Tuesday afternoon brought the first practice of our baseball season; it didn’t start off smoothly. When I showed up to the park, our field was taken; there was a girls’ softball game going on. So I wandered over there… asked them if they were almost done; nope. The other 4 fields were taken as well. Welcome to the season… It’s always the first one…
We figured it out. I had the kids start playing catch in the grass between the trees; that lasted for about 10-15 minutes. Now what? Now we created a make shift field in a little open area, using kids’ bags as the bases. I hit some grounders into the minefield that was the grass we were standing on; kid took a grounder right off his chest… he was fine. After some grounders, took 4 of the 9 kids and had them put helmets on; they would be the baserunners. A couple of the kids, including my son, tripped over the bag at first base; they were OK. We did some situational stuff; where to go with the ball when you get it type stuff. Refreshed the baserunners’ minds about when to run, when not to run, and when they have a choice. It was nice to be able to jump right into this level of stuff. The last time I was coaching was during Fall baseball, and half the kids were true beginners; that will NOT be the case with this team.
They all look pretty good to be honest with you; my son agreed. He seems to be happy about it, having a team full of kids who know how to play; maybe there will be some Ws in our future. We’re going to have fun. We’re going to get better. Hopefully we’ll grab some wins. At the 10-11 year old level, winning starts to become a little more important; still not the MOST important IMO, but… the kids want to win; winning IS fun. I’m not worried about it, but like I said, these kids can play.
Next practice we’ll have to see how they can hit. I didn’t want to turn them loose in the area we had to practice in today. One of them may get a hold of one, and crack one of the moms walking their babies in the stroller… or maybe hit the guy reading his book on the bench in the back of the head. Nah, just fielding, baserunning, etc… and of course, introducing everybody to each other, learning the names. I like that stuff, trying to build that team rapport right away; it matters. It goes a long way to the kids having fun, and relaxing when they’re out there; don’t need to be squeezing that lumber too hard at the plate, or tensing up as you throw over to first base. Baseball is a fun game; I want these kids to want to come every day to practice… to show up to every game… to increase their love for the game.
I’m excited about the season; the first practice is in the books. We’ll have one more, and a batting cage session before our first game next Saturday. Ready to roll…
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