New Coach - will welcome any advice. Working on letter to parents.

[KCPhoto]

I have been lurking here for the last few weeks and I am so grateful for all the wonderful information you share with everyone. I volunteered to coach DD's 10U rec league team this spring and just received confirmation that I will be the coach! In the past, I coached her t-ball for one season where the main goal was to minimize butterfly chasing and dirt drawings.

It's a Babe Ruth league and I wil get a rule book and code of conduct handout at our coaches meeting Thursday evening, as well as a handout the league wants sent to parents.

Instead of asking a ton of questions, I thought I would share a draft of a letter I plan to send to parents. It may change significantly after our coaches meeting when I will receive more league information. If you don't mind, could you give me your opinion on my letter and anything you think I should add or omit. I picked up everything from this forum.


Hello Softball Parents!

My name is Kenny Caudill and I will be your coach for the spring 2015 10U girl's softball season. A little bit about me, I work as a photographer in Richmond and I teach motorcycle safety at EKU.

My philosophy towards coaching is to instill a love and respect for the game in every player, teach them good sportsmanship, help them develop playing skills and make sure they have fun! I follow the premise that practice is for the coaches and games are for the kids. That means I will work hard teaching the fundamentals and strategies during practice but will only direct play and give positive praise during games.

As a 10U league team, I want to be sure we help every player develop as much as possible and get the opportunity to play several positions during games.

Communication

I will send out emails regularly about our team with game and practice reminders. I tend to get wordy so I will put the most important information at the top if you don't want to read all of it. Also, I will send text reminders to all that wish for them.

Practices

I haven't scheduled practice times and dates yet. I would like to have 2 practices per week at about 90 minutes each. I will stay beyond 90 minutes to work with any players that want additional help.

Send water with your child instead of any soft drinks, power drinks or sports drinks. Water is the best to quench thirst and rehydrate.

We will divide practices up as follows:

10 - 15 minutes Warm up exercises and throwing (Important, don't be late).

15 - 30 minutes Fundamentals (proper throwing, fielding, catching and swinging techniques)

5 minutes WATER BREAK

15 – 25 minutes Drills – where all players move through stations either throwing, fielding or hitting, working on accuracy and precision of technique.

5 minutes WATER BREAK

15 – 30 minutes “Games and Strategies” where we will learn new game strategies and then divide into teams to play a mini-game to reinforce what was learned.

As the season progresses, time spent on fundamentals will decrease while time spent on “Games and Strategies” will increase. Drills will vary each practice, not all practices will include all drills. Practices will be designed to keep all player active as much as possible. I would love to have a few parent volunteers to help shag balls and move buckets during drills.

Your Softball Player

I would love to get an email from each of you about your child. What are her interests, how does she respond to instruction? What are her strengths and weaknesses in softball? Where do you think she could use additional help? What other obligations does she have during the season (music, dance, other sports, etc). Information like this will help me get to know her better more quickly.

Thanks!
Kenny

 

[chrispots]

I think that is excellent!

I would make a couple of small changes in your last paragraph...

Please send me an email from about your child. Does your daughter have any allergies or health issues I should be aware of (peanut, gluten, diabetes, etc). What are her interests? How does she respond to instruction? Has your daughter ever played softball? What are her strengths and weaknesses in softball? Where do you think she could use additional help? What other obligations does she have during the season (music, dance, other sports, etc). Information like this will help me get to know her better more quickly.

CP

 

[KCPhoto]

Yes! I will do that. Thanks.

 

[YOCOACH]

I would add "Asthma, mild or otherwise" to the health question CP suggested. Many parents don't consider that a health issue unless it's a major problem for their child. Next thing you know, you have a child wheezing and ready to faint out in the OF due to high temps, heavy humidity or a high pollen count. True story.

Other than that, I would go with it. Nice job.

 

[sluggers]

The letter is generally good. You asked for comments, so here they are:

TAKE OUT THE I and ME

You used "I" about 15 times in the letter. That is 15 times too many. After all, the games and practices are about the kids, not you.

Here are some examples of how to take the "I" out of the letter:

My philosophy towards coaching is to instill a love and respect for the game in every player, teach them good sportsmanship, help them develop playing skills and make sure they have fun! Practice is for the coaches and games are for the kids. We will work hard teaching the fundamentals and strategies during practice and use positive praise during games.​

As a 10U league team, every player should develop as much as possible and get the opportunity to play several positions during games. ... Regular emails will be sent about our team with game and practice reminders. You can also receive text messages, if you want.​

Practice times and dates will soon be set. There will be 2 practices per week at about 90 minutes each. Kids are welcome to stay longer to work on individual skills.​

ASKING PARENTS TO HELP

Yikes!--Don't do it! Save yourself and the kids!

I would love to have a few parent volunteers to help shag balls and move buckets during drills.

Two problems:

a) You will have nutty parents, guaranteed. You may not want some of the parents within 100 yards of the field. If you ask put this in your letter, Carl from Cow Town will show up. Since he tried out for HS baseball (he was cut) and since he watches Sports Center twice a week, he is an authority. He will then wander around giving astoundingly bad advice. ("As soon as a ball is hit, cover your eyes.") Then you will be faced with unpleasant and possibly dangerous task of telling Carl to get lost. Better approach: Watch the parents who show up and hang around practice. You might see a couple who can be trusted. Then, ask them if they want to help.

b) Part of teaching a sport is to teach responsibility. Part of the responsibility of playing on a team is to take care of the equipment, before, during and after practice. es, it would be easier for the parents to do it...but that isn't the point. The point is that this is THE KIDS' game, so THE KIDS have to take care of the stuff. Good coaches don't let parents or the coaches touch equipment. The kids pick up the balls. The kids move the buckets.

THE LAST PARAGRAPH

The last paragraph is a little odd. You want the kids, not the parents, to tell you about themselves. Usually you do that in a circle after practice. You might want to say, "If there are some activities which might interfere with your DD attending practice or games, let me know."

 

[KCPhoto]

Thanks alot for the detailed reply! Some really good advice. I'll get all the I's out and then watch for a parent or 2 that I like to help out. No AC yet, but I might be getting one at the coaches meeting. All coaches had to have a background check, I don't yet if I can invite a parent to help during practice.

I thought of getting extra help from watching videos where there are 3-4 drill stations running simultaneously with helpers running buckets to new stations as they are needed.

OH, thanks for wording help too. I'm going to copy and paste it!

 

[Eric F]

I thought of getting extra help from watching videos where there are 3-4 drill stations running simultaneously with helpers running buckets to new stations as they are needed.

That's great...if you have a coaching staff giving instruction that is consistent with your philosophies.

Personally, I try to be very careful with who I allow to give advice in specific areas to my team. Especially with kids just learning the game, contradictory cues and instructions can make learning difficult. Opening the door for random parents to run drills has a lot of potential for issues. As has been advised already, get to know the parents first.

 

[sluggers]

KC,

Also, God bless you. Anyone who coaches is a special person.

 

[Eric F]

Anyone who coaches is a special person.

I'm going to assume you mean that in a good way.

 

[YOCOACH]

I'm going to assume you mean that in a good way.

You mean you weren't my seat-mate on the short bus to school?