A Parent’s Guide To Little League Baseball

1. Little league baseball is a learning experience for both the kid and the parent. Learning the fundamentals of the game should be the biggest part of little league experience. Learning whether or not your kid (not you) wants to play, and keep playing, is the second biggest thing.

2. Most kids assume that they will do well from the first moment that they pick up a glove or a bat. Surprisingly, some parents expect this as well. Your kid will not do well at first and will be discouraged when he/she sees other more experienced players doing better. The best thing you can do here is prepare your player for this before they start.

3. You will need to become involved in your player’s practice and development if you want them to succeed. Parents who drop their kids off at practice and don’t stay, watch the games, and do nothing else, will usually have kids who are average players, at best.

4. You do not have to quit your job or have any baseball experience to be involved. Your interest alone will have a great effect on your kid’s development and improvement. Yes, it will take some time from your schedule so you should plan for it.

5. It is a myth that only dads make good involved parents. Most of the best players I know have involved moms and players with two involved parents have a greater chance of succeeding.

6. There is a lot more to do in developing a little league player than helping out in practice. So, if you don’t feel comfortable with the throw/catch/hit part of being involved, then you can always find something else to do to help out.

7. You will be asked to volunteer to help out with what it takes to make a little league team and organization run. Helping maintain the fields, providing snacks after the game, keeping the team/coach organized, working a shift at the concession stand, and many other duties need to be done on an on-going basis.

8. It is a myth that lot of money needs to be spent on the little league experience. A glove, hat, uniform, league registration fees and maybe a helmet/bat are the basics that everyone needs to cover. (Helmets and bats are often shared among players and are even provided by some leagues.)

9. If you have little or no money to put towards little league then your kid can still play and do well. Many families have an older sibling who outgrew his/her glove, bat etc. Used equipment and hand-me-downs are easy to find, cheap. In many cases older players will give their stuff to younger players.

10. There are things other than baseball fundamentals that you should teach your kid. Not all coaches teach these things, you should. There are also things that you should make sure that your kid doesn’t learn. Be a good example, your kid will learn from it.

• It takes work to be good.
• Good manners and respect for fellow players, coaches and other parents is a quality that most good players have.
• Good sportsmanship and a good attitude are learned behaviors.

Baseball has many proud traditions, bad sportsmanship, gender-bias and stereotyping of any kind are not three of them.

This excerpt is from the Little League Parent’s Survival Guide, by Mark Hofer.