Things Parents worry about most with projectibility

My son is a freshman this year, but in pre-HS, my focus was on making HS team and doing well. In doing that, we worked on the other things you mentioned. Particularly injury related. We made sure he got proper rest between starts and did not pitch beyond fatigue. Nothing you can do about height, so you might as well not worry about it. Make the most of what you have.

I would love him to play beyond HS, but I think you have to take things in step. Can't go beyond HS if you're not good enough or prepared enough to play HS. You never know what is going to happen in HS either. So my focus with him now is to play competitively and be successful in HS and hope the next level comes. Anything can happen in the meantime. Injuries, a decline in interest in baseball (for many reasons) or even lack of progress through the HS years.

We have all seen the kids at 10, 11, 12 yrs old who were studs, but by the time they reach HS, they have not progressed the way some have. Same can happen in HS. As a freshman, you can be a stud. If you don't continue to progress, by the time you are a senior, you may just be average. One step at a time.

bballman,

I understand. I really should focus more on the here and now I guess and just worry about him making the HS team and see where it goes from there. His dream is to play at a good division 1 school and get an education out of it. At this moment he strives hard to play and learn the game.

I think that we as parents (at least I do) tend to worry about them making it to college or even the pros before they even make it to HS.

so many years of wonder
so many years of wait
hope its all worth it
the path we choose to take

Why do parents worry about this stuff??

If the boy has the talent it will all work out

You cannot change what you cannot control

None of the above except injury. We love baseball but take it from year to year and try to enjoy it in the here and now. I worry mostly about:
1) If he will realize and be willing to put in the work to achieve academic excellence
2)If he will choose the right friends
3)If he will stay away from drugs and alchohol
4)Not have too much fun with girls
5)Be a smart and safe driver
If he does that and also plays ball then that's even mo' better.

Gingerbread Man, my son has high goals as well. He would actually like to play pro, but I think if you focus too far ahead, you can lose sight of the things you need to do to get there. Going to a good D1 can be a great long term goal, but have him focus on the things he needs to do in the here and now to get there.

Is this another April Fool's joke? Worrying about college before the kid is in high school!

All any parent or kid should be worried about is improving season to season, year to year. Work hard in the off season so you are ahead of where you were last season. Working hard and playing well are the only things they/we can control. So focus on that and forget about 5 or 6 years from now.

Injury, is he having fun, is he getting better.

Those are my keys.

fillsfan, nothing wrong with having long term goals. I guarantee the majority if not all of the people playing high level D1 or pro ball had the dream of becoming a college or pro player. I just think you need to accomplish short term goals and improve yourself year by year. Have fun, be the best player you can be today. The rest will come in time if it is meant to be.

The thing I worry about the most is that I won't be there to see how it all comes out in the end... Otherwise, I'm just there to help him get where he wants to go...

I do sometimes stay awake at night worrying about his HOF acceptance speech...

I guess I was hoping to field a little better response into the issues we all know that we see in our kids before they bloom into what they become, particularly in regards to baseball skills and talent.

I am being completely honest here in what I see that worries me at this stage in the game. I just wonder if there are others that feel the same as I do. Sure, we all "say" that with son its about control or good mechanics and pass it off to others that we don't worry about issues like velocity- "that it will come later naturally", while in all actuality deep down that is our predominat fear and motivator for trying to teach better mechanics or find good pitching instructers. I guess you don't really hear it on the baseball field, but if you could read parents minds, they worry about the basic skills or possible lack of genetic ability (as a factor) that might hinder them at the next level.

The point I am trying to get at is this- We all want the best for our children and want them to excell at the highest level possible and be better than just average. With baseball, if our kids show some gifted talent in it, we tend to push them and mold them into future mlb prospects all the while just telling everyone else that they would just be happy to see them play average HS baseball. This is why i honestly believe, even at the pre-HS level that we as parents expect our kids to perform at levels that are above average HS/post HS level.

For instance, in my area at the HS level a good pitcher will throw around the 80-85 mph mark. That tends to be the benchmark for our area in a cold short season climate. Every year there are one or two varsity pitchers who throw in the 90's but otherwise it is pretty much low to mid 80's that sets the benchmark. If it were really true that parents were not concerned with their kids velocity at this stage, then the mid 80's fastball should be just fine. Instead, parents at even this stage are concerned about their kid throwing harder and playing at the next level even though they do not outright admit it. They go on to say things like- "there is more to life than baseball". Is that so? Then why do you take your kid to showcases, camps and events to get noticed or pick up tips on skills?

