Clinic Run By Older Girls

[amanda_cake]

My father had the bright idea of having us older girls who have aged out of our rec ball (which is the big thing here) run a clinic(s) for our younger kids. 10U, 13U, and 16U. I have had one girl agree to help so far, so that is good.

What sort of things would you suggest doing? I have a general idea of what to do, but I'm always looking for more suggestions. We hope to have some kids that have played college ball who got their starts here come home to help. If those goes well the first weekend, we plan on having more at the various ball fields (each major area has one).

The sale of concessions at these events would allow for us to make money to buy training aids for this, as well as to donate to our associations. The boys get a lot of money, but this would go straight to the girls! That very idea is exciting to me.

Also, the legalities of this? Do you think I could get a lawyer to draft something up for me so no one will get sued for injuries or whatever? I'm hoping someone can give me some free legal advice, I'm 17 and a little too young to be sued.

The girls worship the ground we walk on, so this could go over so well... I'd love to host one every Saturday! I'm just overly thrilled about the possibility of making this work.

Summer is a long ways off, but we need to start planning things now of course. That's why I'm already bringing this up and I'll keep everyone posted.

 

[alexander58]

It's great of you to take this on. This should do wonders for your program. As far as insurance goes, talk to the agent who represents your program. They can tell you if you are covered under the league, and what steps to take if you are not. Have the kids do the same drills you have done, but don't spend too much time on one thing (attention span).Don't make it longer than 2 hours. Even that is pushing it. Have fun.

 

[amanda_cake]

Oh boy, finding out who to talk to shall be interesting. The plan right now is to do it at my team's home field (the one closest to me) since I'd have connections to get it. Since I'm running this show, might as well have it close to home. I can easily run back to get something if something goes wrong or whatever. I'm guessing it would be best to talk to our athletic association as far as insurance wise. Each time has their own insurance, it isn't bought by the whole county. We are liable to have NONE, since they don't purchase any for fall ball. I had to have the girls "sign their lives away" to play fall ball. However, if this works out well we want to have multiple clinics and we might switch up the locations to make it easier for some girls to get there, if you know what I mean? I'm definitely going to have to make some phone calls about insurance.

I'm planning on having a lot of rotational hitting stations, fielding stuff, stuff going on in the batting cages (we have two), some work with pitchers and catchers, etc. I'm not sure if two hours would be long enough. Our school runs a camp for about three days during the summer. They are there basically all day.

We are planning on having a slip and slide as well, I think they will definitely get a kick out of that if we go that route.

Also, t-shirts came to me as a brilliant idea. Where would be a cheap place online to order some? I'm sure some kids would like a t-shirt or something. I was thinking about some sort of softball image on the front, the name of the event (un-named thus far), and having "Hosted By Past and Present County Ball Legends" on the back, with the names of the girls who put this together.

If we have additional clinics, they'll definitely be cut to two hours or somewhere around there. If this ends up being an every weekend event like I hope, two hours shall be plenty.

 

[SnocatzDad]

I would check that your Rec program has an insurance policy. If it's a general insurance policy it should probably cover coaches, clinics etc.. If your not sure, you get coaches insurance when you Ace certify which can be done online for I think $30 and about 45 mins of time. Probably a good idea for you and your fellow clinicians because that includes a background check as well.

I'd try to keep the numbers small and the time short (i.e. rather than have 16 girls per clinician and work for 2 hours, try to have 2-4 girls per clinician and work with them 30 minutes to an hour tops. They will get more out of 30 minutes of focused instruction than 2 hours of group instruction. It takes a really experienced and organized clinician to work with a large group and the group has to be comprised of very disciplined learners for that to work very well. Your new, and the kids are new to this and I think I would start with small numbers.

 

[amanda_cake]

I know the rec programs have insurance, but WHOSE insurance it would fall under would be a problem. There are six teams, each with their own insurance and fields. They are based in towns in the county. If we are going to make this into something that happens often, then it could get sketchy. We'd most likely want to switch up locations, to make it closer to some of the girls. We don't want them to always have to drive far, you know SnocatzDad?

That doesn't sound bad, however... I'm not sure if it is really necessary. Do sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen year old girls really need to have background checks? In this area, EVERYONE knows everyone. Some of my teachers taught my mother, my aunt, and they know my grandma who works at the school board office. Everyone is into everyone else's business. If we have done anything bad, they would know about it. Background checks aren't really necessary.

I'll have to talk to the girls as to what we want to do about time. There will probably be a lot of girls helping, so individual attention shouldn't be an issue.

 

[timmye]

So if each team has insurance they should be covered on there own. But you as a coach/clinician should also get your own coverage thourgh being ACE cert. This should cover you and your clinics. You could find out who the teams have there insurance through, it may all be the same company and talk to there insurance rep. This could be a starting point for you.

As far as fundraising goes. This brings up a whole new mess of issues. Who are you raising the funds for? What are they used for? Is it tax exempt? Is there leagal paper work that needs to be filed at the end of the year, such as a tax return if you raise a certain amount of money? So these are a few other things that need to be thought about.

 

[amanda_cake]

You would think, but I don't know if they would cover it for this... I would be covered under our rec association's coaching insurance, if we were to go that route.

I didn't think that the fund raising would be that complicated. I knew it would be interesting to see how we would divide the money amongst the teams. It would definitely be spent on the girls, somehow. Other than that however, I thought you just sold stuff and handed over the profit. Like doing concessions or what not.

 

[absdad]

Kudos to your for doing this! You're giving back, and THAT is the true measure of sportsmanship.

Keep it fun, and at a good pace, to keep all the youngins' going and paying attention. Basic skills. Baserunning, throwing, etc, etc.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Buy the t-shirts locally. Shipping generally runs the price up. You might get a price break from a local (or nearly local) company.

I run the sort of clinics that you are talking about, all the time. What state are you in?

For the first day, work on one skill, lets say Throwing. Learn all that you can about it. Read Jaeger Sports, on line. Work from a lesson plan. Bring all the spongey balls and tennis balls you can find and have them learn to catch and throw those before moving on to the softball.

Plan more activities than you will actually need, in case one is a bust.

Have competitions to see who can throw the furthest, who can hit the target without missing, and 4 person throwing relays.

Give out prizes like barrettes, gum and head bands (Dollar Store.)

I wouldn't bring out the Slip N Slide, until the last day. It would be the closing activity. That way, you can let the parents know to prepare for wet kids. I wouldn't want to come pick Sally up to take her to piano and find out she is soaking wet.

All kids like the running relay where half are on 2nd and half at home and you see which team can "switch places" first.

Let me know what else you need. Have everyone one sign a clause that no one, nor the city park, is responsible for accidents and get an emergency contact number for the parents.

Good luck.

 

[amanda_cake]

absdad--I've run some 10U practices, so I know how important it is to keep them interested. I always play some games at the end, so we'd probably throw in some games to add some interest and get them hyped. I've got a basic idea of how this will go. I'm not the average 17 year old kid, I've coached a 12U team with my best friend (also 17). We ran the practices, made the line ups, etc. We did have a mother who was "technically" in charge, since we aren't allowed to completely run the show because we aren't of legal age. So... I definitely do have some idea of how to not bore them to death lol.

Amy, I am in Virginia. Bit of a jump from Arizona. I like the idea of prizes. I definitely know to prepare the parents for slip and slide!

I think that having someone sign a clause would be the best idea and the easiest.