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Member
Years of exposure to Tournament Ball leads me make comments such as the following:
They are not prioritized, alphabetized, or Simonized. Feel free to agree, disagree, or add your own points.
Players: Take off your cleats before getting into the car. Dust off your uniform, too. This is especially true if you're riding in someone else's car.
If you have to walk across a muddy parking lot, carry that bat bag - just because it has wheels, it doesn't mean you have to drag it.
Coaches: Especially 16U/18U. Players can't live and breathe fastpitch 24/7. High School players are on the field constantly from March until the end of July. Some are involved in other sports (it's what athletes do!). Though most of the players will tell you that they're fine, please recognize signs of burn-out.
Tournament Directors: Don't call your event a College Showcase if the only representative who shows up is the Conditioning Coach for the local Community College (who happens to be your cousin). Isn't there some kind of standard as to the number of coaches who commit to attending before you organize a Showcase?
Coaches: If your practice starts at 6:00, please don't say "but be on the field and ready at 5:45". Just say that practice is at 5:45. Players: If practice is at 6:00, be on the field and ready at 6:00.
Parents: When your comments toward the umpire get out-of-hand, the team suffers. Let the coaches make objections to calls. They know more about handling the situation than you think. Angry fans never have positive effects on umpires. It is the coaches responsibility.
Players: Always have a ball in your bat bag. If you don't have one, ask the coach for one - He/she has buckets full of them and would gladly give you one if it means you're more prepared.
Players: Batters make outs. A lot. Even the best hitters in Major League Baseball only get on base 1/3 of the time. A strike out/ ground out/ fly out is no reason to storm back to the dugout and throw your helmet. It's ugly, and doesn't go over well with your team-mates.
Parents: Save your bat receipts, and know where they are. Murphy's Law ensures that bats break in the middle of the season. If your bat is still under warranty, it's possible to get a replacement by next weekend if you're not spending extra time searching for paperwork.
Coaches: When your batter lets a pitch go by that bounced in the dirt 6 feet before reaching Home Plate, don't say "good eye". You don't have to spew a cliche every 20 seconds.
Tournament Directors: There's much more to hosting an event than simply providing a few fields to play on. People attending really need the 3 P's: Parking, Pee Pee, and Putting food in their mouths. And, please post game schedules and brackets where everyone can see them. Coaches and parents are much more at ease when they can plan for the next hour/day/weekend.
Players: Don't sweat it if you haven't received invitations to join teams during "tryout season". Many times , for a number of reasons , teams are looking for players by the middle of September. Just get the word out that you're available, you'll find a home.
Parents: There are a lot of good teams out there. Many of them can go all season without winning a tournament. If you are playing after 12:00 noon on Sunday, you're on the right track. (This isn't Talladega Nights, where "If you're not first, you're last".)
Umpires: When tournament rules say "No new inning will begin after 1:20" don't look at your watch at the 1:18 mark and declare "Game". When you have a printed rule, there's no need for "close enough - we're done". (If you verify Start Time with both scorekeepers at the beginning of the game, there's no gray area.)
They are not prioritized, alphabetized, or Simonized. Feel free to agree, disagree, or add your own points.
Players: Take off your cleats before getting into the car. Dust off your uniform, too. This is especially true if you're riding in someone else's car.
If you have to walk across a muddy parking lot, carry that bat bag - just because it has wheels, it doesn't mean you have to drag it.
Coaches: Especially 16U/18U. Players can't live and breathe fastpitch 24/7. High School players are on the field constantly from March until the end of July. Some are involved in other sports (it's what athletes do!). Though most of the players will tell you that they're fine, please recognize signs of burn-out.
Tournament Directors: Don't call your event a College Showcase if the only representative who shows up is the Conditioning Coach for the local Community College (who happens to be your cousin). Isn't there some kind of standard as to the number of coaches who commit to attending before you organize a Showcase?
Coaches: If your practice starts at 6:00, please don't say "but be on the field and ready at 5:45". Just say that practice is at 5:45. Players: If practice is at 6:00, be on the field and ready at 6:00.
Parents: When your comments toward the umpire get out-of-hand, the team suffers. Let the coaches make objections to calls. They know more about handling the situation than you think. Angry fans never have positive effects on umpires. It is the coaches responsibility.
Players: Always have a ball in your bat bag. If you don't have one, ask the coach for one - He/she has buckets full of them and would gladly give you one if it means you're more prepared.
Players: Batters make outs. A lot. Even the best hitters in Major League Baseball only get on base 1/3 of the time. A strike out/ ground out/ fly out is no reason to storm back to the dugout and throw your helmet. It's ugly, and doesn't go over well with your team-mates.
Parents: Save your bat receipts, and know where they are. Murphy's Law ensures that bats break in the middle of the season. If your bat is still under warranty, it's possible to get a replacement by next weekend if you're not spending extra time searching for paperwork.
Coaches: When your batter lets a pitch go by that bounced in the dirt 6 feet before reaching Home Plate, don't say "good eye". You don't have to spew a cliche every 20 seconds.
Tournament Directors: There's much more to hosting an event than simply providing a few fields to play on. People attending really need the 3 P's: Parking, Pee Pee, and Putting food in their mouths. And, please post game schedules and brackets where everyone can see them. Coaches and parents are much more at ease when they can plan for the next hour/day/weekend.
Players: Don't sweat it if you haven't received invitations to join teams during "tryout season". Many times , for a number of reasons , teams are looking for players by the middle of September. Just get the word out that you're available, you'll find a home.
Parents: There are a lot of good teams out there. Many of them can go all season without winning a tournament. If you are playing after 12:00 noon on Sunday, you're on the right track. (This isn't Talladega Nights, where "If you're not first, you're last".)
Umpires: When tournament rules say "No new inning will begin after 1:20" don't look at your watch at the 1:18 mark and declare "Game". When you have a printed rule, there's no need for "close enough - we're done". (If you verify Start Time with both scorekeepers at the beginning of the game, there's no gray area.)
