Fort Hunt Little League

2012 Coaches Meeting

WELCOME COACHES !!!!

Committee Members:Dennis BurnsRich FreewaltTom DillaplainBob Pasquerella

Committee Events:Winter Training ClinicsCoach Recruiting / ProcessingCoach TrainingPlayer ClinicsSummer CampsWeekly Newsletter

Agenda – A and AA Leagues

Welcome/Introductions Board Schedule

Mission/Culture Discussion Coach Responsibilities and Conduct Coaching Tips Parents Meeting / player retention

Safety PresentationBREAK

New Rules/Umpire Discussion Resources League Break Out Sessions

Introductions

Introductions (Name, Background, Exp)

General League Info (Paul Murphy) Board of Directors / League Governance Calendar Review

2011 FHLL Board of Directors

President Paul Murphy paul.r.murphy@navy.mil VP Juniors/Seniors Rene Belanger rene.belanger@us.army.mil VP Majors Glen Copeland gfcopeland@gmail.com VP AAA Joe English DJEnglish@duanemorris.com VP AA Tony Castrilli Tony.Castrilli@alexandriava.gov VP A Kevin Schwalb kdschwalb@aol.com VP T-Ball Jasper Thomson JThomson@vsadc.com   Executive VP/Secretary Jim Smith jsmith@acg-consultants.com Treasurer/Registrar Kristin Yohannan-Moore KYohannan@mofo.com Fields/Facilities Chair Barry Meuse bmeuse1@hotmail.com Operations Director Blake Allen wballen3@me.com Communications Chair Mike O’Connor mloconnor5@verizon.net Chief Umpire Don Essex Don.Essex@us.delarue.com Equipment Chair Tim Sara timsara@cox.net Player Agent/Safety Mike Sundsted bravecwboy@cox.net Training Coordinator Dennis Burns djburns116@gmail.com

Upcoming Events Feb 12th and 26th   Player Skills Evaluation  March 8 Coach’s Clinic (T-Ball) March 14th Majors Draft March 15th AAA Draft March 17th AA Draft March 17 Darsey Clean up Day TBD Coach’s Clinic (A-Ball and AA-Ball) TBD Hollin Hall Clean up Day TBD Player Clinic April 9nd AAA and Majors Games may start April 14th Opening Day/Picture Day May __ Home Run Derby

Our Culture / Skill Levels The Fort Hunt Way!

Positive Coaching Teach Baseball and Life Skills

(send captains over to other team before game)

Safety Culture of Learning not Winning Roots - respect for officials, organization, team, self Build a Community of Baseball

Skill Check Lists

ConductNo manager, coach, player, umpire, parent, or spectator shall: violate any Little League rule or FHLL House rule verbally taunt any player chatter against an opposing player with the intention of disrupting the opposing player's play engage in un-sportsmanlike conduct engage in, condone, or encourage unfair play disrespect authority fail to immediately adhere to an umpire's decision in a sportsman-like manner use obscene or indecent language or gestures engage, condone, or encourage any conduct that seriously or repeatedly jeopardizes the

safety of anyone present on a ball field delay, prevent, or disrupt continuation of play at any time (including but not limited to before, during and after a game, practice or other

activity) and anywhere (including but not limited to on the ball fields, ball field surrounding areas, parking lots and other facilities of the ball fields): engage in any abusive verbal attack upon any player, manager, coach, spectator or umpire; attempt, successfully or unsuccessfully, to apply hands upon, push, shove or strike any player,

manager, coach, spectator, or umpire; or engage in any physical attack upon any player, manager, coach, spectator or umpire.

Positive Coaching Techniques

Be organized Have practice plans in advance Incorporate Advanced Players thoughtfully Make practices fun / keep them moving Teach through Repetition How to utilize Assistant’s and parents (email agenda ahead of time) Use stations for various skills (it breaks up kids) DON’T Discourage / ALWAYS Encourage  Teach Team Responsibility (kids listen better to their peers) Teach ROOTS – respect for officials, organization, team, self

Coaching Tips Positive Coaching Techniques Cont’d

Develop a regular pregame routine Develop regular bench behavior (on deck man gets bat) Separate various skill levels when appropriate (carefully) Develop catchers by having them work every practice Observe other coaches Don’t Over Coach (hands high, feet apart, move back, move up) Skill Sheets

Practice Plan Discussion

Parents Meeting / Communication / Build Brand Meeting Tips

Set up early, give notice so parents know to attend If after practice, make sure asst coach keeps kids busy Solicit Volunteers (field maintenance, scorekeepers, team mom, end of year party) Discuss Practice and game philosophy Review season Schedule Go over Parent Conduct Rules Follow up email with bullet points Regular Emails throughout season (after game summary)

 

   

Precludes: “My kid didn’t have a good experience because the coach stunk”

Fort Hunt Little LeagueManager and Coaches Safety BriefingMarch 2012

This is why it is important to have a Little League Safety Plan!

Safety Starts With You Safety starts with Managers and Coaches and flows down

from there. 1st practice – go over safety before anything else! FHLL Safety Plan can be found on our website @

http://www.forthuntlittleleague.org All Managers and Coaches must be familiar with the FHLL

Safety Plan!

