Coaching is Fun!
The Lugnuts are one meeting and one practice into the new little league season. As a co-manager I now have two events under my belt and feeling more confident about being a coach. As a first year co-manager with no prior coaching experience, I was not sure what to expect. I do remember some very good coaches I had as a youth growing up, especially Mr. Voigt, my first year manager and my father, who would go on to manage and coach a few of my teams over the next 7 years. It was beneficial to draw on memories I had of how they coached young kids. I realized yesterday, coaching is fun!
Myself and Mandouh, the other co-manager spent 3.5 hours at Big Al’s Coaching Clinic a few weeks prior to the start of little league. I was not to keen on the idea of coaching baseball since I no longer have a love for the game. It was lost the last time the MLB went on strike. Yet when asked if I wanted to co-managed and sighed, but agreed to coach this season, which would put our kids on the same farm club (ages 6-7).
The Big Al clinic was nothing short of amazing! I knew the basics of baseball and had played up through college. Over the years my interest waned and I started following other sports, but Al Price was someone special. He was able to show me a side of the game that I never thought I would experience in coaching. To be honest, I wasn’t sure how good I would be at.
Once we finished Big Al’s clinic we were both excited about the season. We decided we would follow his blueprint in order to teach our players the game of baseball. Our first practice proved to be a huge success! Of course there were a few kids who lost interest quickly or didn’t quite want to listen to what we said, but overall we were pleased with how well they all did. Even those few kids who struggled, we were able to find a positive aspect to their first practice.
Thankfully we were prepared as coaches. Based on what Big Al had taught us and what he includes in his coach manual, we were able to put together a 90 minute practice that seemed to go by in a blink of any eye. We felt completely in control, always having the kids on the move, either running, throwing or catching, not giving them time to pick daisies while standing around in the outfield. Hopefully along the way each of them learned something yesterday.
I actually felt like a coach and it was a great feeling. Here I was with 11 pair of eyes watching and listening to what we had to say. I had a practice plan in my hand with starting and stopping times, as well as an outline that covered the main points of each drill we did from meeting the kids upon arrival, to running, catching and throwing. Initially we had hitting on the plan, but there would have been no time to fit it in. We all know that is the best part of the game when you are younger; see how far you can hit the ball.
I didn’t walk around and get any feedback from the parents who were in attendance, but most of them seemed pretty pleased as they sat there watching their son or daughter in action. Help was plentiful too, which was a big help. We had two other coaches, along with two brothers who also provided help. I did notice one piece of the plan I missed was the team building factor. Thankfully, Mandouh being a grocery manager knows all about team building and he was able to bring the players together with the coaches as a team. It was a great feeling!
