Information For New T-Ball Parents
Posted by Karen Tucker on Thursday, January 28, 2010
Under: NEWS
This is the time of year we get a lot of inquiries from parents whose oldest child is now 4 and they are just beginning to think about organized sports. We're lucky in Siloam to have many options for 4 year olds to get in on team sports. Soccer, softball, baseball--all provide an opportunity for a young child to test the water without making a major commitment. It can be an exciting time in a family's life. Before they are even old enough for Kindergarten, they can get out there on that field in a cute little uniform and play ball!
In some cases, it becomes obvious early on that baseball is a particular child's sport of choice. He begs his daddy to play catch; any stick in the yard becomes a bat for swinging at rocks; there’s always a baseball cap on his head. This is a child who is definitely ready to give baseball a try.
For the most part, though, children don’t develop skills in any one sport at an early age. Their interests flit around like the butterflies on the clover in right field. If you ask a four-year-old to play baseball with you today, he will likely grab the ball and race you outside, especially if it means more time and attention from mom or dad or big brother. Ask him if he would like to play tomorrow, eh...you might have a hard time getting his eyes off the Thomas the Train in his hand. This is how young children are. We adults could learn something from a 4-year-old about how to live in the moment.
Fortunately, Cal Ripken League and SSYB provides a league tailored specifically to their special needs, abilities and limitations. It’s called T-Ball Minor League, and consists of 4- and 5-year-olds who have never played in a league before.
T-Ball Minor is where your child will be introduced to baseball. Because of the roving attention spans of young children, T-Ball Minor is a hands-on effort for coaches and parents alike. Your team will have a head coach, but every coach is encouraged and expected to involve as many parents as possible in the instruction. Your coach will be the leader, but he or she will invite you onto the field to help remind the players where to stand, when to pay attention, where to run.
Not every parent will be able or willing to help out in this manner, and there really doesn’t need to be a coach for every child. However, two or three parents in the outfield to help keep the kids on task and paying attention to the coach is a great way to make sure every child is getting the instruction. When your coach asks you to help, I hope you will.
Some of the questions we answer frequently from parents who are new to t-ball:
How much are the coaches paid to coach T-Ball Minor?
No coaches are ever paid in Cal Ripken League or SSYB. No one involved in SSYB except professional umpires are paid for their services (and the umps don’t get much). It is an ALL-VOLUNTEER organization. Therefore, SSYB will be asking parents of 4- and 5-year-olds to step up and be head coach for their team. We never have enough coaches for T-Ball Minor at the end of registration and we have to recruit more. You may be overwhelmed at the idea of managing a large group of little kids. That’s why we expect and encourage parental participation in every game and practice. A T-Ball Minor Coach is more like an administrator. You only need to know the bare minimum about baseball. A better skill to have is organization, the willingness to communicate with the parents and the league and attend a few meetings, and a capacity to be enthusiastic and kind.
You should also be willing to take the Cal Ripken League Coaching Certification, a very simple test based on common sense principles. The test and materials are available online and cost only $20. Once you are certified, it is for life, and you can coach your child through all the age groups in Cal Ripken League and Babe Ruth Baseball.
Why don’t you keep score in T-Ball Minor?
Because it is an instructional league; the children are too young to understand all the implications of winning and losing; some parents get carried away with the idea and end up putting too much pressure on the kids to win, when the kids should be learning the fundamentals of baseball; all players get to bat and play in the field during every inning, which renders the score pretty much irrelevant.
When do we take/pick up our photographs? How can we find out about rain-outs? How do I contact the board of directors?
The answer to all these questions is always, “check the website!” www.ssyb.com.
Photographs will always be scheduled according to the weather! These decisions have yet to be made for 2010.
Rain-outs will always be posted on the main page of the website. Do not expect a call from your coach or anyone else. If you don’t have regular access to the web, pre-arrange with a fellow parent on your team or someone in your family who you can call to get the information.
When there is a possibility of rain, we generally make the decision by 3:00 p.m., and post it on the website as soon as possible. Sometimes it rains after 3:00, but usually the people who make the decision are already at the ballpark by that time and may not be able to update the website. If there is no notice on the website by 3:00, plan to come to the ballpark at your scheduled time.
A special note about the T-Ball Minor field and rain. The location of the field is such that it floods more readily than other parts of the ballpark. In 2009, the playing surface was raised and sodded again, which helps with the drainage. However, there were not enough funds to raise the ground under the bleachers and outside the dugouts. Thus, there may be quite a bit of water standing in the lush green grass around the field even when the field itself is dry. Because of this, T-Ball Minor games may be rained out, even though the other leagues are able to use their fields.