See where I am getting at? Be truthful. I worry about my kids velocity at the pre-HS stage. I worry that perhaps his velocity will level off or that he will suddenly stop growing or that he will have a devastating accident or injury limiting his ability. Somehow I feel I am not alone and yet no one else, or very few seem to admit similar fears with sons future projectibility. Maybe its their batswing, maybe not being able to crush balls 400 feet on any given day.

I understand what you are saying. I think for each kid it may be different depending on his weakness. My son is a very good pitcher, a very good fielder, has speed, but his stick is not always where it needs to be. I would like to see his hitting improve. I don't worry about velocity. Already 83-84 as a freshman. I'm hoping he'll gain a few mph per year so by the time he's a senior he'll be up there. He isn't big. 5'9", 155lbs. I'm not gonna worry about it too much since there is nothing I can do about it.

Anyway, I would think each kid has his own weakness that, as a parent, we would be concerned. Like I said, with mine, it would be his hitting. Even as a freshman, we have a few years to work on it before I really start "worrying" about it.

Like BBman says, every kid is different. My worries are only that he gets better, has fun and doesn't get hurt. Other parents have different worries depending on skills and talent. It is very particular to your kid.

quote:

Originally posted by fillsfan:
Is this another April Fool's joke? Worrying about college before the kid is in high school!

All any parent or kid should be worried about is improving season to season, year to year. Work hard in the off season so you are ahead of where you were last season. Working hard and playing well are the only things they/we can control. So focus on that and forget about 5 or 6 years from now.

I'm in agreement. I never looked past the current season and the level of play one year ahead. Not until son being asked to play on a summer team that will play in a showcase this year have I given any real thought to him playing college ball. The time to give higher levels reasonable thought is when someone other than yourself who is knowledgeable in the game, tells your son he can do it.

My son has had the goal of playing college ball since 13U. I told him, "Let's see you succeed on the big field first." Then it became, "Let's see you make the high school team." Now we can start to look ahead. The only other thing I ever told him is, "I believe you have better tools than I had. But you still have to work hard."

Now given one of the lists, they're not a concern. Some are part of a work list. After finally growing my son's main offseason objective this past offseason was building upper body strength and bat speed. Next offseason's focus will be all about speed (increasing throwing velocity and sixty time). Height can't be controlled. Injury can only be controlled to the extent of proper physical preparation and common sense.

quote:

With baseball, if our kids show some gifted talent in it, we tend to push them and mold them into future mlb prospects all the while just telling everyone else that they would just be happy to see them play average HS baseball.

I don't wish my son to be an average high school player. I wish for him to enjoy the game. I wish for him to be the best player he can become. I provide advice. I provide access to improvement. I don't push. I don't mold. The only molding I hope I've done a great job is everything involved in being a quality citizen. He'll be grounded if he isn't. He won't be grounded for an 0-fer.

I can't mold a MLB prospect. A scout has to step forward and tell him he's one. I don't have any dreams or delusions of him becoming a MLB player. If the avenue to MLB presents itself, I'll be supportive.

quote:

They go on to say things like- "there is more to life than baseball". Is that so? Then why do you take your kid to showcases, camps and events to get noticed or pick up tips on skills?

This made me smile. I said that to someone just the other day. Exposure at camps and events, good coaching, skills improvement - those are things we can control. We don't worry about it, we DO it. We do what we do because it is fun for all of us, because 2B loves it and wants to be the best at his game, and maybe, just maybe, he can play at the next level. Now that he is in HS, it is about his preparation and performance - mental and physical, and he is in charge of that. Me worrying does not help anything. It's his time to shine. Or not. It is up to him. If he's good enough, he's good enough. If he's not, it will be very sad, but the world will not come to an end.

The only thing I have worried about is injury. When 2B was pre-HS, he had a string of overuse injuries that we thought would never end. But they did. Injuries you can't control. Height you can't control. Strength, speed, mechanics, and the mental game all can be improved with work, experience and maturity. We are seeing it happen right before our eyes. Be patient. Control what you can. It will happen for you,too.

quote:

This is why i honestly believe, even at the pre-HS level that we as parents expect our kids to perform at levels that are above average HS/post HS level.

