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PLAY BALL!

Dedication; Hard Work; Perseverance; These are the life skills that I hope my kids will also learn as they grow and I believe athletics provides a great opportunity to learn.

When my boys started little league I noticed at practice how they weren’t concerned about the mechanics of their swing or their throwing. We as parents need to realize that our expectations are not the same as our kids. Motivation has to come from with in, you can’t force kids to be dedicated they must learn it. And they will.

The key word is 'will'.Sometimes we as parents get so involved in trying to help them be successful; we forget the age that their at. Try to remember how you were back then, I know hard work wasn't in my vocabulary. I grew up in Chicago, and our field was a parking lot. The nuns said we could use it any time after 6pm. No coaches, no trainer but we usually had an official (Sister Edna). We played a lot, which help me get better and better having a good time learning from each other.

I remember at one game how bad I felt about my son getting hit by a pitch. Then his team couldn’t get the 3rd out without the other team scoring 1or2 runs first. And of course the Blue calls are usually wrong. Final score 2(us) to 11. I felt so upset, frustrated, the sense of having no control while watching my son’s game was pretty hard to handle. So, preparing myself, thinking about how discouraged he must be I see this big smile on his face as I approach “Mom did you see me steal 2nd!” “Yes” I said, “And then when David smacked that ball down 1st I knew I would make it to home plate to score” “What a game!” “Huh Mom”.
It’s funny how the saying “Out of the mouth of babes” can be so true.

Sports provide opportunities to learn many lessons

Positive thinking
Respect for coaches, umpires, and the rules
Dealing with winning and losing
Working as a team
By the way this part is for us. You can’t expect kids to show sportsmanship if we as parents get all wound-up! Remember we are out there to have a good time, sure we want to win. What kid doesn’t want to show that he/she has game. I always tell my boys that they did good and as long as they played hard and
With heart what more is there.

Catching tips for 5yrs+

A baseball tip for the little ones that you could do inside/outside. We all have extra sox and I don’t know why but I always use to save them. And I’m glad I did! They are so great to teach kids how to catch. I would tell my lefty that he could only catch with his right hand and when he did he had to squeeze the sox.
If he wanted a mitt he had to first learn how to catch it this way so that he gets use to closing his hand and not depend on the mitt to trap the ball(sox). He worked hard because he already had a mitt picked out. We had lots of fun as he got better I would throw harder & higher then I would make sure he took a step as he threw it back. We would watch Baseball on TV and then copy what had happen, I’ll yell the runners going as I throw the sox at him. I’m sure glad it was just a sox after awhile I missed more than I caught.
Once he earned his mitt we used bean bags, tennis balls, and finally t-ball. I think it was more for my safety
Then his. He’s almost 14 and we still play catch 3 times a week in the backyard. My 11year old is ok with
2 nights a week.

The next drill is one RJ teammates thought I should mention………..
Here’s a drill for older players especially if the play during the summer

Tennis balls for playing catch
Setup:
Pair players up and have them stand about 15 – 20 yards apart. Position the players so the sun is directly behind one player.
Execution:
The player with the sun on his back will throw the ball to the other player as a fly ball, trying to arch it so it will be in the sun for the other player.
The player fielding the ball will use his glove to protect his eyes and catch the fly ball. Remind players to look below their glove for the ball as it gets in the sun. Have each player throw a few fly balls and then switch.