You’ve just completed a grueling 20-25 game schedule complete with some rain make-up games at inopportune times. The season had it all, including controversies between other teams, your own parents, league board members, and other headaches. His reward for getting through all of this and leading his team to the league championship is coaching the 11-12 year old All Star team. Do you think your phone ranks a lot during the season? You haven’t seen or heard anything yet. Your first duty as a coach is to inform your spouse that you will have to postpone your long-awaited vacation because your league needs you. She also talks about putting off her washing machine repair because, with All Stars, the laundry room is now available 24 hours a day.
Picking your league All Star team can be an incredibly emotional moment that can result in hurt feelings that extend beyond the season and sometimes for years. Some leagues have incorporated players voting for the All Star team. Many leagues have the coaches decide at a meeting led by the league commissioner (or player agent). The first priority is to decide the number of players to recruit in the team. If your league bylaws define this number, then this is what you should follow. Otherwise, this decision must be made at this meeting. Issues such as: do the league bylaws require everyone to play? And how much is required to play? This topic can become a headache, since the substitution of players will sometimes be a distraction for the coach in charge during the match. Usually before this meeting, the head coach has his league-assigned assistant coaches. This can be a problem because sometimes coaches would rather bring their regular-season assistants than two other assigned head coaches they’ve never worked with before. I’d prefer the latter even though he’s discussing strategies with two other people he might have learned to dislike during the season. During All Stars, the coaches on the bench who were adversaries during the year always seem to get along as long as the team is still playing.
Once the coaches and team are formed, it is imperative that the head coach (or manager) hold a parent meeting. This meeting is even more important than the regular season team parent meeting. The meeting must be a requirement and last no more than 10-15 minutes. The key points for the coach to emphasize to parents are that because their son is an All Star, he is expected to play any position on the field (except perhaps pitcher and catcher). The point of this is that many of the players were their team’s shortstops during the season and are asked to play in the outfield. You must assure parents (and even players) that it is imperative that all nine positions are equally important. Other points to be discussed should be about playing time. I’ve always told parents that I won’t be popular as a coach at the conclusion of All Stars to all families, but that I’ve been entrusted by the league to use my judgment whether they deem it right or wrong. I always stress that I can only guarantee the minimum required playing time and that you should consider this if you are going to cancel your vacation plans for these All Star games.
Practices should be executed in a couple of ways. He probably has batting order and fielding positions in mind. I urge all coaches to mix things up in practice and try players at different positions. There will be some unexpected minor absences and you have to be prepared for this as a coach.
The All Star games themselves can be one of the highest stresses in youth sports. The neighboring leagues will be present and the players will have the expected nervousness. You can cut off your regular warm-up shorts and take the team out on the field and play any kind of silly game you can think of. I have always used a game where I split the team down the middle, and with a hard ball for each team, the teammates have to pass the ball to each other using only their necks. This nonsensical sounding game helps to relax players, and for 11 and 12 year olds, this might be the best warm-up for them.
All Stars are the highlights for some players and leagues. Aside from all the potential problems and arguments, if your All Star team ends up going on a nice winning streak, there’s nothing like it. Going far in any tournament will require some luck. If your team is eliminated, this is where, as the coach, you need to give them the “ultimate” pep talk. Now some teams continue to play in other local tournaments, which is a great way to end the season.
No Comment