Baseball Fundamentals: Communication with Families

There is no way to overestimate the importance of the word: Communication. With Parents. Between coaches. With your ballplayers. Among the kids on the diamond. With your batter during an at bat. Between innings - every inning is it's own mini-lab in baseball fundamentals!

Coach, the best way to get (and keep) the allegiance of your parents is to keep them in the loop.

Publish a hard copy of the season's practice and game schedule as soon as you can. Nothing instills pride in a player, or calm in a parent, like having that schedule on the refrigerator door or bulletin board at home. Like any of us, it is fundamentally comforting to know what's coming and when.

Include an e-mail address if you have one. Generate a list of contact numbers that includes the phone and/or e-mail of your families. Make it easy for them to be in touch with one another. Set up a phone tree amongst your parents. The great likelihood is that you'll have two or three willing and eager moms or dads to help with this. And it is almost certain that you'll have one or more ballplayers in need of rides on a regular basis.

Early in the pre-season, identify assistant coaches. These will be dads and/or moms who, like you, share a love of the kids and a willingness to learn the game well enough to teach it. Identify who's able to commit to every (or nearly every) game, and willing to be a Scorekeeper.

Set yourself up early with plenty of support. Win that support by making life as easy as possible for your parents! It's all a part of making the Little League Baseball experience as successful as possible for their kids - your ballplayers-in-the-making!