Stop worrying. They're not. Last summer my son (after freshman year) was asked to play in an 18U travel game. All the players on the opposing team were heading off to college ball, mostly at the D3 level with a D1 and a couple of D2. My son played third. After the first rocket came at him on a short hop, after making the play he mouthed "holy s***" to me in the stands. After the second one he laughed nervously and shook his head. After the game he said he was wondering who made the world's hardest cup. On what he thought was a routine play, his throw barely beat the runner. Everything at the high school level is happening much faster (pitches, hits, base running, fielder's reaction and speed, throwing velocity) than your middle son could imagine if placed in the middle of it.

My son told me after the game when asked if he wanted to play infield or outfield he was mistakingly arrogant enough to think he was going to play short. He said third is a shooting gallery. He plays third in high school this year. The ball is still often coming hard.

Gingerbread Man,

Everyone worries about their kids. I'm sure there are parents of kids who want to be doctors who are already obsessing about the MCATs.

There's nothing you can do about height. If you're worried about injury, make sure he's not overused and that his mechanics are good. If you're worried about velocity, make sure he's doing exercises to build core muscles, running, and check out the velocity kit offered on the National Pitcher's Association web site.

And keep an eye out for his other loves and talents outside of baseball. My husband calls it "packing a second parachute."

We all want our kids to be successful doing what they love. But don't let worrying about him keep you up at night. You should be worrying about your 401K!

LHPMom

i truly believe if a player wants to play in college there is a place for him to play.

but i'll share with you what i KNOW.
enjoy the journey. don't worry, don't push. no matter how much you do either, his playing day's will end. your memory's should be of watching him succeed, fail, having fun.


it will be over quicker than you think, enjoy it.

quote:

Originally posted by 20dad:
i truly believe if a player wants to play in college there is a place for him to play.

but i'll share with you what i KNOW.
enjoy the journey. don't worry, don't push. no matter how much you do either, his playing day's will end. your memory's should be of watching him succeed, fail, having fun.


it will be over quicker than you think, enjoy it.

I totally agree. I believe that too in that if a player wants to play college ball, there are opportunities for them to do so.

What it comes down to playing high school level and beyond is how bad the kid wants to play. That's something that seems to be overlooked. Just looking at that worry list, if parents are really gonna worry about this stuff, a category called "Does the kid have the desire and do I as a parent have to force the issue?" will be the biggest thing because it's their experience and if they're not totally into the comittment it takes to play high school and beyond, the talent and all those other worry list items won't mean squat.

All I worried about is the coaching quality. I don't want the coaches ruin the talent. Just because you played some college baseball that will automaticly make you a coach? I see too many young coaches around HS baseball. Maybe just 5-6 year older than my son, Do they really know how to coach?
Most head coaches are more like the managers. This is just sad part of HS ball. Low skilled coaches ruin everything. To the coahes around this board, please ask yourself these questions. "Am I qualified to be a good coach? Is there any talented player who was developed by myself? "

I am not sure about the college coaches, but it seems they are coaching at a much higher level. If they can come down to coach HS ball, we will have much more talented players in the MiLB/MLB. JMHO

quote:

This is just sad part of HS ball. Low skilled coaches ruin everything. To the coahes around this board, please ask yourself these questions. "Am I qualified to be a good coach? Is there any talented player who was developed by myself? "

From this and other posts it appears you have a dim view of high school coaches. There are a lot of good high school coaches out there.

My son has a very good coach. I can tell from the comments the coaches make on this board, they are good coaches. They also care enough to take the time to share and learn on this board.

From watching and listening to some of the parents on the sidelines ripping our coach ... (after all it took three years and two years of graduation to turn a "me first" group of losers into a talented tight knit group of players who, six games into the season are one win from last years total and should exceed the win total of the last two years combined) ... maybe parents should ask themselves, "Am I qualified to be second guessing the coach?"

Well that's your opinion RJM. The way for some HS to turn around in 2-3 year is not because the coaching get any better, it's mostly because the talent pool get much stronger in that HS.
I would like to focus on how coaches develope players. If they can turn raw talent to a decent player, they are doing a good job. But I didn't see this was happening. They are busy play politics, and keep their buddy and big donor's son in the line up. Cut or bench some very talented kids because they disobey their order or show any disrespect toward the coaches. Too much politics around HS baseball, I almost don't want my son to be part of it.

