New 14u Travel Coach

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Jul 2, 2020
14
3
Hey guys

My name is Marcus and I wanted to get some opinions about travel ball. I have been playing baseball from 86-02 in NY and IL. When I settled down in IL and decided to play adult softball about 2006 with some local park districts. I coached my daughter from T-ball until she last played rec in 2016-2017. She played travel for 10u and is currently in 13u. The coach she has will be leaving for a new team and I was asked by him and the park district to take over the 2021/2022 14u travel team. The fact that I got offered the opportunity to coach again I gladly said yes. I’ll be honest I missed coaching so im excited and nervous. I hope to get some players back from the team but after some parents found out I was taking the 14u team things started getting a little bit odd since the announcement. I do obviously encourage the players to tryouts for other teams and stuff if they like. I know that I would have to schedule tryouts in mid to late July. I’m trying to think of who I would like to have as asst coaches I was thinking of having two plus me and then a roster of 12 girls because I believe they all deserve to play and then I switch out players every inning except the pitchers. The pitchers will be removed pending the situations. Now the questions I have is in ex: I have seen teams with wristbands with their calls for both offenses and defenses. Are they worth investing and are they the new thing for teams now. Also, what qualities should I look for in coaches example should they be parent coaches since my daughter will be playing with me and/or should I just to get people that know the game better and can show me everything about travel ball. I’m willing to help the girls with their defense and certain strategies while practicing. I even offered to stay behind to help them afterwards if they wanted more reps. I am a fair person when it comes to coaching as I don’t like to play favorites with anyone. What opinions are out there for a new travel coach like myself and what techniques are recommended? Any opinion is not a stupid one but I’m willing to take in any info I can to help put a good team out on the field. Thank everyone in advance


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Jun 3, 2021
157
28
The old coach is likely taking the core group of players with them if staying in the same area. Can’t have hurt feelings in travel ball since some may very well come back.

I am old school baseball but I’ve come to realize that wristbands is the only way to go in Softball. On offense and defense. I really miss giving hand signals at third base but it just doesn’t make sense these days. Did it for one year in the 12 U local Burbank league. In the championship game they were still having trouble. Went from unbreakable to dead simple and it still didn’t click. Since I have been introduced to numbers and wristbands. It’s just better even if I don’t like it.
 
Feb 10, 2018
496
93
NoVA
FWIW, I agree on wristbands. Once the girls learn the system, it is much easier to get signals in and out and it is much harder for the other team to crack your code. At 14U, assuming your pitchers can consistently hit their spots, I would make sure your fielders also have the pitching signals on their wristband so that they can potentially shade their defensive positioning in anticipation of the pitch location.

Things may be different on high-level or national-level travel teams, but I don’t think I’ve seen more than one team in my area (including higher-level local/regional A teams) that didn’t have at least one parent coach on the team and more commonly all 3 (HC+2 Assistants, which seems to be the prevailing formula). I think if you can find the right kind of people to be non-parent coaches, then that might be best (because it helps avoid drama related to the “coach’s kid”)—especially if they can teach the game. Game knowledge and the ability to teach is important, but you also want people with the right temperament and who share the same vision and goals for the team as you do. My DD has been part of teams where the parent coaching works just fine (including the team she is on now). It doesn’t have to be a negative. I guess to sum up, it’s more important to find the right kind of people to help rather than worry about if they have a kid on the team or not.

One thing I believe is that if you are going to have assistant coaches, then they should have clear roles and responsibilities. I’ve seen Head Coaches that want to dictate everything themselves and the assistant coaches are there to just throw side toss to girls. What is the point of that? I think the job is more fulfilling for them to have a particular area of focus—where they can apply expertise they may already have or they can develop it without having to worry about teaching every aspect of the game. Doing things the right way for the right reasons and a desire to learn can make up for a lot, in my view.

12 girls on the team sounds like the right number. Some here will argue that you carry as many girls as the age level you are playing at +/-1. It is certainly harder to manage playing time with more girls, but as they get older, there are potentially more schedule conflicts and outside commitments. 3.5 pitchers. 2.5 catchers. (Where .5 is primarily a position player who “can pitch” or “can catch” but is not expecting to get significant innings at the P or C position). I think by 14U, each girl should have largely identified a primary and secondary position as they prepare for HS ball, if they aren’t playing it already. Whatever your playing time philosophy is (which probably depends in part on the goals and competitiveness of the team), I would make sure to CLEARLY communicate that to the parents and the players before the season begins. For example, will you have a different approach to pool play and bracket play when it comes to playing time and the batting line up? It won’t prevent all the drama (which begins to subside 14U+), but clearly communicating your goals and expectations before you get going (and repeating it along the way) will help. And the parents won’t be able to say they didn’t know what they were signing up for.

