Fall is here! Does that sentence warrant an exclamation point? On the one hand, fall means our outdoor baseball season is ending. On the exciting side, fall is a great time to play extra games, learn new skills, get comfortable with new playing rules, and certainly have fun. Fall Ball is the start of the off-season for youth baseball, and the focus on off-season training. In reflecting on this time of year, one thing that jumps out is how young players perform in a setting where the pressure is so much less than the regular season. Professional players talk frequently about how important it is for them to be calm and confident in order to play at their top level. In the fall, our youth players get a chance to play without the pressure – and they usually perform better in this setting!
THANK YOU, FALL LEAGUE HOSTS!
Many of our summer MBL players and teams are playing MBL Fall League, which is great to see! We also have a lot of new players giving travel baseball a try in the lighter setting of fall ball. Hopefully, a lot of these new players are able to play MBL travel ball next summer. Our first couple Sundays of games have been fantastic. Beautiful weather, the fields are in good shape, a lot of parents and grandparents in the bleachers to watch the kids play ball before the cold season arrives. The atmosphere has been wonderful thus far and we must thank our host communities for their contributions. Just like during the summer season, parents from the host communities are putting in effort to prepare fields, working with their cities and school districts to make sure we have a place to play. THANK YOU for making fall baseball possible!
TRYOUTS COMING UP?
For many associations, the fall season means tryouts. This can be a stressful time of year for players, parents, tryout coordinators and board members. It’s important to remember that a lot of people in your association are probably putting in a lot of time in organizing tryouts. At the MBL, we can tell you no tryout format is perfect. There is a wide variety of tryout methods across MBL communities. All of them try to be as fair as possible, and all of them end up with several players on teams said players do not feel they should be on. It’s very important for parents to remember that one tryout does not determine a child’s fate in baseball. All of our young players are developing their baseball skills and developing as people. Parents need to be positive and supportive in the tryout and team placement process.
TRYOUT TIPS FROM TOP COACHES
As for the tryout itself, we asked some veteran coaches what tips they had for kids going into tryouts. Here are some responses.
Prepare. Have your baseball clothes ready and your bag packed. It’s never good when a player shows up for a tryout and realizes they forgot their glove or bat or cleats. Get a good night’s sleep prior to tryout day(s). Arrive on time, so you are not rushed. Think about your eating schedule ahead of the tryout – so you’re not getting hungry during the tryout.
Hustle! The entire time you are at the tryout, you have the chance to impress an evaluator. They notice the players who are giving max effort and hustling in all drills. Effort requires no talent.
Play “Tryout Catch.” Don’t play “I’m at the beach “. Evaluators watch players while they warm up and play catch. Catch the ball in front of your body in an athletic position. Once you get warm, catch and throw with a faster pace. It’s okay if you make a bad throw – especially if you are clearly trying to catch and throw at game pace.
Encourage the other players. When someone makes a nice play, make sure they know. Players should support each other all the time, but coaches and evaluators at tryouts like to see players promoting a positive environment. The value of a positive player on the culture of a team is very high.
View tryouts as another baseball workout. If you put too much pressure on yourself, you may not perform at your highest level. Parents can help with this a lot. Emphasize that this is one tryout and just one or a few hours of them as a baseball player. Kids can control their effort, so try your best and have fun. It’s just another baseball workout!