by Melody Bish

Created on: January 04, 2010

Though I played Little League baseball, when I think of Little League, I can't help picturing the shenanigans of "The Bad News Bears."  Of course there aren't beer swigging managers in Little League but there are ineffective managers; ineffective because they focus on the importance of winning rather than the importance of teaching the game.

Coaching Little League baseball is an important job. Most players who try out for Little League teams have raw talent; have watched their respective baseball heroes on television, and played catch with their Mom or Dad. The Little League coach must have patience to work with the players on any given team and that starts with a skills assessment which will expose which position(s) each player has best aptitude for. Teaching basic skills is also extremely important; skills such as: charging a ball hit in one's direction; using two hands when making a catch; how to slide; what constitutes the strike zone and how to hold a bat. All of the previously mentioned skills sound rather dull but it is the manager's job to help players find the fun in the core basics of baseball.

Once a team is schooled in the principles of baseball it is time to play a schedule of games against teams of other similarly aged players. Little League games are seven innings in length and can be stopped at the end of any inning if one team is ahead by ten or more points. The manager is responsible for ensuring the team understands how to compete and the desire to win while also maintaining a high level of good sportsmanship and acknowledging when another team performs better, or an individual on the other team performs a feat of excellence (such as a home run).

The best Little League managers walk a fine line between competition and ensuring all players have the chance to play and thus learn what it feels like to compete against another team. You see, baseball at the Little League is not about winning; it's about learning the game from silly supersititions such as not touching the foul line when running onto the field; coming together and playing as a team rather than nine individuals; responsibility to play one's position to the best of his/her ability and to shaking hands with the opposition at game's end.

Little League Baseball is an all-American sport and teaching it to impressionable youngsters a tremendously important job.

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