subject: Baseball Coaching - Two Matters to Address Immediately [print this page] Baseball Coaching - Two Matters to Address Immediately
Baseball coaching, even youth baseball coaching, is right around the corner. Should you be planning on coaching baseball this year there are certain matters which you need to begin addressing now.
The majority of youth baseball associations begin their sign ups and team drafts in February and early March, so keep your eye on the local newspaper for announcements of times, dates and location of these sign ups. Even if you have a hand picked travel team and aren't worried about a team draft or picks, your players will still be required to register and pay their fees.
This is a good time to call all your players and not only remind them of registration, but to insure they're still going to play for your team. It's been a long winter and players may have made new friends and want to play on a different team or they may have moved out of the area. Better to discover these things before draft day in case you need to pick up a new player or to pick a player up before he enters the draft.
Most traveling leagues have what is known as team rankings, which is when the teams are assigned to various levels of play according to their skill level. The whole concept, and it's a good one, is to match teams of equal talent against one another in an assigned league. Each association will send one representative, usually referred to as the ranking rep, to participate in the league assignments and once assigned there is no changing the status.
It is important that you touch base with your association's ranking rep prior to the ranking date. If your team was ranked in a high level league last year and was completive at that level, you may call and let him know you're fine with staying in that highly ranked league. But if you discover the twins, who were your number 1 and 2 pitchers, moved over the winter, and you can't replace them with equal pitching talent, you'd better let the ranking rep know this so he can rank you accordingly. Remember, he's/she's no mind reader, it's your responsibility to let them know of any major changes to the team.
You must be sure to address these two issues now, or an unpleasant surprise could pop up which could make your season a disaster.
Jim Bain - Former Minor league baseball player, who since retiring has dedicated his life to teaching baseball to youth. Visit his exciting info packed website: http://www.Learn-Youth-Baseball-Coaching.com
