Some of you guys may know.  I'm a complete baseball junkie.  This is my favorite time of year. I'll watch, coach and  play baseball any chance I get.  

I've been coaching junior leagues for about 8 years.  From Tee ball, all the way through to high juniors.  

Please, I'm begging you.  If you have a son or daughter and you've signed them up for baseball, please take some time, go outside with them and teach them how to catch a ball and swing a bat.  

Even if you're not good at it yourself, just take them outside and show  them something.  It's getting so bad that kids can barely run, let alone catch or hit a baseball.  Can you imagine a 9 year old boy not even knowing how to run properly?  9 years old is  prime running years, those little bastards should be running everywhere they go.

It's getting close to summer, hide the PS3 and Wii, and make them go outside and play.

You are right on. Parents take their kids in the car everywhere.

Amen brother. You are absolutely right. Some of the parents look at this as babysitting time so they can go to Walmart or Target. You can tell quickly the kids that get out and practice on the days when we are not on the field. Those same parents get pissy when their kids don't get to play more time in the infield. I have only had one really bad instance when a parent went nuts in a cussing tirade at another parent on the team. I completely agree that kids need to get away from all technology for at least a couple of hours every day.

My daughter will turn 10 in May and has been playing T Ball since she was 6. I began head coaching after seeing the first set of coaches not showing them proper techniques. Instead of complaining I decided to get involved and make difference. All of my teams have made it to the championship and we swept a three game tournament last November. Proud moment as a dad and head coach. My girl pitched 11 innings in three games with 28 strikeouts.

All coaching is a lot of work but extremely rewarding. I always try to integrate some life lessons about not giving up and never saying can't.

Happy Easter to all.

Jeff

This advice should be applied to their fathers first. This is why thosekids cant run catch or hit. Dads still in grandmas basement playing call of duty.

Or on Remote Central ;)

I went and watched my nephew's first T Ball game this morning.  He's 6 years old and it's true that half the kids on the team can't run, catch or throw much less hit the ball.

Seems a little harsh.

At least they won't grow up to be fat slobs that get picked last in all things in life including sports and the prom...and hey maybe they'll meet a girl and get laid before 40 instead of working on those super cool thumb muscles all afternoon long for their entire life.

My 8 yo has been playing for 7 seasons.

It just doesn't interest him, he doesn't want to try hard.

Last week at practice, I gave up on him.

We don't own a video game system, and he watches a half hour of TV a week, if that. He's very fit, very strong, and big for his age. He just doesn't want to get better at baseball. He's also been doing Taekwondo for 4 years.

Playing catch with him is a chore, for him and me, as he just doesn't want to try.

Doesn't help that he's a genius.

My cousins sons dont care for baseball or football but they love martial arts and both are great dancers. They are 6 and 12. When i say great dancers i mean all types of dancing from the chicken dance to the Dougie to ball room dancing you name it they know it. Both are in great shape also. Everyone is different.

+1

Kids are not learning how to push themselves nowadays. Not saying they need to push themselves to puke but it's amazing how very few kids know what hard work is. We baby them, allow them to watch TV all day, play video games, and never award a winner because we worry about their feelings. Life isn't easy and they should learn life lessons soon and often.

He started playing baseball when he was 1 yr old?  

That's great that he doesn't like baseball.  Some people just don't like it, it's not their sport, it's not a big deal, as long as he has other interests.   

There's no need to jam it down his throat (not saying you are).  More of my point to the thread was...get your kids doing something.  And it sounds like you are.

My son is 11 and plays in one of the most competitive baseball programs in the country. He loves every minute of it, and still jumps at every chance to simply play catch with me (which is a good thing since I don't know how to play any video games).

I will say the coaches involved in this travel ball stuff seem a little over the top at times. My son's coach will pull a pitcher (at 11-yr old) if he misses the sign for a pitch.

I was at a tournament a few weeks ago and saw an 11-yr old from Miami clocked at 72 mph. I was looking around to see if he had a wife and kids! Scary!!

I have been coaching sports since I was 16. Kids football, basketball, soccer, and baseball. I also coached collegiate soccer and helped the college baseball team. I'll coach my kids in every sport until they are around 12. From my experience its at around age 12 that parents start getting too annoying for me to continue coaching. I love coaching but wish I had more time to focus on the kids that need extra help.

|From my experience its at around age 12 that parents start getting too annoying for me to continue coaching. 

Here's my speech to the parents on first day of practice.  

Hi, I'm the coach.  I've been doing this every year for 8 years.  I need 2 parents to help me coach.  If by the end of  my speech 2 parents don't offer to help. I'll recruit you.  My goal for the season is to teach your son the fundamentals of baseball and have enough fun so that he'll want to play again next year.  I get the kids to pay attention by bribing them, do any of your kids have any weird aversions to bubble gum?

Here's the paperwork for snack handout for after the game.  Who would like to take care of this?  After I hand this out, this is the last time I'm dealing with snacks.  

Here's the info for team pictures.

We've all seen the videos of out of control parents on kids baseball fields. I don't want to be in one of those videos.  I expect you to stay in your seats during the games.   

Unless your son is laying on his back in the middle of the field. DO NOT come onto the field.  

I have 3 kids.  I understand that a 2 hour break during practice can really free up your schedule.  That's fine, if you've got things to do, feel free to take off during practice.  Please let me know that you are leaving.  If you do leave. Please be back by the end of practice.  If you're not back by the end of practice, I will take your child home with me and you can pick him up from my house.   

If we can follow these rules, we'll get along great.  If you have any questions, feel free to call me anytime.  (I hand out my business cards). 

(I've been giving that same speech every year.)  

I've had 2 sets of parents banned from games. (9 yr old league)
I've taken at least 6 kids to my house to wait for his POS parents after practice.  (can you say parenting licenses?)

But I've never had one of them come onto the field.

But all in all, I love it.  

I've got 1 kid on the team this year, he's pretty athletic, but he's NEVER thrown a baseball or swung a bat.  So he's absolutely miserable right now.  But he wants to be good at it, you can see the determination in this kid as he's trying to figure it out.  Just in 2 practices, he's gotten significantly better.  That's what I love about it.  It's really infectious watching these kids get better, and getting excited about it.