• TRC Ground Rules
• General Rule Document contains a 3-page summarization the baseball rules and regs.
• Baseball Rules and Regulations contains all of the baseball rules and regs for the youth divisions in 33-page document. Enjoy the read.
• Rules for Each Division
• T-Ball Division
• Clinic Division
• Rookie Division
• 9/10 Division
• 11/12 Division
• 13/15 division uses the professional rules.
• Field Setup
• T-Ball - Pitcher is 35 feet or less, Bases are 45 feet apart. A long striding step is about 3 feet.
• Clinic (6-7yo) – Pitcher is 35 feet, Bases are 50 feet
• Rookie (7-8yo) – Pitcher is 40 feet, Bases are 55 feet
• 9/10 – Pitcher is 42 feet, Bases are 60 feet
• 11/12 – Pitcher is 48 feet, Bases are 70 feet
• 13/15 – Pitcher is 54 feet, Bases are 80 feet
• How to Keep Score - Click here for instructions, courtesy of the O's.
• Field Positions and Numbers - Ever wonder what the sports commentator means by "That was a great 6-4-3 play". Well, have a look at this.
• Umpires - That Love-Hate Relationship:
  • Treat them with care and respect.
  • Demonstrate good sportsmanship
  • If there is a concern, both coaches will discuss it with the umps calmly between the innings.
  • As a parent, please remember that your team sees you as a role model.
  • Our players from 11/12yo division ump the Rookie division, and the 13/15 ump the 9/10. They are doing their best while they are learning. These are kids, not adults.
  • Professional adult umpires oversee the 11/12 and 13/15 games.

The rules for 13/15 inter-rec games have been created by the representatives of the rec councils. Click on 13/15 Inter-Rec Game Rules to download it.

• The maximum bat size for divisions 9/10, 11/12, and 13/15 is 2 5/8".
• The multi-walled bats are not allowed in TRC baseball.  These bats have 2 or 3 thin walls within the barrel that are close to each other. These walls act as 'springs' when the ball contacts the barrel. The batted ball is supposed to travel farther and faster. These bats allow for a batter to hit the ball farther, but they are very expensive and have been known to dent after moderate usage.

• Suggestions and Advice:
• Playing styles of kids:The best way to learn coaching is to start early with T-Ball and Clinic or be an assistant or volunteer under one with experience, go to the TRC Coaches Clinic held in early April, and READ. Once you begin to coach, you'll be hooked for life. "Give a little, but get a lot."
• Kids up to about 10yo play the game as an individual, while 11+ understand teamwork and, therefore, apply strategies and tactics.
• The 8 and 9yos are starting to understand things, but don't assume they know the fundamentals. I've seen a parent yell to his son to cover 2nd base, which prompted the boy to lay on top of the bag.
• Coaching 6 and 7yos is like herding cats. They will all run after a ball, wrestle over it, and then have no idea where to throw it. They're just having fun.
• As head coach, have as many assistant coaches as possible, so get those parents involved !!!
• Practice - Have a plan for each practice. Be early to each session. Get the assistants involved. Doing it all yourself will not be fun for you or the kids.
• Use the Ripken Method:
• Practice Stations - Have 3 (or 4) practice stations with 1 or 2 coaches per station. The 3 stations should be unique and concentrate on the basics. The 4th can be added that focuses on a special skill, like bunting, stealing, etc Do NOT have too many kids per station or they will lose focus.
• Keep it Simple - Young baseball players must crawl before they can walk and walk before they can run. Teaching that is too complicated is difficult to remember and can result in frustration. So, teach simple things for each playing position before adding more advanced instructions
• Make it Fun - Learning doesn't have to be tedious. Drills and instruction are structured so players enjoy themselves while learning. For the younger divisions, perhaps finish practice with either a race or maybe a short game to re-enforce the drills and to allow the kids to have some fun
• Celebrate the Individual - No two players are alike, so why should they be treated as if they are? Each player has his or her own comfort zones, strengths and style. Individualism is promoted as long as certain fundamental approaches are followed.
• Explain Why - "Why" is a young person's favorite question. Young players have an innate need to understand the reason behind the teaching. Lessons that make sense will stick with them. So, teach by explaining and demonstrating.
• It’s not about your win-loss record. It’s about the kids having fun and learning so they’ll want you as a coach next year. I’ve seen many coaches with a record below .500 and the kids loved the coach and the game.
• Coaching Manuals:
• TRC Baseball has created a coaching manual for all of the divisions.  
• Coaching Youth Baseball the Ripken Way contains info on how to coach, how to conduct practices and various types of drills. The Ripken Way is a common-sense approach on having fun while learning.
• Websites with Practice Drills and Advise
• League Lineup has a huge library of free videos for coaching and drills
• Kudda's Sport Site has a huge library of videos for coaching and drills
• Lots of fun drills at QC Baseball
• Cal Ripken Baseball
• Perfect Practice Plan
• Sports Psych
• Workouts
• Pitching
• Throwing Various Pitches with free instructions
• Art of Catching
• Tips and Drills
• Info Sports

