Parent turning Coach

[Andrew72]

Not sure if this is the best spot to post this but guess I will find out.

My DD plays summer rec league and I have helped coach.....the league in general is perfect for keeping her active but thats about it. Teams were unbalance with girls in 4th grade playing against girls in 8th grade.....also the league had 4 local teams 1 outside team for a total of 8 games. I have fought for more games and wanted to keep things inhouse but the issues we have ran into is the program is honestly more worried about the boys baseball. I took some of our girls to watch a local tourney and even at age 11 they knew we were worlds behind....soooo about half the girls have come to me begging to start a travel team next year....I am backed by the parents in everyway other then being in a small community money for the pay to play is an issue...most parents cant spend more then 100 per girl to play.

Any suggestions on building this for next spring? I know its not gonna happen over night but we have some girls that could make a heck of a team and are asking for more help....they just want to play and learn.

 

[InsidePitch]

Our local rec usually fielded an All star team that practiced extra and entered a few tournaments. The league insurance might cover you, Tourneys at 12U seem to run about 450. You could fund raise some and if 12 kids could come up with a 1200 you could enter a few. You could also attend or host some round robins with two other teams pretty cheap, cost of umps divided between the teams. They get a taste of travel ball and figure out what they need to be working on.

 

[WARRIORMIKE]

With you being a rec coach and now moving to Travel, get as many friendlies as you can. Get the experience for yourself and your team.

Best of luck to you and your team

 

[Andrew72]

Inside...Ive talked with our league but due to politics I will not be considered as an all star coach and they are only offering 1 Day a week for us to play extra....our season is only 4 weeks long for games and 4 weeks practice....due to the amount of teams thru the ranks we would never get time to practice as an all star team either....Im still working on them though but when you have girls begging to do more for them and its fallen on deaf ears parents are even asking me now for something more.

Mike......thanks I know its gonna be a rough road at first but I do have some great parents/friends backing me and the Varsity coach for our school is 110% behind what Im wanting to do as well.....for the most part all the girls will come out of my daughters grade with a few youngers mixed in but only a cpl.....it will be a 12U team but move up as they grow older.The families all get along and would do anything for each other and our girls....even if we arnt the best team out there I would feel alot better about the quality of play that can only improve for our girls.

 

[James Smith]

IDK, and it is easy for me to say, but I would try to fix your in house league especially if money is an Issue.

It sounds like one of the major problems with the in house league is the number of players, spend your time and resources recruiting players.

If you do try to setup a TB team forget about coaching, all your time is going to be spent on the logistics and you will need to find a coach for the Team.

 

[Coach-n-Dad]

After DD's second season in Little League a local guy decided to do the same thing, for the same reasons. He put in $2,000 of his own money and charged $500 for each player for the fall season. The team did very well at NSA B and even competed in a few NSA A tournaments.

The team disbanded after 2 seasons though. The kids that were good enough moved on to higher level teams leaving the kids that weren't. Most of them found other NSA teams.

That season was one of the best for DD. She learned that she is good enough to play with the "good" players and helped her set the course for the next 6 years at high level softball.

I highly recommend you do this as long as you are willing to part with some of your own money and a LOT of your own time.

 

[canyonjoe]

My only advice to you is once you have a good idea of what your team will look like do some research on local tourneys to see where you can compete. Let all parents know that you may lose some games for some time until you build the team up. Try and develop what your philosophy will be in tournaments. Bat all 11 every game or just on saturday, play everyone every game,etc. If people know what to expect it's much harder for them to complain. We were lucky to find an established team to play on, but my DD just loves playing.

 

[Coach Fastpitch]

Just a quick practice thought, be creative. You don't need a ball field to practice softball. Got 45 ft x 10 ft patch of grass or dirt? Your pitchers can throw and you can work catcher drills. Got a paved parking lot at the local school? You can roll grounders or throw pop flies (all kinds of different drills). Got a cow pasture? You can throw batting practice and play long catch. I grew up in the country. We had to drive 15 miles to the nearest ball field. So, we didn't spend a ton of time practicing on a ball field until I was 14 or 15 and could drive myself and my brother. The whole team doesn't have to be at practice at the same time.

If you are just starting down his path, get fundamentals down then worry about getting more complex when you do get on a ball field. Teams that can do fundamental things well at younger ages tend to be better teams, even in travel ball.

As for money, try to get some business sponsors. When I was a kid, the local propane distributor and local ag supplier sponsored our American Legion team. Ask the parents and the high school coach if they know someone that might donate $50 or $100. Might be surprised when you get a few hundred dollars for just telling your story and asking.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

We live in a little town ( 4500 people ) and we started small too. Our first year we didn't have a lot of money and bought uniforms from Walmart ( tshirt and shorts ). Payed on the go instead of a lump sum all at once, meaning each tournament we entered the parents paid $25 that week. It was just easier financially on everyone that way. Each year after we invested more time and money for better uniforms, equipment, etc............by saving individual money in the off season, fundraisers, local sponsors.

Edit: Heck I had to find a pic of our famous "million dollar uniforms", sure does bring back memories. We didn't look like much walking up to the field, but we'd punch your ticket once we got on it.

My DD ( 8u )

[/IMG]

 

[Coach Fastpitch]

We live in a little town ( 4500 people ) and we started small too. Our first year we didn't have a lot of money and bought uniforms from Walmart ( tshirt and shorts ). Payed on the go instead of a lump sum all at once, meaning each tournament we entered the parents paid $25 that week. It was just easier financially on everyone that way. Each year after we invested more time and money for better uniforms, equipment, etc............by saving individual money in the off season, fundraisers, local sponsors.

Edit: Heck I had to find a pic of our famous "million dollar uniforms", sure does bring back memories. We didn't look like much walking up to the field, but we'd punch your ticket once we got on it.

My DD ( 8u )

[/IMG]

I love this picture!!!!!!

We had a team this year from Ok, playing 12A. None of them had matching or even coordinated uniforms. Some had shorts on, some had grey t-shirts, some had white t-shirts, no one had matching socks, they all looked like they had just rolled out of bed to play ball. They even sandbagged their warm ups before the game, throwing balls over each others heads warming up, kicking ground balls the coach was hitting them, never saw a pitcher even warm up. Well they came out and put five runs on us before we could even blink. We fought back but ended up losing 5-3. My kids learned that looks don't mean a thing when you step on the field.