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coaches corner
General Information 1) Check the Website: checking the website every 2 to 3 days is the best way to stay informed as to what is going on with softball during the season (and even the off season). It will only take a minute or two to scan the main softball page and the coaches corner page. Coaches who are moving up from Coach Pitch to Fast Pitch:
2) KSN Training: is required for all coaches. Click on the KSN link for details. NOTE: if you are unsure about your status, check the address label on your "Time Out" KSN newsletter - it shows your "Exp Date". If you are still unsure, contact KSN (Juan) at 210-654-4707. 3) Borrowing Players: a coach can borrow up to 2 players to bring a team up to 9 players total. To borrow a player you must obtain the player's parent's consent. A borrowed player MUST be a registered player at T&C in the same (or lower) age group as the team she will play for. The borrowed player MUST also play in the outfield and bat at the bottom of the line-up. As a courtesy, inform the borrowed player's coach and the opposing team's coach when borrowing players. Please do not borrow a player from a team that has a game following your game. NOTE: due to minimal pitchers/catchers in Rec Mustang and Bronco, a pitcher/catcher may be borrowed from another team and play pitcher/catcher IF and ONLY IF a team's regular pitcher/catcher cannot play that night. Borrowing players is to allow a team to field 9 players - NOT to win a game. 4) T&C Field Reservations: Field reservations go through Lisa Young. Please see the “Practice Field Reservations" document on the Documents page of the Softball website. For links to the Yahoo calendars for the 3 fields, click here. 5) Before the Game: the team listed as "home" on the game schedule is responsible for setting up the field (chalking, raking, putting in bases, etc.) if they are the first game of the day. A commissioner will be on duty to help if needed. Encourage parents to help with field preparations. No infield practice shall be held prior to a game. Teams may use the outfield and batting cage to warm up. Please be extremely careful when removing a pitching rubber. You MUST get completely under the "metal" base when pulling it up. If you pull up on the rubber part only, you will ruin the pitching rubber. If you are unsure of how to do this, please find the Commissioner on Duty. (Note: on occasion, a temporary pitching rubber will be used and it does not have a metal base, but again, be very careful when removing it). 6) During the Game: Have fun! Conduct yourself in a professional manner. You are also responsible for the conduct of the parents on your team. Parents can get emotionally charges at times, so help the umpires out by controlling the “excitement“. Umpires or the Commissioner on Duty have the right to eject a coach, parent, or child from the premises for inappropriate behavior. 7) After the Game: make sure your dugout is cleaned out (no sugar drinks are allowed in the dugout to reduce the amount of bees around the dugout). All equipment should be removed and trash placed in trash cans. You are encouraged to get parent volunteers to manage the dugout and help make sure the dugout is ready for the next team. If you are the coach of the home team and your game was the last game of the day on that field, you are responsible for raking the field (there may be a board member there who can use T&C's equipment (gator, rooster) to drag the field, but verify they will do this before leaving. Again, encourage parents to help with this task. 8) Score Keeping: Scores will be kept in both spring and fall seasons (Shetland is optional), but no standings in the fall. Home team is responsible for maintaining the official scorebook. The winning team's coach should report score of your game to the commissioner of your league. 9) Medical Release Form: it would be a good idea to have your player's parents fill out and sign the form. In addition, it is always a good idea to carry ice and a first aid kit to all practices and games, as well as having this completed medical release form with you also (see “Documents“ group on the right of this page). 10) Links & Directions to other Leagues: please go to the Links page for links to other leagues. You will be able to find directions to their fields and other information. 11) Pitching Lessons: if a girl on your team is interested pitching, there are pitching coaches in the area. Additional Information 1) Team Practices -- during the Spring season, rules allow for no more then 4 outings a week (Sunday through Saturday). Four outings per week is a lot, so be conscientious of the players and their parents. During the Fall Season, you may have 3 "outings" per week - 2 practices or 1 practice and 1 game. After each practice, you are responsible for raking the field unless another team has the field reserved immediately following your practice. Don't forget to turnout the lights if you are the last team on that field. 2) League Information and Rules -- T&C Softball will be following PONY rules for all leagues, with 2 exceptions (see the specific league for details). If you are a visitor at another league's field (e.g., Georgetown, Balcones, etc), please make sure you know the rules they follow prior to game time. 3) Equipment -- contact Dan Airey for equipment checkout. In accordance with PONY rules, batting helmets must have chin straps AND face guards. At the end of the season you will be required to turn in your equipment bag. Please keep track of all the equipment during the season. 4) Rainouts -- coaches may call 498-4636 to check game cancellations due to rain. Games will be cancelled no later then 1 hour before the start of the game. It is the coaches responsibility to call parents to inform them of a game cancellation. 5) Rescheduling Games -- games are cancelled only due to inclement weather. Coaches need to contact their League Commissioner as soon as possible to get the game rescheduled Fast Pitch Survival Guide Moving from Coach Pitch to Fast Pitch is a major step as a coach and a player. Just a few things you need to know: 1) The Pitcher and Catcher play a pivotal role in the game. These are considered “skill” positions and players in the pitching position must be enrolled in lessons, or have prior game experience in order to be drafted as a pitcher in the Rec League. Catchers, although not required, may also take lessons from a private instructor. 2) Stealing and leading off is allowed. A runner on base can steal any base including home plate. Lead-offs are also allowed. The runner CANNOT leave the base until the ball leaves the pitcher's hand though. The runner will be out if she is off base when the ball is still in the pitcher's hand. 3) A first year Mustang team can expect a lot of walks; thus, a lot of steals. Train your catcher and team to watch for steals. Train your runners on how to steal. 4) Learn some signals. At a minimum, the 3rd base coach should be able to signal his runners to steal or not. He/she should also be able to communicate with the batter - e.g., hit, bunt, take a pitch 5) Third Strike Rule is in effect (and there will be a lot of these). Essentially, if 1st base is open (no runner) and the batter strikes out, the batter can run to 1st base if the catcher drops the ball. The catcher can either tag the runner or throw her out at 1st base. If there are two outs, it does not matter if 1st base is occupied. If the catcher catches the pitch, the batter is out. 6) Look Back Rule: if a runner is in-between bases (say 1st and 2nd) because of an attempted steal or large lead-off, she has to either get back to 1st base or go on to 2nd base. If the ball is thrown back to the pitcher while she is IN THE CIRCLE, the runner has to continue running in the direction she was going when the pitcher gained control of the ball. Example: if the runner is moving towards 2nd base and the ball is thrown to the pitcher and the runner decides to return to 1st base, she is OUT.
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