on the same page when it comes to the goals of the season. Teach the kids as much as possible and let that dictate the outcome of each game.
With the parents permission, I'll do my best to keep you informed of how the season goes. I'm looking forward to a fun summer. I've got a great group of boys and I have no doubts the season is going be both fun and exciting.
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