I had a thought tonight about what the most important things are when it comes to younger players. When I say young I mean somewhere in the 10-18 year old range.
What's Important for Young Players?
I’ve recently committed to coaching a 14U summer team and it is important that I decide what my overall philosophy is. Some of you reading this may be in that age range and others may have kids that age. This is an extremely important time when it comes to baseball players, or kids in general.
The first thing I told my players at our first practice is our #1 goal is that everyone gets better over the summer. Of course we want to be competitive and win games, but if everyone isn’t a better player at the end of the summer than we have missed out on a great opportunity. When these guys are 18 years old and waiting on scholarship offers from colleges, or even waiting to be picked in the amateur draft, the LAST thing they will remember is the record of their 14Uteam. What they WILL remember is the coach that helped them get better, helped them learn discipline and hard work, and helped them achieve the goals that were most important to them.
Again it can be tough if the team is not having success but development is the key. You can become a better player whether the team is 0-20 or 20-0. There were TONS of players that were better than me at 12, 13, and even 14 years old. The problem was, they quit working at it. It had always come easy to them and they figured it always would. Suddenly there we were at 18 years old and they didn’t have any options. It wasn’t that I was always a better baseball player than those guys. I simply outworked them and was fortunate enough to play Division 1 and professional baseball. I thank the coaches, and my parents, who taught me those lessons.
Kids in this age group are easy influenced and I want to make sure that I say and do everything I can to set them up for success in the future. It doesn’t matter to me whether it’s in baseball or any other life venture; my goal is to be a positive influence. Their eyes are on YOU. Kids hear what you say, but they are doing to do exactly what you do. If I preach attitude and effort, I must make sure I bring the same thing to practice and games myself.
When I was that age I had a million things running through my mind, it was hard to stay focused. When I look back I know there were a few things that helped me succeed… I had great instruction, my coaches were a good influence, and I had a supportive environment. I would say these are the most important things at that age.
You need to make sure that you or your kids are in a supportive environment and receiving the best instruction you can find. Everything else will take care of itself; just remember to always work hard no matter what you are doing.
I’m looking forward to a great summer of baseball and I hope everyone else is too!
Best of luck!
Dennis
P.S. Please leave your comments below if you have some experience to share!
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