Today our Junior Softball All-Star team played a fun pick-up game against our Major’s softball team. It was a blast as all the girls from both of the teams are good friends, the score, irrelevant really, was 2-0 and not because of pitching, but because of fantastic defense played by both teams!

As I stood in the coach’s box at third base, suddenly it hit me. With the exception of one girl, I had coached every one of these players, most for multiple seasons. This was the fruits of my, and many others labors, coming to fruition. The smiles on every one of their faces made this a very proud moment for this humble coach.

To understand you have to know a little history. About 5 years ago I moved here to this small town. The place was recovering from being hit by 3 three massive hurricanes in a row, over 40 inches of rain in less than a month left hundreds of houses flooded. There were messes to clean up everywhere with trees down and parks destroyed.

The season, though it started late, still went on though. Volunteers pitched in and cleared trees, mended fences, and got the sites playable again. Though challenged, peopled pulled together as they often do in times of crisis, and worked to get things back to normal.

It was that fall I had my first experience with softball in DeBary. Our team? 0-16. Did it matter? Not one bit. I could see the raw talent that existed, and I knew that there had to be a ton of other players out there that would love to participate if given the opportunity.

Tonight, there were 19 girls on the field, 18 of them I had coached before. Most for many years, all for many seasons. It was a proud moment. Four years ago we had one minor softball team, one major softball team, and one senior softball team. That was it. This year, we had four minor softball teams, two major softball teams, and a very large senior softball team. Our league grew from 275 players to 333.

Standing there it suddenly hit me how far we had come. There was only 1 error in the game, every player made the correct play at the correct time, and both teams hit the ball hard. I want to take a second to thank every coach who helped, every parent that tolerated our long practices, and every player for believing in each other and in our philosophies.

It was very obvious, the hard work and dedication of so many was paying dividends ten-fold. Thank you for allowing me to be a small part of this fantastic transition and it will be interesting to see how far we can go.

I received a letter today from Anthony Gonzalez, the Acting City Manager of the City of DeBary. The letter is welcoming me to the “DeBary Strategic Planning Steering Committee”. As a member of the committee we will help the city council and mayor determine their strategic planning for the city. The first meeting will be held Saturday the 20th, at 9AM. I guess I am about to get an education in local politics!

From the Little League’s perspective, the number one priority in my mind is making sure that the new parking lot gets built at Sullivan Park. Do you have any ideas for what direction the city should be steered into? I would love to hear about it.

I was reading an article the other day on a girls fast-pitch website that was discussing the options for a player, boy or girl, once the Little League spring season was over. The article, titled That Time of Year, told the plight of a parent who was looking for options once the spring season of Little League ended. He went on to tell about finding a fall program that was less than stellar and then discovering the hyper-competitive, and VERY expensive travel ball. Unfortunately, he says, there is no “middle ground”.

I have discussed this with many friends on a regular basis, and he (Dave) is dead on here. There are no middle options. Don’t get me wrong, travel programs have their place, and as kids get older and are serious about their careers showcase teams are a must, but for everyone 12 and under, why do they have to end their life for the game?

My 9 year old son this year kept a schedule that every week included 2 Little League games, one Little League practice, one pitcher-catcher practice, one travel ball practice, and a travel ball double header on Sunday. And our travel team wasn’t really all that active compared to the others!

Why do we do this? Because we want more than Little League and travel ball is the only option. Don’t get me wrong, I bleed red and blue of Little League. My son had way more fun playing against his friends in Little League than against strangers in travel ball. Even though the talent level was much less.

But how about creating a middle ground? I hear about parents not wanting to leave on Friday night for a tournament and return Sunday evening every weekend. Little League is uniquely positioned to offer a solution that suits the middle ground kids.

Face it, the extreme kids that love the game and are potential college or professional players are going to play extreme level travel ball, as they should. But in any Little League, those kids comprise less than 1% of the players at most. Little League cannot meet their needs, if they play, that is a bonus, but there is no way to offer a solution to them, they are where they want and need to be.

But, what about the stars that don’t want to play baseball or softball 7 days a week and twice on Sunday? Where do they turn? Right now, the answer really is nowhere, that’s where Little League comes in. Little League can fix this problem!

Currently for 12 and unders, Little League offers their competitive program, Majors, an instructional program, Minors, and a t-ball program. After the season ends, most District managers hold some version of a Tournament of Champions, and then on June 15th All-Stars are announced and begin practicing.

Why not add one more division? Call it “elite”. In my Little League hometown of Sterling, VA, where I cut my teeth, they have one of the best softball programs in the country. But it is Pony League. Or at least it was when I lived there over 10 years ago. They actually host the Pony National Tournament and World Series there, or they did then.