To tell you the truth,the only thing I worry about is burn out.My son is only 10 and has the ability to do whatever he sets his mind to with baseball.( I really don't mean this to sound braggish and hope it doesn't)IMO and many others,he is built for the game.Speed,quickness,strong arm,great hand eye coordination and just a bit hyper. and yes,I understand all things are relative.

The problem is he goes 110 mph all the time and I hope that he doesn't hit a wall one day and say I have had enough.I purposely didn't even have him do T work in the garage this winter or do any front toss drills just to stay as far away from it as possible.

He came out this spring and the first front toss we did he was crushing the ball.So we quit for another month.

He is actually one of the rare kids that LOVES centerfield.He asks to play center in all stars.He even asked for it in rec ball but the coach told him he was pitching and short.

So to be perfectly honest,DESIRE is my biggest worry,without desire,the rest is meaningless.

There's good high school coaches and there's bad ones. Just like anything else. In or area, not once did the hs coach or assistants ever come out to Legion or BR tournament team games. These two teams were the feeders to the HS program. HS coaches aren't gonna have the time to develop players. That should've been done for the most part at the levels leading up to HS.

However, a good high school coach should be able to pick the kids who can play and with a good attitude towards the game. Bad coaches get this wrong.

Opportunity-my biggest worry, if he gets a chance to sink or swim, that is all I can ask for.

quote:

Originally posted by bbking:
Well that's your opinion RJM. The way for some HS to turn around in 2-3 year is not because the coaching get any better, it's mostly because the talent pool get much stronger in that HS.
I would like to focus on how coaches develope players. If they can turn raw talent to a decent player, they are doing a good job. But I didn't see this was happening. They are busy play politics, and keep their buddy and big donor's son in the line up. Cut or bench some very talented kids because they disobey their order or show any disrespect toward the coaches. Too much politics around HS baseball, I almost don't want my son to be part of it.

You think talent is all it takes to run a successful program? Wow! This would mean there's no need for a coach at the game. Any adult could draw the lineup out of the hat and supervise?

I watched the coach cultivate the younger talent and throw it into the fire. But how much time do you think a coaching staff has to develop talent when the season starts two, three weeks after tryouts end? It's more on the player to develop his talent in summer ball and the offseason.

I suggest you watch yourself at the games. The coaches figure out who's putting knives in their back. Not that they care. But I'll bet it can be a tiebreaker when talent is equal.

quote:

I purposely didn't even have him do T work in the garage this winter or do any front toss drills just to stay as far away from it as possible.

Ten year olds shouldn't be doing off season workouts. They should be playing another sport.

One way to tell you got a good head coach and a solid program is if a school is competitive more often than not despite the level of talent the team has year in and year out since talent level varies each year due to graduation.

A lousy coach can have a good year if a couple of front line pitchers fall in his lap.

I don't see how a team can win year in and year out without a good head coach and a program.

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:

quote:

I purposely didn't even have him do T work in the garage this winter or do any front toss drills just to stay as far away from it as possible.

Ten year olds shouldn't be doing off season workouts. They should be playing another sport.

I agree and that was why he was playing basketball but he has always wanted to do some in the winter.I just kept him away from it a little more this winter.

I have 2 players and a 3rd that has the best physic but not the desire drive or work ethic.

My oldest is a freshman in college now, and I honestly never thought about baseball for him while he was still in the womb . He was not given a baseball glove to play with in his cradle. I wanted him to play frisbee, lol! I was a freestyle frisbee player, you know the guy on the beach with the ponytail spinning the disc on his finger around the back and doing body-rolls and flamingos. He was to be my freestyle partner one day.

My older brother got in the way though when my son was 4 and gave him a bat and ball for Christmas and when we first, the very first time we tossed the ball to him from 10 feet away he held that bat pretty much correctly and drove that wiffle ball like a bullet accross the room. Tme and time again He did not miss, hard line drives hitting the lampshades, we had to go outside because we were going to break somthing.

He began Tee Ball at 4 which at the end of the season was coach pitch. And he was very good, I mean he could hit the ball to the outfield, he could catch the ball on the ground or in the air and he could throw rather well for a 4 year old.

I just played ball with him from then on and gave up frisbee.