Anyway, wish you and the girls the best of luck. My daughters and I have been thankful that we’ve had people who were willing to step up and volunteer for the head coaching role because it is a lot of work and a lot of headaches…but obviously must be fun and rewarding too if there are still people willing to do it.
 
Jul 2, 2020
14
3
The old coach is likely taking the core group of players with them if staying in the same area. Can’t have hurt feelings in travel ball since some may very well come back.

I am old school baseball but I’ve come to realize that wristbands is the only way to go in Softball. On offense and defense. I really miss giving hand signals at third base but it just doesn’t make sense these days. Did it for one year in the 12 U local Burbank league. In the championship game they were still having trouble. Went from unbreakable to dead simple and it still didn’t click. Since I have been introduced to numbers and wristbands. It’s just better even if I don’t like it.

Thx 289nate. I have been trying to get examples from online for awhile on what kind of signs and stuff to use but since everyone uses them these days I don’t want to seem like I’m cheating lol because I know there signs. Again want just to learn ways to communicate with the players on off and def.


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May 2, 2018
200
63
Central Virginia
Decide what your philosophy is and stick with it. Do not let parents, players, or other coaches dictate what you do or compromise these philosophies. Do not try to make anyone happy or try to appease parents/players.

Trust in what you are doing but always seek knowledge to better yourself. Good job stepping up to coach and good luck to you.
 
Jul 2, 2020
14
3
Decide what your philosophy is and stick with it. Do not let parents, players, or other coaches dictate what you do or compromise these philosophies. Do not try to make anyone happy or try to appease parents/players.

Trust in what you are doing but always seek knowledge to better yourself. Good job stepping up to coach and good luck to you.

Thank you for everyone’s help I hope all goes and I would keep everyone updated once the team is formed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Jul 2, 2020
14
3
FWIW, I agree on wristbands. Once the girls learn the system, it is much easier to get signals in and out and it is much harder for the other team to crack your code. At 14U, assuming your pitchers can consistently hit their spots, I would make sure your fielders also have the pitching signals on their wristband so that they can potentially shade their defensive positioning in anticipation of the pitch location.

Things may be different on high-level or national-level travel teams, but I don’t think I’ve seen more than one team in my area (including higher-level local/regional A teams) that didn’t have at least one parent coach on the team and more commonly all 3 (HC+2 Assistants, which seems to be the prevailing formula). I think if you can find the right kind of people to be non-parent coaches, then that might be best (because it helps avoid drama related to the “coach’s kid”)—especially if they can teach the game. Game knowledge and the ability to teach is important, but you also want people with the right temperament and who share the same vision and goals for the team as you do. My DD has been part of teams where the parent coaching works just fine (including the team she is on now). It doesn’t have to be a negative. I guess to sum up, it’s more important to find the right kind of people to help rather than worry about if they have a kid on the team or not.

One thing I believe is that if you are going to have assistant coaches, then they should have clear roles and responsibilities. I’ve seen Head Coaches that want to dictate everything themselves and the assistant coaches are there to just throw side toss to girls. What is the point of that? I think the job is more fulfilling for them to have a particular area of focus—where they can apply expertise they may already have or they can develop it without having to worry about teaching every aspect of the game. Doing things the right way for the right reasons and a desire to learn can make up for a lot, in my view.

12 girls on the team sounds like the right number. Some here will argue that you carry as many girls as the age level you are playing at +/-1. It is certainly harder to manage playing time with more girls, but as they get older, there are potentially more schedule conflicts and outside commitments. 3.5 pitchers. 2.5 catchers. (Where .5 is primarily a position player who “can pitch” or “can catch” but is not expecting to get significant innings at the P or C position). I think by 14U, each girl should have largely identified a primary and secondary position as they prepare for HS ball, if they aren’t playing it already. Whatever your playing time philosophy is (which probably depends in part on the goals and competitiveness of the team), I would make sure to CLEARLY communicate that to the parents and the players before the season begins. For example, will you have a different approach to pool play and bracket play when it comes to playing time and the batting line up? It won’t prevent all the drama (which begins to subside 14U+), but clearly communicating your goals and expectations before you get going (and repeating it along the way) will help. And the parents won’t be able to say they didn’t know what they were signing up for.

Anyway, wish you and the girls the best of luck. My daughters and I have been thankful that we’ve had people who were willing to step up and volunteer for the head coaching role because it is a lot of work and a lot of headaches…but obviously must be fun and rewarding too if there are still people willing to do it.