Contact us: If you encounter an issue that you cannot resolve with your coaches' assistance, use the contact form on the menu of the website to contact the president of the board directly, or ask for the board member on duty to be paged at the Concession Stand.
What about that concession stand?
We want the youngest kids to get the whole experience of the ballpark. That’s why we offer free popsicles for all t-ball teams after their games. There’s nothing like standing there between the fences on a hot summer night, listening to the cheers of the spectators, talking to your friends, and kicking your toe in the dirt while enjoying a nice cold popsicle! Instead of buying expensive snacks for after the game, line your team up at the Concession Stand door for their popsicle!
Also, all teams are required to provide workers for one night during the season in the Concession Stand. The Concession Stand helps keep our registration fees lower than that of many of the nearby cities. When your coach asks for volunteers for your scheduled night, please raise your hand. You won’t miss your child’s game. It’s easy to enough to do that a single motivated teenager can almost run it by himself (although he would be very very tired!).
How do I know if my child is ready to play t-ball?
This is a question every parent has to answer for their own child. There are some guidelines, though. If your child cries at the mere thought of going to practice, don’t make him or her go. Re-evaluate whether this is the right situation at this time in his life. While it is important for children to learn to keep their commitments, they don’t have to learn it when they’re just 4! If your child wants to go to practice, but then doesn’t want to participate or cooperate, consider when was the last time he had a meal or a drink, or whether she might need to use the restroom, or if she had a good night’s sleep or a rough day at school. Remedy the situation if you can, then happily encourage him to try again. If your child shows absolutely no interest in playing, don’t sign him up in the first place. He may be interested next year, or he may never be interested. There is nothing worse than being forced to do what you don’t want to do, for a long period of time (an hour is an eternity to a 4-year-old), and expected to be happy about it. Remember The Golden Rule applies to children, too.
Please call your coach and let them know if you decide to stop coming. Keeps them from wondering about you, or expecting you to fulfill your promise to help in the Concession Stand.
What are the rules of T-Ball Minor?
Click on T-Ball in the menu, and the rules should appear! Remember, the rules are designed to facilitate instruction in the fundamentals of baseball. Excellence comes later. Here are three more principles that can follow your child all the way through:
“1. Fun. 2. Fundamentals. 3. Winning, without violating the first two.”
Welcome to Siloam Springs Youth Baseball!
In some cases, it becomes obvious early on that baseball is a particular child's sport of choice. He begs his daddy to play catch; any stick in the yard becomes a bat for swinging at rocks; there’s always a baseball cap on his head. This is a child who is definitely ready to give baseball a try.
For the most part, though, children don’t develop skills in any one sport at an early age. Their interests flit around like the butterflies on the clover in right field. If you ask a four-year-old to play baseball with you today, he will likely grab the ball and race you outside, especially if it means more time and attention from mom or dad or big brother. Ask him if he would like to play tomorrow, eh...you might have a hard time getting his eyes off the Thomas the Train in his hand. This is how young children are. We adults could learn something from a 4-year-old about how to live in the moment.
Fortunately, Cal Ripken League and SSYB provides a league tailored specifically to their special needs, abilities and limitations. It’s called T-Ball Minor League, and consists of 4- and 5-year-olds who have never played in a league before.
T-Ball Minor is where your child will be introduced to baseball. Because of the roving attention spans of young children, T-Ball Minor is a hands-on effort for coaches and parents alike. Your team will have a head coach, but every coach is encouraged and expected to involve as many parents as possible in the instruction. Your coach will be the leader, but he or she will invite you onto the field to help remind the players where to stand, when to pay attention, where to run.
Not every parent will be able or willing to help out in this manner, and there really doesn’t need to be a coach for every child. However, two or three parents in the outfield to help keep the kids on task and paying attention to the coach is a great way to make sure every child is getting the instruction. When your coach asks you to help, I hope you will.
Some of the questions we answer frequently from parents who are new to t-ball:
How much are the coaches paid to coach T-Ball Minor?
No coaches are ever paid in Cal Ripken League or SSYB. No one involved in SSYB except professional umpires are paid for their services (and the umps don’t get much). It is an ALL-VOLUNTEER organization. Therefore, SSYB will be asking parents of 4- and 5-year-olds to step up and be head coach for their team. We never have enough coaches for T-Ball Minor at the end of registration and we have to recruit more. You may be overwhelmed at the idea of managing a large group of little kids. That’s why we expect and encourage parental participation in every game and practice. A T-Ball Minor Coach is more like an administrator. You only need to know the bare minimum about baseball. A better skill to have is organization, the willingness to communicate with the parents and the league and attend a few meetings, and a capacity to be enthusiastic and kind.
