COACH’S CALL
COACH’S CALL Advice and Insight From Respected Coaches
Coach Clint Conley, co-publisher of Sports Gwinnett Magazine and respected baseball coach talks about starting your baseball team on the right track. With the baseball season starting, now is the perfect time to think about how to lay the foundation for a positive experience this season for players, parents, and coaches. I was 6 years old when I first played in Little League, and 30 years have passed since I coached my first team. Most of my youth was spent at ball fields with my family and a father who coached, umpired, and organized tournaments. Now, I train, teach, and mentor hundreds of players at all skill levels and work with numerous coaches and travel teams year round. I have seen a lot of baseball! Coach Clint Conley’s advice for parents and coaches of Little League youth baseball: 1 Make the season about THEM - the players, not you. 3 Coaches, hold a preseason meeting with your parents to discuss your teaching philosophies, feelings about playing time, the schedule of practices and games and enlisting their support.
4 Coaches, teach how to play the game of baseball the right way - make it fun, and teach fundamentals as a team. Parents, play catch and throw before the season 5
and during the season. These skills improve mechanics by using both movement and motor skills.
6 Coaches, use patience at practices and games. Your players’ development depends on this. Since baseball skills do not come naturally to all, they must be taught, repeated, and reinforced.
7 Parents, show patience to coaches and players. You are there to support! If you think you have a better way, sign up to be a coach next season.
8 Coaches and parents, be a positive influence. Demonstrate maturity, honesty, and integrity. Be the team that is known to have the best coaches, players, and parents on and off the field. Insist that the players are going to play with a respect for their teammates, opposition, and the umpires regardless of the outcome. Coaches, stay focused on the well-being of your 9
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SPORTS GWINNETT MAGAZINE www.sportsgwinnett.com | March 2013