By the time he was 7 he was putting the ball to the 200' fence and actually bounced one over when he was 9. By the time he was 10 he was hitting homeruns and had pitched, played 1st SS and 3rd effectively.

He began to ask me if I thought he could play baseball on TV one day. What was I supposed to say? I said sure! Why not?

He drove the deal, he had the desire and passion and the God given skill. I just support his dream.

It was never a thought that he would not make his HS team.

I have guided him though, and steered him away from pitching. Why? I guess because I was looking beyond HS and beyond College and I realized that Pitchers typically are above 6' and closer to 6'3". My kid can throw 90 with movement and good offspeed stuff, but he is just pushing 6' now. If he wanted to play at the next level he would need a position that scouts would project him to play. So we just relied on the bat and continue to develop the finer details of his other skills.

My point is I suppose that "It is what it is", your son "is who he is". There is no need to worry, it is not fool hardy to look ahead and see what your kid physically can be projected to do, we have always looked to the "next level", but kept our eyes also on the goal. It would not be as much fun without the goal.

My advice would be that if you are looking beyond HS and your guy is not going to be 6'2"+, focus on his bat. If he can hit he will play.

Encourage him to climb trees and build forts, hammering a lot of nails.

Long toss as much as you can with him. And my favorite was to back him up near a fence and at first throw, then eventually hit hard short hops at him, hit him with the ball, if he will not take it off the chest (short hops, not line drives!) and keep it in front you may have an outfielder. Pretty sadistic, I know

I gave mine many a bloody nose before he was 10, but by his own volition he would not stop, he would wipe the blood away and wait for the next ball.

Who knows, I did not do this to him or make him into something that he already wasn't.

Some boys are just born to play baseball!

We all worry about our kids succeeding in baseball and anything else they are involved with. I was nervous yesterday before son's first regular season HS game. And long term goals are fine. But if we focus on long term things and things we can't control we, the parents, will not enjoy the present.

IMO long term goals are an accumulation of a lot of short term goals. Have goals for this season, have goals during winter workouts. By accomplishing these goals, other goals and milestones will take care of themselves.

Remember, it really doesn't matter how good we think our kid is. It only matters how good a coach, scout or recruiter thinks he is. Certainly things we can't control. We can only help them prepare for their evaluations. So if we spend too much time fretting over things we can't control, we might miss some of the things we can do something about.

BBKing,

Do not know where you are from. It is obvious you have had a bad baseball expierence with your HS coach. I am sorry. Your profile says you are a dad of a freshman. So I will assume that is correct. Not a lot of time to have a negative view on all high school coaches. I agree with most everything said on this board. I am glad you worry about HS coaches developing kids. We have a tough job. In Indiana, we have 9 days including tryouts until our scrimmage. Which is not enough time to teach kids how to do run downs, bunt coverages, first and thirds, relays, double cuts, signs, bullpens and anything else you see as minor. I am told I can only do one on one baseball training for about 6-7 months out of the year. Our season is mid March to Early June. They all play travel ball from June through July. In August, most take time off. Then fall hits and I can not work with them. So my development time has to be focused on teaching them the game. We can make adjustments to mechanics of hitting and pitching. We work on fundamentals of position specific things. But never enough time to take a less than average player and make him great.

So, as a high school coach I worry about the travel coaches and how they are developing the kids. I worry that this kid has not been taught any discipline, that he has never been made to run, or that the little things of baseball were ignored. Even worse, I am worry that he was taught he was good enough and did not need these things.

Example, I had 6 freshman pitchers, 1 knew how to pick off to second base correctly. (inside move) The other 5 would not of fooled anyone. How is this ignored? It takes 6 minutes to teach. That is with a slow learner. Why does every pitcher come off the mound to cover first and make a direct line to first base and then cut across the bag? How is this hard to teach? Why do 90% of corner infielders take a relay home with their body not set up properly? And Why do very few kids know how to hold a bat to bunt?

It takes me less than one practie to show kids these very basic skills. Yet travel coaches had 4 years to show them and very few can do them upon arrival of high school.

Every step in the coaching ladder you will get examples like the ones I listed. College coaches will say the same about high school coaches, MLB guys will say the same about college coaches. The game gets more advanced at every step in the ladder.