I agree with a lot of what you wrote. My plan is to bring two assist coaches to help with practices and games as a pitching coach and offensive coach I can probably handle the defensive but we will have to see since I’m still relearning everything. One person I spoke to mention I should work a lot on situations and stuff like that which is not a bad idea. Usually I remember stuff hitting some balls at players at different positions and telling them when to back up and stuff like that. So I guess either way works but we will see. My intention is like pool/ bracket play is keep changing the girls out as I seen girls plays 3 games in a row and I can see they are exhausted but the coach doesn’t get told by the players. I rather a player tell me honestly but I felt the were lying then I would pull them for an inning so they recoup. I would like to be as fair as possible as I told my DD I will not play politics or preferences with anyone. You want to play you have to earn your way besides my DD is a pitcher but I told her to honest when she pitching if is not feeling it or whatnot. I just hope that whomever I bring understands that we will start from the bottom because we starting somewhat like a new team cause we would have to replace the girls we loss. So hopefully everything works out with the girls and especially the coaches


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Feb 10, 2018
496
93
NoVA
I agree with a lot of what you wrote. My plan is to bring two assist coaches to help with practices and games as a pitching coach and offensive coach I can probably handle the defensive but we will have to see since I’m still relearning everything. One person I spoke to mention I should work a lot on situations and stuff like that which is not a bad idea. Usually I remember stuff hitting some balls at players at different positions and telling them when to back up and stuff like that. So I guess either way works but we will see. My intention is like pool/ bracket play is keep changing the girls out as I seen girls plays 3 games in a row and I can see they are exhausted but the coach doesn’t get told by the players. I rather a player tell me honestly but I felt the were lying then I would pull them for an inning so they recoup. I would like to be as fair as possible as I told my DD I will not play politics or preferences with anyone. You want to play you have to earn your way besides my DD is a pitcher but I told her to honest when she pitching if is not feeling it or whatnot. I just hope that whomever I bring understands that we will start from the bottom because we starting somewhat like a new team cause we would have to replace the girls we loss. So hopefully everything works out with the girls and especially the coaches


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Pretty much every practice I’ve seen, participated in, or organized from 10U-14U consist of a dynamic warm up for the players, throwing warm up, focus on fielding skills (IF/OF), situational drills (bunt coverages, run downs, first and thirds, baserunning, etc.), and either ends on batting practice and/or game simulation (with either live or coach pitch). That basic structure or some variation of it, will easily get you to two hours, which seems to be the typical limit for practice time outside of Japan. Bullpens for pitcher and catchers usually start 30-45 min before the team practice and/or the P and C have to get additional work done on their own on the days the team doesn’t practice.

In my experience, travel team practices are typically held Tuesday and Thursday with tournaments on the weekend. If no tournament is scheduled, you might play friendlies or double-headers against other teams or have a long additional practice on, say, Saturday.
 
Jul 2, 2020
14
3
Pretty much every practice I’ve seen, participated in, or organized from 10U-14U consist of a dynamic warm up for the players, throwing warm up, focus on fielding skills (IF/OF), situational drills (bunt coverages, run downs, first and thirds, baserunning, etc.), and either ends on batting practice and/or game simulation (with either live or coach pitch). That basic structure or some variation of it, will easily get you to two hours, which seems to be the typical limit for practice time outside of Japan. Bullpens for pitcher and catchers usually start 30-45 min before the team practice and/or the P and C have to get additional work done on their own on the days the team doesn’t practice.

In my experience, travel team practices are typically held Tuesday and Thursday with tournaments on the weekend. If no tournament is scheduled, you might play friendlies or double-headers against other teams or have a long additional practice on, say, Saturday.

Yea all the stuff you said is what I had in mind. I was planning to keep the catchers and pitchers after practice for like 30-45 to throw from the mound like keep them at pitch count when doing that. I was thinking 50 pitches to stay loose or I can have them earlier before the team practice and stuff but those ideas. I have one coach who join me with his daughter since they are both the same age but waiting for confirmation dates. The other asst coach most likely would want a non parent to at least take care of the pitching aspect. Thanks for all the feedback you have a good ideas that I would definitely use.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Oct 4, 2018
4,611
113
Parents will be your biggest issue. They will second-guess you on everything, fight for their princess, be offended if she spends one second on the bench, etc.

To combat that, over-communicate with them. Be a broken record on your coaching philosophy. Explain ahead of time what the team will be like and get them to leave before the season even starts if they don't like it.


Some parents love "equal playing time for every girl" but most won't. Most want to win, and that means their DD in the field over the girl who isn't as good. It means batting 9 players in bracket games (rather than the entire roster). Be prepared to handle those gripes.

Parents tend to like the idea of set positions, especially once you're in 14U. If possible, having each player with a primary and secondary position makes a lot of sense. Otherwise you'll get an earful of "of course we lose, no one is learning a position when they rotate so much".

Careful with parent assistant coaches, as it can influence how their DDs are treated. Parents will gripe about that too. I think it's better if no parents are on the assistant coaching staff. Especially if it's just some random dad that doesn't have much connection to softball except his daughter.

Or just go out and buy a really thick skin, and let the parent complaints roll off your back.



Pitchers and catchers is usually before practice starts, not after it's over. Armbands are pretty standard. Find out which girls go to hitting instructors, and in general don't mess with their swing.
 

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