The structure of their league is a majors/minors equivalent, with a travel program as well. The top players in the league play on one team and travel and play against other teams in the area, while the rest of the kids play in the local version of the league. Additionally, the travel players are spread amongst the local teams and play there as well. Bingo, problem solved!

What positions Little League uniquely to accomplish this, and better than any other program in the world, is their District alignment setup. They already have hundreds, if not thousands, of districts set up all over the world that include 10 or so teams in them. It is the first level of play during the all-stars.

Why not have each league put together an “elite” team that plays against all the other league’s “elite” teams during the season? This provides the league structure that travel programs lack, the ability to still play with all your friends, a truly competitive environment, and a commitment that doesn’t cost you $10,000 a year or your entire life!

Little League could impliment this next year if they wanted. They have the structures in place and the lines of communication from Williamsport to the local leagues are impecable.

So what do you say Little League International? How about an “Elite” division for the spring of 2010?

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I know I have written posts like this before, but every now and then we all need a little reminding why we put in these long hours and endure the abuse that becomes a Little League coach. The other day I had a lesson w/ a young girl. She was filling in for her cousin who had taken ill.I really didn’t think much of it.

She is a great student. She pays attention, does what you tell her, but really doesn’t show much emotion either way. At times I feel as though she is bored and unattentive, but then she repeats back to me what I told her 15 minutes prior. So I know she is listening.

Anyway, so I get this email from her mom the other day. Here’s how it went:

“So I promised my daughter I would send you an email. And knowing her, she will ask you the next time she sees you, so I have to live up to my word.

She had her first game after your one on one with her. She followed every step you taught her. I could see her doing the steps in her head.

She hit off the machine, of course straight between 1st and 2nd and got out at first, but it was a great hit. That is a huge improvement from the first couple of games.

She wanted to call you last night, but I said no.”

So this girl grounded out and was so excited she wanted to call me! This is the girl I thought wasn’t even paying attention!

I have since had another lesson w/ her and she definitely remembers every word I said in the prior lesson. Again, we need to remember that these kids hang on our every word and it is important to chose them wisely. Lord knows I have been on the wrong end of that equation more times than I would like to admit. At least this time, I had a positive and lasting effect on a young girls career.

What is the most positive thing you have taken away from an encounter with a youngster? We would love to hear.

7:45 Alarm went off, beat it into submission, it gave in (or so I thought)

8:00 Realized alarm was very sturdy as snooze went off

8:00-8:30 Fought a losing battle w/ snooze button

8:45 Finally gave up and got up and showered

9:15 Began Real Estate Work

2:30 First Hitting Lesson w/ girl who just came from the dentist. Was pretty entertaining watching her try not to drool when she swung

3:30 Next lesson w/ girl who was allowed to leave school to attend lesson! Now I feel important!

4:30 Rewarding lesson w/ boy I have worked w/ now for a year and he is one hopping the ball off the 300’ fence when before he couldn’t hit it out of the infield. His mother told me “you are worth much more than this” when she paid me, I replied, “I am happy to take more!”….lol

5:30 Joined my son’s minor baseball practice already in progress. I think the manager was mad at me for missing the first 1/2 hour for a lesson.

6:30 Thought I was done, thought wrong! Got a call from the Umpire in Chief telling me his umpire for the Junior Baseball game did not show. Aaaarggghhh…3 hours more on the field!

7:00 I arrive at the Juniors game in the middle of the first inning dead tired. I realize I didn’t eat today! Oh well, at least I am losing weight and getting exercise right? I will look good when I need to look for a new wife because mine just left and I didn’t even realize until 2 weeks later…..(a joke people, calm the gossip train)

7:30 Thinking this game is going fast, hope I get out of here early.

8:30 Realize we are already in the 5th inning! Woohoo!

9:30 Wondering if this game is ever going to end! I am really tired and it’s starting to show I think.

10:00 Finally the game is over!

10:30 I get to eat!!!!!

11:00 Check emails

11:30 Write blog post

That’s the typical day in the life of the coach! What’s your typical day like?

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Let me start by saying, this is the best baseball book ever written, period. I have two important reads every year. First, I read the new rulebooks, then I read this book, every year. Why? Because it is simply the best resource I have ever seen to keep you fresh and remind you of all the little idiosyncrasies of the game.

Basically, Hernandez takes two baseball games, one American League, and one National League, and breaks them down pitch by pitch. Yes, just about every pitch of each game is analyzed with tangents about what could, would, and should have happened in any given situation, on any pitch.

I am actually working on a similar project myself for Little League, but I will have to pay many respects and dues to this great effort. Hernandez tells about his father giving he and his brother written tests about the game. If you thought you knew baseball, you don’t know a thing, if you are a casual observer of the game, reading this book will let you know how much of it you are really missing!

Make sure you order Pure Baseball immediately, you will be happy you did!