PT, sorry I don't have a horse in the race yet, maybe next year. My view towards HS coaches are general view, not specific to our HS coach. As a matter of fact, I don't even know our HS coaches credential. We have the choice to chose one of the 3 HS in our area. I will choose the best fit for my kid if he wants to play HS baseball. But in general, HS coaches still coaching with their own baseball experiences, do they ever attend a coaching school? get a coaching degree/license? or have a scouting permit? HS coaches are human, they need to keep themself updated too.
I would perfer more organized coaching than this player teach player format.

Pastime-- Great post (once agian). I could not agree more with everything you said. High school coaches don't have the time to teach what I am sure most of them would like to, unfortunatly you end up being more managers then coaches. You don't get 2 a days in the summer like football. I have a freshman son on a freshman team and my only concern is his opportunity to show his skills and the work he has put in before the season. Fortunatly for my son so far he has been given that. I think that most coaches can distinguish a fundamentaly sound player, a more experinced player--ex: pitcher that knows his responsibilities on any given play--when to cover home, when to cover 1st, etc.

Well put pastime--what happend to your coaches experince thread I miss it.

quote:

Yet travel coaches had 4 years to show them and very few can do them upon arrival of high school.

The truth is there aren't a lot of real good travel coaches. The top talent gravitates to the best run programs. The rest of the teams are run by dads who think they know more than they do. This is why when I created my team the coaching staff included a former pro pitcher, pro infielder, college catcher and college outfielder. We had the bases covered on instruction.

We would spend entire practices on specifics like the offensive and defensive aspects of first and third, entire practices on base running and pick offs, entire practices on bunting and hit and run, turning two, hitting the cutoff man, etc.. Practice was sometimes tedious. But the kids went into high school ball fundamentally sound.

Eleven of the fourteen 13U players are starting as high school sophs in large classification schools. One gave up baseball to focus on basketball. The other two could be on varsity in a lot of other programs but are blocked by upperclassmen at their schools this year. We can't take credit for their talent and how hard they worked. But we did prepare them.

Baseball Dad we are on SB. I will continue next week. Right now just trying to re introduce myself to my wife and kids. We let our kids go on SB. First game is April 9.

BBking,

Good Luck in your journey through high school baseball. I hope you are in a good situation and opens your eyes to the fact there are some good coaches. If not I understand. There are bad apple's everywhere. I did research their are baseball certification's available.

Also, what part of the country are you from? I like to see where people think coaches are not very good. I like to see if it is a common theme. I sometimes know someone in the area and can ask him about the area. Just a state is fine. How big is the school or schools your son will be attending??

Seems like this thread has gravitated toward the coaches so I will throw my 2 cents in on that as well.My son is only 10 but I do have a daughter that is a freshman and is in her 2nd year on the freshman fastpitch team.

Her coach last year was pretty good with the on the field basics but when he started with hitting instructions,he messed up more than he helped.The assistant did pretty well with it but took the coach half the year(first year high school coach) to realize he needed to let her handle that. This year he is the varsity coach and took the assistant with him.He had a former minor leaguer(daughter is on team) come in to run hitting sessions and the difference is substantial.


This same guy (minor leaguer,not the coach)happened to coach my son's 9-10 year old team last season and he was able to cover more in 1 practice than most "dad" coaches or even so called coaches could cover in 6 practices.This guy was also a high school baseball coach a few year ago as well as a travel fastpitch coach.

Point is I feel many coaches do not utilize time well and others need to stick with what they know and get others in to help in areas where they either don't have time or struggle with teaching. Looks like Pastime and RJM have figured these things out.

My daughter's team is left with 2 people that have NO CLUE how to run a practice or give instruction and atleast one of them played college ball,not sure about the other.I have sat in the stands during practices and it amazes me how much different the practices are at highschool than they were with my 9 year old son.


This former minor leaguer has a son 1 year older than my son and I told him when he decided to coach a travel baseball team instead of his daughters fastpitch,give me and my son a call,I will gladly let my son play up to be with a GOOD coach that understands teaching.

I know my situation isn't HS, but our 14U travel coach is the best I have ever seen at practices. It is truly amazing what he can get accomplished in 1 1/2 hours. Truly amazing.

His game skills... not so much. But we stay because all of the kids improve with him. But we lose more than our share of games to lessor talented teams and I wish he would have one of the other coaches run the lineups and games.

Oh well, practice is more important at this age anyway.