Youth Baseball and Beyond

Transitioning to high school - Part 1

High school baseball is a different experience from travel ball. In Part 1 of our two part episode, high school and travel ball coach Tom McGovern and I discuss several topics on how players can prepare for that transition and be ready to begin this new adventure. 00:00: Introduction 02:10: Thinking about high school before high school 04:45: A second natural break at 14u 06:05: Learn how to speak with a coach 07:25: Understanding the landscape of travel / club / feeder baseball 08:40: Becoming a part of your high school baseball community 11:45: How players can prep as youths to play in high school 17:35: Understanding high school roster construction 21:20: Wrap up If you have any questions or show ideas, please leave a comment or email us at youthbaseballandbeyond@gmail.com [youthbaseballandbeyond@gmail.com]. Be sure to like and follow so you’ll be notified each time we drop new content. Thanks for listening. We’ll see you at the diamond. Good bye.

Tryouts - A Parent's Perspective

Tryout season is just around the corner and it can be a stressful time for players and parents. In today’s episode, Chris Modrzejewski and I discuss what tryouts are like from a parent’s perspective. We share how you and your child can prepare for the tryout process, how you can support your child if he gets cut, and what you can do in the offseason to help him prepare for a new chapter in his baseball career. 00:00 - Introduction 02:10 - Our own kids getting cut 03:30 - Being honest with yourself 04:45 - Metrics when evaluating your child 06:50 - Talking with your coach in-season 10:30 - Helping your child learn self-advocacy 12:40 - Execute the feedback 13:35 - Keeping your options open 14:50 - Trying out for the same organization 16:05 - Tryout fees 17:10 - Trying out with multiple organizations 19:15 - Be respectful of the announcement process 21:25 - Set a good example for your child 24:30 - Supporting your child after being cut 26:05 - Appropriate ways to ask for feedback 28:55 - Advice from a player 29:50 - Finishing the current season with class 30:55 - Offseason approach 33:35 - Wrap up If you liked what you heard today, drop a comment and share what your tryout experiences have been like. Feel free to email us at youthbaseballandbeyond@gmail.com [youthbaseballandbeyond@gmail.com] to suggest show ideas or to let us know what you think of this episode. Thanks for listening. We’ll see you at the diamond. Good bye.

Sports Stories #1

When you coach long enough you experience some moments. Looking back, you undoubtedly encounter some fun times where you can only shake your head and laugh. Today’s episode touches on the “beyond” portion of our podcast. Frequent contributor Chris Modrzejewski and I share some fun anecdotes in our first edition of Sports Stories. 00:00 - Introduction 01:10 - When you gotta go, you gotta go 02:05 - Juuuuuusssst a bit outside 05:55 - Off to Europe 08:00 - Checking in 09:55 - A missing group 11:45 - A player’s rant 13:20 - The last night in Italy 15:55 - Creating memories for your players If you like what you heard make sure you like and follow to always be notified when new content drops. If you have an idea for an episode, drop us an email at youthbaseballandbeyond@gmail.com [youthbaseballandbeyond@gmail.com]. Thanks for listening. We’ll see you at the diamond. Good bye.

Team and Player Motivation

When your team is in a slump, players and coaches can dread coming to practice. If what you’re coaching isn’t resonating, maybe it’s time to shake things up a little to reconnect with your team.  Today’s episode provides a variety of ways you can add variety to your routine by introducing different ways for your players to improve their tactics and techniques, along with using unique motivational methods to help them once again find the joy of the game. 00:00 - Introduction 01:40 - Identifying when things aren’t clicking 02:35 - It’s not personal 03:00 - Help me help you 04:00 - People first - athletes second 06:10 - Coaching isn’t linear 08:05 - Improving tactics and techniques 14:00 - Breaking up your routine 17:10 - Remembering moments, not scores 18:25 - Ace of the Game 21:40 - Game day award tally 23:20 - Helmet stickers & point system 26:40 - I scream you scream we all scream for ice cream 29:10 - Connections with players Be sure to like and follow to always be notified when new content drops. If you have a show idea, email us at youthbaseballandbeyond@gmail.com [youthbaseballandbeyond@gmail.com] and we’ll be in touch to discuss your thoughts and even possibly have you join us as a guest. Thanks for listening. We’ll see you at the diamond. Good bye.

My Way or the Highway

Today’s episode discusses a series of recent interactions between a dad and a coach. Dad felt the coach showed clear favoritism towards his son. The coach didn’t think it was appropriate for the dad to express his opinion. Who was right and who was wrong? Find out what happened and learn about effective communication techniques both dad and coach could have used to engage in constructive dialogue. 00:00 - Introduction 01:35 - Setting the scene 02:35 - Parent initiates communication with the coach 03:10 - Dad’s mistakes explained 04:15 - Using effective communication techniques 05:30 - Sample of an effective email to the coach 06:15 - Improvements the coach could have made 06:50 - What happened in Game 4? 07:30 - Post game events 08:25 - Parents don’t lose the right to ask questions because they didn’t volunteer 10:00 - Move players around in the batting order to help the develop 12:15 - My way or the highway  13:20 - A better approach 14:25 - Free template to organize your game day roster 14:50 - Recap Be sure to like and follow us on whichever platform you’re using to listen to our podcast. We’d love to hear from you. Please email us at youthbaseballandbeyond@gmail.com [youthbaseballandbeyond@gmail.com] with your thoughts or to suggest a podcast topic. We’ll see you at the diamond!!