OUR STORY
It started 7 years ago when we volunteered to coach our son's Little League team and although we were brand new to the game we brought a group of 6-8 year olds to a 3rd place finish in our county. The following years as our son transitioned to travel baseball eventually playing on teams in Colorado, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Florida we've been on the sidelines witnessing how the game is coached/played. We've learned a lot of things. Mainly, that the best intentions usually get lost amongst politics and competitiveness usually leaving demoralized players/families in its path.
Baseball doesn't have to be like this.
As a doctor of physical therapy who specializes in adolescent athletes - and a veteran middle/high school teacher we understand what is developmentally appropriate at this this age physically/mentally. We love to learn and despite our large biomechanical and social/emotional toolbox we are constantly reading the latest research in order to use the best possible tools when working with young athletes. We also love to laugh...a lot.
Although we've coached before we do not have the traditional coach pedigrees, but we are passionate about the game and even more passionate about keeping kids in the sport. 75% of current baseball players stop playing by the age of 14. We want to build young men who are confident enough to be successful in high school baseball. We will focus on training each player to identify how their mechanics can best work for them in addition to building enough strength without over training. We want the players to have increased autonomy on the field and enjoy the game they fell in love with.
We hope they are open to some out-of-the-box approaches, random acts of kindness, and to be supportive of their teammates while playing A LOT of baseball. We don't want to pigeonhole your player as this does not set them up for success at higher levels. Our philosophy is that the more well-rounded you are the more likely you are to make a high school team. We want each boy to have the athleticism and versatility of a short stop so they can stand out in high school (Lefties will be more traditionally placed at first, center and pitcher since that is expected and we want to give you the best shot too)!
Batting orders will not always reflect hitting prowess. If you tend to hit towards short stop every at bat and we have runners on 1st and 2nd you may not be third in the lineup even if you have the best contact and power since it increases our chances of a double play. We will change the batting order a lot and maybe our best hitter may be batting 12th since they can help the top of the order for certain games/scenarios. Great thought will be given to the order and positions played prior to games based on the practices/games the week before. We know not every game will be our best. We'll leave in kids who make an error in an effort to learn; but if errors continue to be made we will make the best choice for the team but in a way that keeps everyone feeling successful.
What do we expect of parents?
We expect you will trust our different process since it based on biomechanics, age appropriateness and research. If you don't agree with a decision/call/etc please calmly reach out to us. We are human and will always do our best, but sometimes we will get it wrong.
Overall we promise to be fair, creative, give your player lots of reps and make sure they are ready for high school while having fun and gaining confidence.
