As coach, a critical first step to a successful year is to set the tone with parents and players at the earliest possible opportunity. Attached is a Guide to Starting the Season (MS word format)to help you get off on the right foot with parents and players. This guide was developed by coaches for coaches and will evolve as we collect your feedback and update it. Please take the time to read it carefully and we strongly recommend following the outlined steps to help make your spring coaching experience as successful as possible for everyone.
Practice plans are critical to organizing and conducting an effective practice. Practice plans are a way for you to get the most out of each practice. You can find a practice plan template here.
The best practices were not necessarily the longest and the most organized coaches wasted little time. On most of the drills every player was involved. The key to great practices is integrating fun and learning and coming up with creative drills and games.
The most effective practice plans have multiple stations, each practicing a specific skill in a fun, highly interactive, highly inclusive way. It is recommended to create drills that allow players to remain as active as possible.
Practice plans work only as well as the drills you run each practice. There are numerous drills available that turn practice into a highly engaging, fun, and practical experience. Below are links to some of the sites we found most useful.
If you have favorite drills to contribute, please contact us so we can add it to our website.
General Drills
http://www.qcbaseball.com/drills/baseball_drills1.aspx
http://www.baseball.ca/eng_doc.cfm?DocID=212
http://www.ollb.org/ollb/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=94:other-online-coaching-resources&layout=blog&Itemid=84
Advanced Drills
http://www.youthbaseballinfo.com/view_articles.php?catid=1
http://www.webball.com/cms/page1151.cfm
The goal of the Spring House League program is to provide a safe, fun, developmental environment for players, coaches, umpires and parents. Development is a broad topic, which includes learning the rules, skills and strategy of baseball, but also important life skills such as fair play, good sportsmanship and dealing with adversities in a dignified, positive way.
As the coach, your players and their parents will take their cue and behavior from you. Your interaction with umpires, other coaches, and players and parents will play a major role in how your players respond.
As coach, you are expected to behave in a manner consistent with the Little League mandate of espousing the virtues of character, courage and loyalty to develop superior citizens rather than superior athletes. Said differently, CFR Spring Baseball is designed to develop not only the player, but the person. As coach, you have a central part in this development.
Another key goal for Spring Baseball is balance – as a league we prioritize the balancing of teams. If a team goes undefeated or winless, we have not been successful.
CFR Little League mandates that all house league players play an equal number of infield innings as every other player on the team. Teams must also give every player an equal number of at-bat opportunities by rotating their batting order. Coaches must keep records to be able to prove that this is being done. And we provide you will tools to help you keep track.
All Coaches and their Assistants are to wear League-provided hats to assist the Umpire[s] in recognizing you should situations arise that require discussion with the Coaches.
There is no game protest in house league. Do feel free to contact the division convenor, Umpire-in-Chief, Vice President of Operations, or CFR President to discuss problems and seek improvements.
Coaches are to remain in their respective dugouts unless they are acting as a base coach and may only leave the dugout after requesting permission from the plate umpire.
Smoking and alcohol are not permitted and have no place in any Little League organization.
The Umpire-in-Chief must be notified, when possible, no less than one hour before game time if a game is to be cancelled. CFR pays our Junior Umpires, even if they arrive at the diamond and no game is to be played. In a situation where the weather is uncertain and teams arrive at the field, the decision as to whether or not to play ball shall be at the discretion of the Umpire.
Any Coach or player ejected from a game is suspended for his or her teams next physically played game. The Umpire will notify the Umpire in Chief and the Director of Coaching immediately following completion of the game. A second coach ejection will result in the coach being suspended for the remainder of the season and ineligible for coaching during the summer season.