What are the Manager and Coach responsibilities as it relates to safety?

Review, study, and understand the contents of the Little League Rule Book & the Fort Hunt Little League local "House Rules".

Prior to games or practice ensure each player has warmed up and stretched. Check field for Hazards

Teach players the fundamentals of the game while advocating safety Ensure all equipment is maintained in safe working order Make sure that telephone access is available at all activities Know that First-Aid Kits are located at each field and where! Observe the “no on-deck” rule for batters and keep players behind the

screens at all times

` Safety

Review, study, and understand the contents of the Little League Rule Book & the Fort Hunt Little League local "House Rules".

Encourage players to drink often so as to avoid dehydration. DO NOT play children that are ill or injured. Do NOT leave the field until every team member has been picked up. Attend to injured Players and notify parents immediately. In the event of an injury fill out an accident report and submit to the FHLL Safety

Officer. Time for reporting based upon severity of accident. Info on how to fill out report on FHLL website or call safety officer.

Know your Players!!!Talk to parents, confidentially, and inquire if their child suffers from allergies, asthma, heart conditions,

past injuries, ADD, ADHD, communicable disease such as hepatitis, HIV, AIDS, etc.

Find out if a child is taking any kind of medication

Safety

Lightening Average lightening strike is 6-10 miles long, moves 25 MPH and has up to 30 million volts Once the leading edge of a storm approaches to within 10 miles, you are at risk! If threatening skies appear or when thunder is heard, close monitoring of conditions shall begin. If cloud to ground lightning is seen, play shall be suspended immediately Play shall not resume until 20 minutes from the last 30 second flash-bang count.

During Suspended Play, Players should:

1. Leave the dugout/field area with parents. Get players to their cars and wait for your decision on whether to continue the game or practice.

2. Stay away from metal including fencing and bleachers.

3. Do not hold metal bats or metal rakes.

Child Abuse Brothers/Big Sisters of America defines child sexual abuse as “the exploitation of a child by an

older child, teen or adult for the personal gratification of the abusive individual.” So abusing a child can take many forms, from touching to non-touching offenses

Background Checks for Managers/Coaches All managers, coaches, board members and any other volunteers or hired workers who provide regular services to

FHLL and/or have repetitive access to or contact with players or teams must fill out the 2012 Volunteer

Application Form as well as provide a government-issued photo identification card for ID verification..

Safety

Pitch CountsPRELIMINARY DATA HAS DEMONSTRATED THE FOLLOWING

1) A significantly higher risk of elbow injury occurred after pitchers reached 50 pitches in a single outing

2) A significantly higher risk of shoulder injury occurred after pitchers reached 75 pitches in a single outing

3) In one season, a total of 450 pitches or more led to cumulative injury to the elbow and the shoulder

4) The mechanics, whether good or bad, did not lead to an increased incidence of arm injuries

5) The preliminary data suggest that throwing curveballs increases risk of injury to the shoulder more so than the elbow; however, subset analysis is being undertaken to investigate whether or not the older children were the pitchers throwing the curve

6) The pitchers who limited their pitching repertoire to the fastball and change-up had the lowest rate of injury to their throwing arm.

Bat Regulations Con’t

The listing of composite barrel bats approved by Little League are being updated about every two weeks.

For more information on the Little League approved composite bats please visit the websites below. 

http://www.littleleague.org/learn/equipment/approvedcompbats.htm 

LIST OF NON-WOOD/NON-COMPOSITE BATS THAT ARE LICENSED BY LITTLE LEAGUE

http://www.littleleague.org/Assets/forms_pubs/2011ApprovedNonWoodBatList.pdf 

 

BREAK

10 minutes

Field Usage

Topics Scheduling – Rene Belanger Maintainance Scoreboards / Sheds / Field Equip Volunteers

Umpire / Rules Discussion

Topics Bat Policy / Safety Sliding Plays at Home Rule Books (provided by League)

Coach Resources

•Facilities•Virginia Baseball Club (www.govbc.com)•Dominion Baseball Academy (http://www.dbabaseball.com)•Strike Zone (http://www.thestrikezoneacademy.com)

•Events•Coach Training Classes (VBC) March 13,20•Ripken Clinics (various times)

•Local Trainers•Jake Moon, Hoyle Hitting, Scott Dobson, Mike Colangelo

•Online•Baseball Rox (http://www.baseballrox.com)•Positive Coaching (http://www.positivecoach.org)•Web Ball (http://www.webball.com)• Mike Epstein Hitting (http://www.mikeepsteinhitting.com)

Wrap-up

“These kids are not professional ballplayers and LL is not about winning games. LL is about fun and growth and learning life’s important lessons. To teach sportsmanship, one of life’s most crucial lessons, we the coaches, managers and parents must all agree to emphasize its cardinal rule; how you play the game is more important than anything else – even the game itself.”

League Discussions

Topics To Discuss Equipment Participation rules (batting order, defense) Schedule Machine Speeds Draft / Team Selection Game Time Limits Bat Regulations  Team Names Shed Combinations Rain Delays / Make ups Safety