But they allowed him to live up there. A few thousand dollars in repairs later, they got rid of him and fixed all the damage he did. Don’t get me wrong, I am an animal lover as well, but squirrels need to stay outside where they belong.

-Have you ever had a squirrel stuck in your chimney?
-Have you ever had a squirrel crawl under your crawl space and pass away? Phewwww, talk about stinky!
-Have you ever had a squirrel get into your attic or rafters and cause all sorts of trouble chewing up your insulation and electrical wiring?

Those things can do some serious damage!

This is where Havahart squirrel repellents come in. They have concentrates, motion activated water repellents, granular repellents, every kind of repellent you would need to make the squirrel vanish w/o harming him, because who wants to hurt a cute, fuzzy little squirrel?

In our area an umpire’s “association” has popped to serve the local Little Leagues in the area. Now if this association were formed with the kids in mind, as Little League is, then they would simply organize the best staffs, perform the proper background checks, provide training and equipment, and distribute the talent where needed. Unfortunately, this is not the case. As with any organization, profit is the motive.

The Little League guidelines specifically prohibit paying umpires. Umpires that want to get paid can join associations that provide officials to high schools, travel programs, and various leagues that are not volunteer community based. Or basically, anything that isn’t Little League!

Of course, where does this association go to get their officials? They dip into and steal the local umpires that are so generously volunteering their time for their community. The kicker is the small stipend they pay for a game. Yet, umpires are shunning their local league and entering other league’s boundaries just for a few dollars. Have we forgotten that every $1 we give, we receive $10 in return? This is truly the case.

I am the first to admit that I accept every paying umpiring job offered to me that is NOT Little League. I have no problem w/ that, those organizations have no desire to be volunteer organizations, nor do they pretend to be. I have umpired USSSA and AAU, but have not had time for High School. This association tried to recruit me as well, I told them, “I will never accept pay for umpiring a Little League game”. It is wrong on so many levels.

Not only is it wrong, I have a couple of issues that must be addressed by the association, though I know they won’t reply in public.

1. If Little League’s are boundary specific, how can umpires cross those boundaries?
2. Every volunteer “in regular contact” with the children MUST have completed a volunteer application. How does the association accomplish this since the local league performs the checks?
3. Am I being asked to put my children on fields w/ umpires who have not been properly screened when we visit other locations? This troubles me as the parent of teenage girls and young boys. Is there any proof of this documentation?

How can I know that my children are safe on the fields, in the parking lots, and in the bathrooms of Little League facilities if proper due diligence is not the norm? Are you as a Board of Directors that pays an association to provide you with umpires willing to accept the personal liability that comes with an incident God forbid? It would be “easy pickin’s” for even the least experienced of attorneys.

What we must do:
1. Terminate any league membership of any umpire that gets paid to umpire a Little League game.
2. Not allow any umpire that gets paid to umpire a Little League game to umpire ANY all-star or special privilege games.
3. Terminate all relationships with any associations as Little Leagues.
4. Recruit and train volunteers within our organizations to be the best they can be. You will be surprised who will say yes if you simply ask them.
5. Inform existing umpires if they leave for pay, their membership in the league will be terminated. This means they will never be able to coach, manage, serve on the board, umpire, vote, or volunteer in any way, shape or form, within the organization.
6. Recognize and embrace those willing to volunteer. Award them, provide them gear, drinks, and a pat on the back.
7. Do not antagonize or constantly criticize their work. They are doing the best they can.

Hey, don’t get me wrong. One of my best friends is our Umpire in Chief, and I hear every day about the struggles he goes through to get our games umpired. I don’t envy his position. But paying umpires is NOT the solution. Besides, we are a small league, but we play more than 10 games a week or so at home. That means $350/week for umps or about $3,500!!! How can you say you are being a proper steward of the people’s money if you are simply taking the easy road?

How do you feel about paid umpires in Little League?

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OK rules nerds, here we go! Let me go down into the basement put on my bifocals, pull my shorts up over my belly, and demonstrate my nerdness. Every year I read both the softball and the baseball rulebook cover to cover. And there is a phrase that is used in the rulebook about the potential for umpires needing to “recognize an apparent 4th out” in order to enforce one rule or another.

Sunday night in Dodgers and Diamondbacks game, were I the manager, I would have looked like a genius! (I already do look like a genius in my bifoculs, in the basement, w/ my shorts above my belly, but sometimes genius’ rule! Just look at Bill Gates!) Anyway, I would like to think I would have caught this and would have gotten the apparent 4th out.

Check it out, good reading:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Rare-four-out-play-helps-Dodgers-down-Diamondb?urn=mlb,155380

Pretty cool huh? Anyone actually seen 4 outs in a Little League game for real? I never have in 20 years.

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