- Feb 27, 2016
- 18
- 0
i know its a rec fundamental league
the other coach is all about the fun
i find the girls hate to lose.
the other coach is all about the fun
i find the girls hate to lose.
8u coach to win or have fun
- Thread starter softball50
- Start date
Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch
Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.
- Jun 12, 2015
- 3,848
- 83
The priority should be fun. If the girls consider winning to be fun, they'll work hard to get better. Most 8 year olds, IME, don't care all that much about winning though. They just want to play.
- Feb 15, 2016
- 273
- 18
It depends on how you define each of those. At 8U it should mean that every girl gets roughly equal playing time and girls should play multiple positions. Shuffle your batting order each game. If the girl who can't catch is supposed to be the SS for the last inning of a tie game so be it. At that age you make it as fun as possible for all the girls. You teach them to play hard and try hard but as a coach you can't get into wanting to win so bad at that level that some girls sit more than others or you start locking girls into positions. There should be no starting players or batting order based on productivity at that age.
It's been a while since I coached 8U, but my recollection was that about a third really wanted to win, but a third didn't know the score unless you told them.
I'm all for trying to win at 8U, but not at the expense of certain players who would play less, or get stuck entirely in the outfield. I'd rather have a 12-0 retention rate (all 12 girls enjoyed it enough to return next season) than a 12-0 W-L record.
- Jun 12, 2015
- 3,848
- 83
Mine is 9 and plays competitive travel ball and half the time she has no idea who's winning or losing. When her team won the rec basketball championship this season in a very exciting and close game, she had to ask her dad (coach) when it was over if they won. At this age I think if they do care, it's often a reflection of the adults around them.
- Sep 29, 2014
- 2,421
- 113
yeah I find it hard that 8yr olds care that much about winning. Teach them the game! Give them the skills! Make lots of friends! Have lots of fun!
8U is way to early to worry about winning.
8U is way to early to worry about winning.
I think at 8 it is the adults job to teach the kids to love the game so they will continue to want to play. And that means have fun. I agree with the previous poster who said teach fundamentals and work on different positions. My DD's first year team was not a winning team. But my DD and the other players she still keeps in touch with still remember that year as the best ever. She has since been on the #1 team in the state for her age group - but guess which team she talks about most? That 1st year team. Only a couple girls on that team knew if they won or lost, but they knew they were having fun. Our coach was not though. He was frustrated with our losing record and decided to clean house at tryouts. We had a winning team the next year but the amout of drama and heartache was not worth the wins IMO - especially at that age.
I have yet to have a winning record in any season I have coached (coached 2 yrs of 8u coach pitch, starting second year of 10u LL right now), but I considered each year a success. the girls had fun, most came back the next season, and they all developed, albeit to different levels. girls played to win, I did not coach to win, other than encouragement to do their best. the difference is described as above, all girls (taking safety into account) got to try lots of positions, no one sat more than anyone else (at least I think so, and I kept records to try and keep track). batting order was different every game, no one batted last all the time, no one led off all the time.
most important thing at that level is fundamentals. lots of fielding, catching, and throwing. don't worry to much about making the right play. Knowing what to do with 1 out and runners on the corners means nothing if they cannot execute. get a ton of balls, and break em into small groups (2-3) at practice, each with an adult, each group working on a different fundamental skill. rotate every 10 minutes. make games out of the drills (ie knock stuffed animal off bucket with throw, etc.). My first year 8u, it took to about the 6th game of the season to make an out other than Ks and girl fielding ball and running to tag a base (ie play involved throw and catch). Parents went nuts, it was terrific.
I think main thing for them having fun is to get hitting, and start to make plays. girls can tell they are getting better (this week they get their glove in way of ball, next week the ball is hitting inside of glove, next week they are actually catching thrown ball), and getting better leads to winning, and winning is fun, but not the end all be all.
most important thing at that level is fundamentals. lots of fielding, catching, and throwing. don't worry to much about making the right play. Knowing what to do with 1 out and runners on the corners means nothing if they cannot execute. get a ton of balls, and break em into small groups (2-3) at practice, each with an adult, each group working on a different fundamental skill. rotate every 10 minutes. make games out of the drills (ie knock stuffed animal off bucket with throw, etc.). My first year 8u, it took to about the 6th game of the season to make an out other than Ks and girl fielding ball and running to tag a base (ie play involved throw and catch). Parents went nuts, it was terrific.
I think main thing for them having fun is to get hitting, and start to make plays. girls can tell they are getting better (this week they get their glove in way of ball, next week the ball is hitting inside of glove, next week they are actually catching thrown ball), and getting better leads to winning, and winning is fun, but not the end all be all.
- Jun 7, 2013
- 984
- 0
This is also what I've found. I recall a discussion, after a loss, that I had with a rec ball coach who wanted to get all hard core to get victories. "Surprisingly", this involved his DD doing pretty much all the pitching. I told him that this is a rec league, we're supposed to emphasize having fun and developing skills. He replied that he thought the girls were really bummed out because they were losing all the time. I pointed to the girls who were doing the same thing that they did after a victory, they were running around and having fun. I asked, "Do those girls look bummed out to you?". There was no reply.
