10 Tips for Youth Coaches (Part 1 of 3)

Coaching youth sports these days is challenging. Organizing practices, managing games, motivating and teaching players, and communicating with parents can be a full time job. All of these responsibilities are likely to be top of a full time day job for most coaches. The purpose of this article is to help coaches prioritize their time and energy into the things that make the biggest impact for the players on the team, both on and off the field. This is a 3 part post. Here are the first 3 tips (out of 10).

1. Establish 3 simple rules.

Show up on time, play the game hard, and play the game right. Rule number one is obvious, and since your coaching players that depend on parents for transportation, establish the importance of this with the parents and players. Playing the game hard means running out every play, giving 100% effort no matter the score, hustling on and off the field between innings, etc. Playing the game right way is the hardest rule to learn and follow. A common violation to this rule is throwing a helmet after an out. Teach players the importance of sportsmanship and constant communicate what playing the game right means. As with any rule, be sure to establish firm, but fair consequences for violating team rules and be sure to stick to them and maintain consistency. The future employers of your players will greatly appreciate you for this.

2. Practices are for teaching and training.

A common practice plan for youth teams is to place players at all 9 positions and the coach throws batting practice. Do not be the coach that does this! While batting practice is an important part of practice, try to integrate BP into a more meaningful practice plan where the entire team is engaged. A better plan is to organize several stations with 2-4 players and each station requires the players to complete a task or meet a goal. For example, a bunting station could require each player to get 2 bunts down before meeting the goal. Try to create a fun and positive competitive atmosphere where players encourage, root for, and push each other.

If you plan to have BP, make it more competitive by playing the game “21 Outs” (or any number of outs of your choice). In this game, the defense must make 21 outs in a row without recording an error. If the defense makes an error, the number starts over at zero. This creates a more game like and competitive atmosphere, instead of a typical boring BP session.

3. Reward players.

Your overall goal as a coach is to make kids feel good, not bad. Using this strategy is a great way to motivate and encourage your players. For example, hand out a bobble head to the player of each game. If a player hits 3 HRs, he is an easy choice for player of the game, however try to take the opportunity to reward players for many different things throughout the season. Examples are best teammate, hardest worker, getting a bunt down, outstanding hustle, and the list goes on. This also helps to teach your team what it means to play the game right.