Parent Meeting Details

First and foremost, if you do nothing else all season, please let me know in advance that you will be unable to attend a game. This is explained a little more below, but I plan games and player positions before each game. It helps me greatly to know who will be there and who will not. I'm not too worried about practices, and of course I fully understand that kids sometimes don't give you notice that they will get sick just before a game.


Coaches. I'm really excited about the coaching staff this year, which includes MLB experience (not from me!).  This is my fourth year managing a training league team and Mike M., Bob W., Chris B., Steve B., and PJ D. bring a ton of coaching experience and enthusiasm to the team.  We have a certain number of practices to cover the major aspects of hitting, fielding, and base running.  The great thing about these coaches is that they'll work with the players to refine lots of details during the practices and into games.  Hopefully, you'll see the benefits of this in our games and well into your son's playing career.

That doesn't mean you have to feel left out, though! It takes a lot of effort to run a game, and even experienced players at this age need lots of attention. For example, when we're batting, we need at least an adult pitcher, 1st and 3rd base coaches, a bench coach, an preferably another adult to warm up our on-deck batters. If you find yourself particularly adept at organizing a bench full of wired 8-year-olds, please don't feel bashful about jumping into the fray.


Coaching Philosophy. I hope to primarily accomplish three things: (1) have fun; (2) improve each and every player's skill level; and (3) instill a team spirit and respect for teammates, coaches, and the other team.  It's very important to me that players are rotated not only just between the infield and the outfield (a league rule), but also among all the positions. Every player will play every position on the field at least a few times during the season.

To make sure this happens, I keep a detailed record of every position that every kid played in every inning of every game. I spend what my wife will tell you is probably way too long planning out positions for upcoming games, and work hard to keep a balance between infield and outfield time played and moving between positions there. That's why it's important to let me know if you can't make a game.


Travel Baseball.  There will be additional details later for those players interested in trying out for a travel team, but it's important to note the 75 percent rule.  That is, a player must attend at least 75 percent of the rec league games to qualify for a travel team.


As a little more guidance, travel baseball is a fantastic experience if you son loves to play the game.  It's a great way to bond with some new teammates, learn more about the game, and get an introduction into more competitive ball as they'll be experiencing in the Minor Leagues.  It does require a commitment from the middle of June through the end of July.  It's either practice or a game pretty much every night, and a vacation during that time would make playing travel baseball pretty much impossible. It's four or five tournaments where you'll "travel" to Peters, South Fayette, Mt. Lebanon, etc.  USC also hosts a travel tournament and you'll be asked to serve concession duty at that time.  You can also read the overview at the appropriate link on the website main page.


Game cancellations. We're asked to hold off on cancelling games as much as possible. As a result, it very well might be that you come to a game to find out it is cancelled. Please be understanding in this situation, and realize you might make an unnecessary drive or two to a field only to be turned back home. Sometimes it will rain during the day, but stop at 5:00. Sometimes we can still dry the field and make it playable. Sometimes we can't. The league's focus is that we play as many games as possible, and we'll work toward that end. If a game is cancelled, I'll get a post up on the website, so you can try to check there before leaving for the field. In cases where it's a Saturday game and I can be at a field an hour or so early, I can often call everyone for cancellations. Since it takes a good half hour to make these calls, it just doesn't work on weeknight games or other games where we don't have that much time.

So, please don't assume a game is cancelled just because it has been raining unless it's confirmed otherwise. Also, if the field is playable, we'll play in light rain or finish as much of a game as we can if it starts raining in the middle provided there is no lightning.


Rule changes. Many of the players on this team have played in the USC league before, however, there are some minor rule changes/points of emphasis going into this year, as follows:

- Starting this year, there will be a "three strikes and you're out" policy.  Also, players will be called out after seven pitches, regardless of whether they're strikes.  In the past, it used to be seven pitches, no matter what.  Players could swing at six in a row and hit the seventh.  Now, they'll be called out after the third strike.

- There are catchers in this league.  I ask for volunteers for the position, and hopefully will end up with five or six.  Catchers aren't as important as the older leagues because there's no stealing, but it gives the players a good introduction to the position.  We'll work with the catchers to help them learn the position.  I count an inning of catching as equal to playing an inning of outfield in my records, and it's often just as exciting as playing the outfield.  It is mandatory that catchers wear a cup, so please plan to accommodate  this rule if your son comes home and tells you he volunteered to be a catcher.

- There are no lead-offs or stealing bases in this league. Not a new rule, just one to point out.

- The other rules for our league are posted for review at your leisure. It's also important to point out that the purpose of the league is developmental. No game score or win-loss records are kept. There are no playoffs for a championship.