There are so many intangibles that a catcher can bring to a game which are overlooked in favor of a strong arm.
Others have already said being able to communicate with the pitchers and defense are key, and the pitcher having the confidence to throw any pitch is a must.
She's the only player...
Coach, or Dad...
I think she was taught to do that, and didn't want to hurt the batter, so she made that weak "toss" at her helmet.
If that batter ducks, the ball lands 6 feet up the line, not 60. Doesn't appear to me like she made any attempt at all to throw a runner out.
I'd love to see...
That's really kinda sad. What parents will do amazes me sometimes.
I guess the fact that most of our managers either coach travel, or at least have kids that play travel, mitigates most of that happening with us. Most seem to know who the better players are and have their "wishlist" before...
marriard addressed kids missing tryouts in post #7 of this thread
As for the sandbagging... Yes, it could happen, but it'll be rare and won't have any real impact your league.
I wouldn't waste your time worrying about it
We do evals for 8u/10u and 12u
Two nights each, kids picked ONE of those nights to come.
Players that wanted to play up, had to attend tryouts for both the division they want to play in, and their own age group (so the younger coaches could see them if not select to play up)
Since there's...
The flip side of that is when the batted ball hits home plate, and they think that's a foul/dead ball.
My son is a catcher, and more times than not just ends up tagging the batter out in the box, because they don't run.
Yes, in the LL "All-Star" tournament, there is no such thing as "playing under protest". All protests are resolved on the spot, and the protesting manager can keep escalating up the line until he/she accepts a decision or Williamsport makes a final ruling
Here's how NOT to do it..
LL Regional Admin told this story at a Presidents meeting about a league in NJ.
They held their draft in a local gymnasium. Lined the kids up in the hallway, and had parents in the bleachers.
The Managers were given monopoly money.
One by one, the players came in...
May I add a "1a)" to this?
Listen to the KIDS. Closely.
Their opinions/needs usually differ from what the parents want, and you can usually be sure what they're telling you is honest, without ulterior motives or a master plan in mind.
Listen to them, and do right by them, and you'll be fine.
Delayed dead ball if it's hit and the batter reaches base safely. Then the illegal pitch is to be cancelled:
Offense does have a gripe here.
Now, why he gave the runner third, if not allowing the hit to stand, makes no sense.
(Maybe a baseball umpire thinking it's a balk rule?)
Our league starts discouraging team placement "requests" at 9/10u, and prohibits them at 11/12u
Teams should be formed so that there is as much parity as possible. Only real way to accomplish this consistently is via a draft of some sort (whether you completely form new teams every year, or the...