I've been lurking here since spring, but figured it was time to finally post my story. This may get a little long.
This past spring, the school where my wife teaches had high school sports for the first time. That included starting a JV softball team (last year, the school was K-10. This year it's K-11, and next year it'll be K-12). The school is only beginning its fourth year, and the sports culture is not yet developed at all.
She came home from work around a year ago and told me she was going to be the softball coach, which meant I was going to be the assistant softball coach. I had always wanted to coach, though I had figured I'd coach baseball if I ever did it. Turns out, coaching fastpitch softball is exactly where I belong. Since my wife was incredibly busy with teaching (and I have an awesome, flexible work-from-home job), I did most of the work planning practices, etc.
At the first practice (we did not hold true tryouts since we struggled to even get enough 9th and 10th graders to fill a team), I learned that 75% of our players had never played before. When I say "never played before," I mean I had to teach some of them how to hold a bat. I spent a couple weeks working with most of the team on proper throwing form. It was a struggle, but since our Athletic Director didn't schedule us a SINGLE game, we had more practice time than usual (we ended up playing a couple games at the end of May).
Long story short, we spent most of the first season practicing the very basic fundamentals that most kids are taught long before their 10th birthday. Heading into the summer, my wife and I decided to talk to the school about making me the head coach since I absolutely fell in love with the job to the point where I spend every day doing at least one softball-related thing to prepare for the spring.
This past spring was learning as we went. I always planned practice, but I'm sure I could've been more efficient. We probably were too nice (in fact, one player told me I was too nice). We didn't really have team rules established, and we never held a parent meeting. A lot of these mistakes will be rectified this year, especially since we have a new AD at the school, and he actually knows what he's doing. One of the benefits to having an official change to me as head coach means we can establish a new, more serious environment as we try to build a successful program. It should be easier to say "This year is different" since it actually is going to be different with me in charge.
So that's where my appeal for advice comes in. We are going to be a first year Varsity team, but we have full AD/school support. It's only August, but I'd like some advice on what I can do starting today all the way through the beginning of the season at the end of February. Rules prohibit us from practicing as a team until then, but we are trying to get our girls to play in a local park district fall league to refine their skills. I want to be completely and totally prepared, so any advice at all would be helpful. And I'll do my best to answer any questions you may have about our program.
Sorry this got so long, but I could talk about the team and all the strange occurrences from the spring for thousands of words. I'll spare all of you. For now.
This past spring, the school where my wife teaches had high school sports for the first time. That included starting a JV softball team (last year, the school was K-10. This year it's K-11, and next year it'll be K-12). The school is only beginning its fourth year, and the sports culture is not yet developed at all.
She came home from work around a year ago and told me she was going to be the softball coach, which meant I was going to be the assistant softball coach. I had always wanted to coach, though I had figured I'd coach baseball if I ever did it. Turns out, coaching fastpitch softball is exactly where I belong. Since my wife was incredibly busy with teaching (and I have an awesome, flexible work-from-home job), I did most of the work planning practices, etc.
At the first practice (we did not hold true tryouts since we struggled to even get enough 9th and 10th graders to fill a team), I learned that 75% of our players had never played before. When I say "never played before," I mean I had to teach some of them how to hold a bat. I spent a couple weeks working with most of the team on proper throwing form. It was a struggle, but since our Athletic Director didn't schedule us a SINGLE game, we had more practice time than usual (we ended up playing a couple games at the end of May).
Long story short, we spent most of the first season practicing the very basic fundamentals that most kids are taught long before their 10th birthday. Heading into the summer, my wife and I decided to talk to the school about making me the head coach since I absolutely fell in love with the job to the point where I spend every day doing at least one softball-related thing to prepare for the spring.
This past spring was learning as we went. I always planned practice, but I'm sure I could've been more efficient. We probably were too nice (in fact, one player told me I was too nice). We didn't really have team rules established, and we never held a parent meeting. A lot of these mistakes will be rectified this year, especially since we have a new AD at the school, and he actually knows what he's doing. One of the benefits to having an official change to me as head coach means we can establish a new, more serious environment as we try to build a successful program. It should be easier to say "This year is different" since it actually is going to be different with me in charge.
So that's where my appeal for advice comes in. We are going to be a first year Varsity team, but we have full AD/school support. It's only August, but I'd like some advice on what I can do starting today all the way through the beginning of the season at the end of February. Rules prohibit us from practicing as a team until then, but we are trying to get our girls to play in a local park district fall league to refine their skills. I want to be completely and totally prepared, so any advice at all would be helpful. And I'll do my best to answer any questions you may have about our program.
Sorry this got so long, but I could talk about the team and all the strange occurrences from the spring for thousands of words. I'll spare all of you. For now.