You should also be willing to take the Cal Ripken League Coaching Certification, a very simple test based on common sense principles. The test and materials are available online and cost only $20. Once you are certified, it is for life, and you can coach your child through all the age groups in Cal Ripken League and Babe Ruth Baseball.
Why don’t you keep score in T-Ball Minor?
Because it is an instructional league; the children are too young to understand all the implications of winning and losing; some parents get carried away with the idea and end up putting too much pressure on the kids to win, when the kids should be learning the fundamentals of baseball; all players get to bat and play in the field during every inning, which renders the score pretty much irrelevant.
When do we take/pick up our photographs? How can we find out about rain-outs? How do I contact the board of directors?
The answer to all these questions is always, “check the website!” www.ssyb.com.
Photographs will always be scheduled according to the weather! These decisions have yet to be made for 2010.
Rain-outs will always be posted on the main page of the website. Do not expect a call from your coach or anyone else. If you don’t have regular access to the web, pre-arrange with a fellow parent on your team or someone in your family who you can call to get the information.
When there is a possibility of rain, we generally make the decision by 3:00 p.m., and post it on the website as soon as possible. Sometimes it rains after 3:00, but usually the people who make the decision are already at the ballpark by that time and may not be able to update the website. If there is no notice on the website by 3:00, plan to come to the ballpark at your scheduled time.
A special note about the T-Ball Minor field and rain. The location of the field is such that it floods more readily than other parts of the ballpark. In 2009, the playing surface was raised and sodded again, which helps with the drainage. However, there were not enough funds to raise the ground under the bleachers and outside the dugouts. Thus, there may be quite a bit of water standing in the lush green grass around the field even when the field itself is dry. Because of this, T-Ball Minor games may be rained out, even though the other leagues are able to use their fields.
Contact us: If you encounter an issue that you cannot resolve with your coaches' assistance, use the contact form on the menu of the website to contact the president of the board directly, or ask for the board member on duty to be paged at the Concession Stand.
What about that concession stand?
We want the youngest kids to get the whole experience of the ballpark. That’s why we offer free popsicles for all t-ball teams after their games. There’s nothing like standing there between the fences on a hot summer night, listening to the cheers of the spectators, talking to your friends, and kicking your toe in the dirt while enjoying a nice cold popsicle! Instead of buying expensive snacks for after the game, line your team up at the Concession Stand door for their popsicle!
Also, all teams are required to provide workers for one night during the season in the Concession Stand. The Concession Stand helps keep our registration fees lower than that of many of the nearby cities. When your coach asks for volunteers for your scheduled night, please raise your hand. You won’t miss your child’s game. It’s easy to enough to do that a single motivated teenager can almost run it by himself (although he would be very very tired!).
How do I know if my child is ready to play t-ball?
This is a question every parent has to answer for their own child. There are some guidelines, though. If your child cries at the mere thought of going to practice, don’t make him or her go. Re-evaluate whether this is the right situation at this time in his life. While it is important for children to learn to keep their commitments, they don’t have to learn it when they’re just 4! If your child wants to go to practice, but then doesn’t want to participate or cooperate, consider when was the last time he had a meal or a drink, or whether she might need to use the restroom, or if she had a good night’s sleep or a rough day at school. Remedy the situation if you can, then happily encourage him to try again. If your child shows absolutely no interest in playing, don’t sign him up in the first place. He may be interested next year, or he may never be interested. There is nothing worse than being forced to do what you don’t want to do, for a long period of time (an hour is an eternity to a 4-year-old), and expected to be happy about it. Remember The Golden Rule applies to children, too.
Please call your coach and let them know if you decide to stop coming. Keeps them from wondering about you, or expecting you to fulfill your promise to help in the Concession Stand.
What are the rules of T-Ball Minor?
Click on T-Ball in the menu, and the rules should appear! Remember, the rules are designed to facilitate instruction in the fundamentals of baseball. Excellence comes later. Here are three more principles that can follow your child all the way through:
“1. Fun. 2. Fundamentals. 3. Winning, without violating the first two.”
Welcome to Siloam Springs Youth Baseball!
In : NEWS
Tags: t-ball concession stand 4-year-olds
Mostly this blog will be written by me, former president of Siloam Springs Youth Baseball and baseball mom for 20 years and counting. Currently I serve the board of directors as the treasurer, but most of the time I'm just a parent like you.
That's a picture of me in the concession stand with the kid who got me into all this 20 years ago. (This could be you!) He had just told me that there's going to be a second little ball player in his family. That's why we're smiling so wide.
As time goes on, perhaps the new President will start posting stuff on this blog-like page. Mostly we want to make sure you get the information you need. This page will just be a little something extra to go with the new website!
