Had a few simple rules:
Always wear your caps to pratice to get used to wearing them in game conditions. And bring a sweatshirt or your hoodie to put on after practice when the temp drops.
Zero tolerance for players serving detention: If a player served detention they did not participate in practice and did not play the following game.
Had 5 players serve detention the Friday before the last 2 games of the season and shut the rest of the season down, if they cant conduct themselves accordingly in the classroom, I will not reward them with playing time. Better they learn now as freshmen than as juniors, maybe they will grow out of it by then.
Unexcused absence from practice: If you are too sick sore tired to practice, youre too sick tired sore to start the next game.
Things I learned this year:
1. Kids will not always hustle, and they may not understand the "big picture" for a couple of years, especially freshmen. They will not always take things seriously and you have to teach them good work habits.
2. Baseball is not every kids 1st and foremost priority, some kids just want a uniform, some just dont want to deal with the drama at home, and for some it is just one of many commitments they have throughout the school year (Newspaper, Student Council, Robotics, ESL, Study Hall).
3. You are a very good coach when you're winning.
4. Never hire an assistant that has a son on the team, after a while you will have to let him know that it's not "all about his kid" and that bad players dont drag down studs, studs make their teamates better. (This is called "daddy ball" right guys?)
5. Park League/Rec-Ball Coaches in the area will always look at you with scrutiny if you are a school staff member/teacher that coaches H.S. Baseball (A lot of "I played in the insert MLB teams system") If you are a teacher that coaches baseball you're only doing it for the money (By the way I'm a single guy with no kids, what am I doing coaching baseball?)
Did get one opposing coach after a game who asked if I played pro ball before and that I was a very good coach. After a tough loss that actually made my day
6. You have to play the hand you dealt
7. In the inner-city grades cut more kids than lack of ability.
8. Kids like rules and respects a coach even more that sticks to his guns.
9. All of my players said they learned something from me this year, about baseball and about life.
10. And if you do a good job they will all come back next season, all of my kids are going to move with me to Sophomore Ball next year.
11. The hardest thing for kids to do is lead their peers, My asst. kept putting heat on his kid to be the leader of the team, 1st one everywhere.....etc, kid is a "stud" but just wanted to be general population.
I sat back and watched all season to see who would step up and take over the team, this season and next will be very "coach driven" until some develop more initiative. As expected they all wanted to be buddies. Next year there will be freshman that come in and push these kids and somebody will step up.
12. Plan and project: Next year I will really see which kids I have that are really going to have a place in the program long term. Not all of them will stick around for the long haul for different reasons.
So yes I learned a lot and had a pretty good season overall.
A couple of questions for the coaches out there.
Kids (starters) cutting practice, what are/were your policies and how did you refine them during your coaching career?
In High School I had a coach who would let starters contstantly miss practice reward them with playing time and could not justify keeping kids on the bench that came to practice daily (I was a bench player until the middle of my junior year, never missed practice for 4 years or a day of High School)
I called out my coach for it and he could not justify it, also started the rest of the season and my senior year.
I believe if you cant practice you dont play.
Detention/In School Suspensions: How do you address this with your players in your programs?
Uniform for practice: Mine is Caps, School Hoodies, and gloves cleats for outdoor practices. Yours?
Any feedback would be appreciated, have learned a lot from this message board.
