stickers

[bmakj]

have heard that some use helmet stickers as rewards, was thinking of this. looking for anything to make it more exciting/fun for the girls.

my only fear is that as a LL 10u coach, I may have some players getting lots, and some getting few to none. any ideas on how to allocate these to give every player a chance to earn some. initial ideas were:

any two players involved in throw and catch to get an out (ie grounder, throwing out stealing runner, etc.)
walk free inning for pitchers
hits
run scored
fly ball caught
a player keeping ground ball in front of them.
successful backup (ie first player misses throw, backup is there to get the ball)


need to figure out ways for less gifted players to earn some though. loudest cheering? most enthusiasm?

 

[grcsftbll]

Yeah, attitude, work ethic, things like that.

 

[finalcloud]

Love the idea for my 8U team. Plus my kid loves stickers.

 

[Seattlecoach]

Stickers are fun.

We give them out for anything we consider a "good play" - an open ended criteria that can be adjusted player to player. That saves us headaches from having to remember every little play and also gives us the ability to adjust the amount of stickers we are giving out higher/lower to keep if fun and still exciting to be on the receiving end. Rewarding attitude and sportsmanship is always good too.

We do let players (privately) nominate another player, but not themselves.

 

[Eric F]

With your list, you'd better have a LOT of stickers, and a good way to keep track of who is getting them.

Yes, you will have kids who get more stickers than others. That happens. One thing I always did was to give everyone on the team a sticker for a win - winning is a team effort.

My typical individual sticker awards:
- Hit
- Outstanding defensive play (not every routine play)
- Extra effort (this allows for some subjectivity to include/encourage girls who aren't getting many stickers)

Note - Give stickers for legit reasons. 10U girls know if it's BS.

 

[bmakj]

no problem giving lots of stickers, and in our 10u LL, and throw and catch for an out is an outstanding play (maybe 2-3 per game, most outs are Ks, and many innings end on 4 or 5 run rule).

question is really balance I guess. older/better players know if a sticker is BS or not, younger/less experienced just know they have 1 after 4 games and sally as 10.

need I guess to see makeup of team to figur eout guidelines.

 

[Seattlecoach]

no problem giving lots of stickers, and in our 10u LL, and throw and catch for an out is an outstanding play (maybe 2-3 per game, most outs are Ks, and many innings end on 4 or 5 run rule).

question is really balance I guess. older/better players know if a sticker is BS or not, younger/less experienced just know they have 1 after 4 games and sally as 10.

need I guess to see makeup of team to figur eout guidelines.

Answered your own question.

Piece of advice, whatever you decide keep it to yourself... makes it easier to change the rules if something isn't working.

 

[Ksphenom]

Skulls for triples and home-runs. Lightning bolts for defensive hustle and great plays.

 

[BuckeyeGuy]

Did that for my 12U rec team last season, worked great. Everyone who got a hit got one, if it was a big hit they might get 2. Good plays got one. You had to earn them. Best part: the girls will remember the plays better than you will, and will call out a teammate's good play for them.

It's not exactly PC, but not every girl had the same amount and that's how it should be. The ones who missed a sticker last game get fired up for the next. Good stuff.

 

[sbmom19]

Might work great for the younger teams but it was a disaster for DD's 14U team. Coach was of the "everybody deserves a trophy"set so everyone got tons of stickers no matter what happened in a game. So they had no meaning. I am not saying that everyone shouldn't get a rewarded for doing something right but at 14U it becomes a joke and actually lowers moral. I saw it in DD's dugout - they lost respect for the coach and the upper level players kept "losing" them...