Three coaches is enough for a youth baseball team
I truly see four coaches as the limit for a youth team, and three is usually plenty. Put six coaches in the dugout of an 11-player team and you've got Daddy Ball on steroids.
In my time as a coach, I’ve noticed a strange trend among travel teams: An overflow of coaches. Look into some dugouts and it’s like Bring a Parent to Work Day, with five or six coaches spilling out onto buckets.
You really don’t need that many. The Spiders ran with three. The head coach coaches third and gives the signs (if I’m making the final decisions on strategy, I should probably be the one giving them). An assistant coaches first. And a bench coach keeps the real stats and talks to the pitcher and catcher between innings. Add a fourth if the head coach wants someone in the dugout while he’s at third, but that’s the limit.
Beyond that, you get problems.
Too many coaches means too many loud ones. If the umpire makes a questionable call, five guys are shouting, and someone may get ejected — rightfully so. If something goes wrong on the field, everyone’s yelling different instructions. It’s noise, and it’s confusing for the kids.
Then there’s the politics. Six coaches on an 11-player team means more than half the dads are coaches. The dads who aren’t will watch every inning to see what the coaches’ kids get. You’ve built Daddy Ball into the roster.
And what are they all doing? If a coach doesn’t have a job the players could name, he’s there for one reason: To be near his own son and have a say in how he’s used.
Every coach in that dugout MUST be there to coach every player on the team.
If that’s not why you’re there, that’s okay. We still need plenty of help at practice!
Still have a question? Ask Coach Fungo.
“If you're only there to babysit your own kid, get out of the freaking dugout.”
I wrote the long version of this when I coached the Spiders: Do You Really Need That Many Coaches? on SpidersElite.
Playing time across league, pool and bracket games
League games, pool play and bracket play are three different kinds of games, and I'd treat them that way. Spread the reps out where you can afford to, and put your best lineup on the field on Sunday.
“Development happens in league games. Bracket play is about seeing how good you are.”
Youth baseball coaches burn out too
Coaches burn out, too, and I've seen it happen. You're juggling recruiting, parents, your job and your own son, often for little or no pay.
“You're the coach, the recruiter, the party planner, the fundraiser and the scheduler. You do it all, and you probably shouldn't.”
The playbook
Thirty-three defensive plays, animated. Cutoffs, relays, first-and-third, bunt coverage.
New cards land on Instagram and Threads first. Follow along there.
Be the first to comment