Thinking About Coaching Youth Sports Like Baseball Or Softball? Go For It! You Won't Regret It

By Bob Langys

You've been on the sidelines, watching your child play for the softball, baseball, soccer, football, or any other team. You'd like to get involved, but you don't know enough about the sport or about coaching.

Here is the deal: As long as you know a little more about the game than the players, you know enough. As long as you take some time along the way to attend a clinic or two, or even to research drills on the internet, you can stay ahead of the kids and provide value to them. If you can bring some enthusiasm and have a genuine desire to help the players progress, you can learn to coach them!

My Experience

My children started to play baseball and softball at a young age. I've never played any kind of organized sport, nor have I followed any professional sports. When my son joined the t-ball team, I initially sat on the sidelines and watched. As I saw what the drills were, it was quickly realized that they coach could use some help by breaking this team down to smaller, more interactive, groups. My offer to help with immediately accepted and my coaching career began.

As my children moved up through the levels of baseball and softball I studied along with them. My best gains in learning were had through the coordination with other coaches and with clinics that our league sponsored. The clinics were great in that they broke down individual skills down into a repeatable, numbered process. I've never pitched, but I can now get players started pitching. I've never been a catcher, but I can help kids be catchers.

Other considerations

The relationship with your child will change a little on the field and in practices. They are one of the team so you have to treat them like you do their teammates. That is often hard for the child, as they can't understand why you won't just be their mom/dad instead of the coach. A helpful technique for getting past this issue is to team up with another coach, and to have them responsible for coaching your child. It works well to tell the other coach the points that you want to get across to your child and let them do the work. Your other coaches will need the same from you.

Get Involved!

Go to the practices. Insert yourself into the process by helping with some drills. The coach may not know how to ask for help but most will not turn it down. Not sure what you are doing? Have the coach break down a drill for you. Start out as an assistant, but when you are ready make sure the league knows that you want to coach a team. Often times, they are short coaches and are looking for people who want to step up.

Assistant Coaches - the "Volunteering" of help.

Just like you have may have been a little hesitant to get involved many of the other parents are in the same boat. If a parent is at the practices and has not clearly indicated that they are not interested - they are a potential assistant coach. Learn some names, call them coach, and give them a drill to run. Believe me, more often than not that parent will be happy that they were able to help.

The Payoff

Coaching is very rewarding. Most coaches find that he benefits received consistently outweigh the time and energy put in. You will know that you have done it right when your players return for the following season and parents inquire as to your plans for next year. Over the years you will gain many relationships with parents, other coaches, and the players. When you get a chance to see the player - who has never made a play before - make the play for the first time you will never again wonder if you should have been a coach.

Bob Langys is an experienced telephone systems engineer and sales professional who has been in the industry for over 15 years. His interest in the technology and applications combined with his love of coaching / sharing the knowledge has served him well throughout his career. Bob works with Medlin Communications, in the Chicago Suburbs, and has the pleasure of working with a team of can-do people. Find out more about the information in this article at:

Find out more about Bob at:

http://www.langys.com

Find our more about Medlin Communications at:

http://www.supportdocs.net

Bob routinely works with a variety of systems including Asterisk, Elastix, Toshiba, Cisco, and Avaya. Whatever the communications need, Bob will put his experience to find the best solution for you. Call Centers, Call Recording, ACD (automatic Call Distribution), and general office telephone solutions are all in his core area of expertise. Single sites or multiple locations. Located in northern Illinois ( Chicago area ) or across the nation, Bob can help.

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