Building a winning All-Star team takes what

[merdon133]

Ok,

Besides the obivious stuff what are some of the things a coach for 9/10 years olds should focus on in the two weeks giving? I don't feel now is the time to try and fix the little flaws someone might have, is that the correct mind set? I feel I should be focused on bringing the 12 of them together as team as fast as possible and focus on what each brings to the game. It's going to be a tough battle as most 9/10u LL all-stars here will be mostly travel ball kids, but we'll be ready (hopefully)

I know you guys have been doing this for a while now and wanted to get your advice on what worked for you.

[Jake Patterson]

Ok,

Besides the obivious stuff what are some of the things a coach for 9/10 years olds should focus on in the two weeks giving? I don't feel now is the time to try and fix the little flaws someone might have, is that the correct mind set? I feel I should be focused on bringing the 12 of them together as team as fast as possible and focus on what each brings to the game. It's going to be a tough battle as most 9/10u LL all-stars here will be mostly travel ball kids, but we'll be ready (hopefully)

I know you guys have been doing this for a while now and wanted to get your advice on what worked for you.

Merdon, in the short amount of time you have for LL all-stars I am uncertain how much "building" you can do. The key in my mind, not having done LL in many years, is matching and maximizing the talent you have. The key is organization and enthusiasm.... and of course pitching.

[DerekD]

You're definitely going to want to pick up some pitchers. The best teams in our district last year were very deep at pitcher. Most of them can play any position anyway. The thing for me would be to figure out the outfield. Many times the best players are infielders but it's getting a few that are willing to embrace the outfield that will help you the most. In practice be sure to work on outfield stuff because these players probably haven't practiced it much. I probably wouldn't work on hitting too much because I'd assume that their regular teams are doing this.

[TG Coach]

You work with prospective all-stars all year. If you wait until June 15th to start working with the kids, enjoy the team BBQ by July 4th.

[CoachHenry]

I assume the teams are already set?

I'd find out what positions each kid can play effectively and write it down. Find out how to get the best lineup whenever certain pitchers are on the mound. Work on the small ball type stuff like backing each other up, who has precedence on fly balls, how to call for the ball, relay throws, etc. Go over each typical situation and make sure they know where to be. Make handouts if you need to and give them plenty of blanks and have them draw where EACH player should go on EACH play. EVERY player goes somewhere.

I'd try to figure out who are your pitchers and how they do. Can all of them start or come off the bench? Some don't do well in one or the other situations. Bunt coverage, defensive positioning, etc.

And with all that, make sure your practices are broken up so that you don't have any kids standing around doing nothing. Groups or stations.

[Drill]

you will have to pick the all star team ahead of time and do private practices. I see that going over real well with parents and kids.

pitching 3

catcher (good catchers)2

outfield 4

infield 4


practice practice

[TG Coach]

you will have to pick the all star team ahead of time and do private practices. I see that going over real well with parents and kids.

We ran open skills clinics. They were hard and intensive. Mediocre players didn't return the second time. Any pretenders were gone after the second session. We had eighteen kids working real hard in the skills clinic to make the all-star team. The worst thing that happened to a kid who went through the process and didn't make all-stars was he became a better player.

[CoachHenry]

Since he mentioned LL I assume that the parents are used (or are aware) that the team will do extra practices.

[merdon133]

yes it's LL

Our league hasn't won a All-Star game below Jr in 4 years. We're always 2 and out. I want to change that this year. I've been working with kids all winters and I hope we can at least make a showing. the league won't support clinics unless approved ahead of time so basically I get to watch players from now to the end of the year, then a try-out. However (thankfully) it's not just me picking the kids, but at the same time. I'm going to start asking kids to come to practices on Saturdays to get the extra training.

I think one of our biggest problem is we send a 9/10, 10/11, 11/12 teams to district and a team for each age to inv. So we get a water down affect.

So work pitching, outfielding skills and small ball defence.

Thanks Guys!

[Coordinator]

I coordinate our age 8-12 divisions and schedule AS tryouts so here's my chance to stop lurking....(thanks for good information so far)

From my limited experience coaching two AS teams, I agree that pitching should be your priority. Start games with your best pitcher and proceed down your depth chart. The game scores will vary as less accurate and slower velocity pitchers enter the game. Scoring on these pitchers led us to think we had a good 10u offense.

As you move up age divisions, expect better, even dominant pitching on the 60 foot diamond. You won't see as many walks so your team will have to hit. After losing 12u games 3-2, we realized we did not emphasize hitting enough.

So, pitching first, hitting second. Choose versatile players and work on situations.

We hold a single tryout because we're space limited. The manager and 2 or 3 managers evaluate the results and pick the team. The clinic sounds like a good idea. Some neighboring towns elect their teams to save field time, I guess. For example,

a) coaches vote for 3 or 4 kids on other teams; top 9 make the team, manager picks the remaining 3

b) coaches vote for 3 or 4; up to 12 kids make it if they are mentioned on 50% of ballots.

What are other selection methods you use?

[azmatsfan]

you will have to pick the all star team ahead of time and do private practices. I see that going over real well with parents and kids.

We ran open skills clinics. They were hard and intensive. Mediocre players didn't return the second time. Any pretenders were gone after the second session. We had eighteen kids working real hard in the skills clinic to make the all-star team. The worst thing that happened to a kid who went through the process and didn't make all-stars was he became a better player.

So are these clinics part of your tryout process? I think that's a great idea.

[TG Coach]

I think one of our biggest problem is we send a 9/10, 10/11, 11/12 teams to district and a team for each age to inv. So we get a water down affect.

Or you can put up three pennants like our league did twice. When our group of kids came through we made the offensive focus aggressive baserunning to make the opponent throw away bases and runs. Defensively we worked hard on turning infielders into outfielders and hitting the cutoff man. It didn't hurt to have four quality pitchers and a catcher that couldn't be run on an blocked everything.

[TG Coach]

So are these clinics part of your tryout process? I think that's a great idea.

Legally no. We didn't do tryouts. The team was not named until June 15th. But a #10-18 player could alter his future by attending and improving. Overall it polished all the players whether they made all-stars or not. They all played travel ball too.

The problem with tryouts is some kid will play over his head when you know he can't succeed at the all-star level. Every year we would hear whining from parents about their .400 hitter being cut from all-stars. The kid hit .700 off second tier pitching and .100 against all-star quality pitchers.