Basic Requirements
Review the 8 Helpful Tips for Little League Coaches to better understand a coach's role. Being a coach requires patience and basic knowledge of the game of baseball. Coaches serve as a positive role models to players and parents, teach fundamentals, sportsmanship, playing rules, strategies and playing tactics. They communicate schedules, expectations, events and activities with players and their families.
Bring the Fun
Did you know, that approximately 70% of kids stop playing organized sports by the age of 13 because they say it’s not fun anymore. That’s why AWLL leaders must do their best to keep fun in the game. The first impression you want to make on your players is that this is going to be fun! Bring plenty of energy to the field. Make jokes, smile, laugh, play games, have competitions. Check out some ideas on how to make practice fun.
Team Building
Teamwork is the foundation of any successful sports team. One of the fastest ways to build a strong sense of teamwork is to organize team building activities during the season. The key to a successful team building activity is to make it a fun event, emphasize collaboration, and involve everyone - including players, coaches and parents. Relay races, tug-o-war, obstacle courses, the human knot, birthday lineup, team caterpillar, potato sack or ankles-tied races are loads of fun!
Recognition
Encourage and reward your players! A few ideas: consider giving an award certificate for MVP, most improved, best sportsmanship or best attitude. For older divisions, coaches can come up with a something to award to players, it could be a rotating award that is given to different players each week (i.e. rotating golden bat or batter's helmet or WWE wrestling belt). Or, it could be as simple as giving a player a Gatorade, fist bump, let them go first in a relay race or have them lead the cheer at the end of a game/practice.
Why Should I Coach?
Coaching your child's team can be a fulfilling and fun experience. A few benefits to mention:
- You experience their love for the game. When you volunteer to coach little league, kids will have a variety of skill levels and abilities on the field, and they’re all there for the same reason: to have fun. As their coach, you get a front row seat to see what aspects they love about the game. Even more, you get to run the drills and games that make them laugh or run wild. Then, over the course of the season, you’ll watch their skill set development and certain aspects of the game begin to click. And that’s more fulfilling than you can ever realize.
- You can meet families in your community. As an adult, it’s not always easy to make friends. As a coach in a leadership position, you’re automatically connected to other families. From the very first practice, you’ll learn every player’s name and even their parents name. And as you get to know the kids on your team, you’ll learn more and more: their favorite activities, their friends, etc. And if your child is growing up in the same community as these families, making the connections early on can be extremely helpful and beneficial. Some of the relationships you form may last beyond the season.
- You get more time with your kid. Between work, housework, appointments, and other volunteer opportunities, we know it can be hard to squeeze in extra time with your kids. But being their coach puts you in a unique position with your child, and it’s something they’ll never forget. Not only are you supporting them as a youth athlete, but you’re also experiencing these important moments with them. When they score a goal, you’re one of the first to give them a high-five. They might not thank you right away for dedicating your time in this way, but they’ll definitely appreciate it.
Coach Certifications
We recommend using the free educational resources on the USA Baseball website. The USA Baseball site offers coach certifications (optional for MCLL coaches) and other training resources.
Coaching Resources
We have compiled a short list of helpful tools for coaches:
Forms
Forms that coaches may need access to:
Safety Training Requirements
All volunteers must complete required training, outlined on our Safety Training webpage.