• This is performed in mid-March before the draft period later in March.
• Use this Evaluation Form for travel and the evaluations in March. 
• Have 3 stations using both diamonds on either the middle or lower (whereever you are). One station for batting, one for infield, and one for pitching. Have two coaches at each station. Split the kids into three groups (A,B,C).
• Send the A's to one field for batting practice - one coach pitches BP, and another watches and evaluates. They compare notes and rate each player. Or you may get a dad to help throw BP and both coaches evaluate.
• Send the B's to the other infield for infield practice. You can have one coach (or dad) hit grounders or have two coaches hit grounders across the infield (call me and I can explain how this is done). And then rate each player.
• Send the C's to the outfield where you have a couple of pitching stations set up. Have a coach play catcher and catch each kid that wants to pitch.
• Once a player has finished one station, he goes to the next one and so forth until he has gone through all of them.
• If you have enough help with other dads, you can also have someone hit fly balls.
• Things you'll need - bats, a bucket of balls, batting helmets, two home plates and two pitching rubbers for the pitchers, catchers gear in case anyone wants to work out as a catcher.
• You do not need last year's evaluation scores as this sway opinions.
• Have a list of all the kids on a spreadsheet with a place for the scores and have copies for each coach. Gather all of the sheets up when you are done and then make a master list of each kid, with their scores (whether from last year or from the evaluations) - batting, fielding, pitching, etc.
• And mark the kids who made the travel team so each coach knows that. The more info you can give everyone the less critical they will be.
• Then decide how you want to split the kids up - top pitchers, top catchers, high to low, etc.
• Send out your list a few days prior to the draft so that every coach has a chance to review it beforehand. Some coach will always question a rating (usually a pitcher) and say it's too high. If anyone wants to change a rating the night of the draft, it should be agreed upon by all the coaches.

Or "How are the players separated into teams?  How come that team always wins?"

• For T-Ball, the selection is not by talent, but by the parent's preferences, grouping families who live close together (for carpooling), and by school
• Clinic and Rookie are either like T-Ball, or the coaches send their preferences to the division president, or it uses a draft-like process where the coaches sit around a table and usually pick the players they've coached or know
• For 9/10 and above, the players are evaluated on their skills, which covers some 15 categories. These evaluations are performed by the coaches at the end of the season, or in March for players moving up to 9/10 or are new to TRC baseball.
• For all divisions (except T-Ball and Clinic), the intent is to evenly distribute the talent. But, no matter how hard we try, some teams will be better than others because the teams practice once a week, and some coaches are just better coaches and/or more competitive.  So, you will probably notice a skew in the standings with a few teams winning a lot and the others spread between .500 and .000. This is the case no matter how hard we try to evenly spread the talent.
• The teams in the Rookie and older divisions are selected in a draft held in March.  The head coach and one assistant coach can protect their child from the draft. This means their kids will automatically go with the coach.  Trades are conducted only by the coaches and only after the draft. The division president will not play a part in trades.

• Division President's To Do List - Click the title to see the tasks of a president that occur throughout the baseball season - T-Ball, Clinic, Rookie, 9/10, 11/12, and 13/15.
• Draft Rules and Process- Click the title to see the rules and process for conducting a draft for all divisons Clinic and up.
• Sometimes the divisions have 6 or less teams, which can make it boring to play the same teams again and again.
• To help, contact one of the other rec councils found on Baltimore County Rec Councilsand arrange some games.
• Try to make sure the age groupings of their division matches yours.
• Sample Draft Spreadsheet - Click the title to see the spreadsheet that has been used for 9/10 and 11/12 draft. This has helped the coaches in the past when they selected their players. If you have any questions on formatting, printing, etc, call Dave Bender at 410-821-8966.
• How to create a game schedule for the entire season automatically:
• Got to www.teamopolis.com/tools/round-robin-generator. This is a website that can create a schedule for you in 3 easy steps. The results can be downloaded to a spreadsheet. All of this in 15 minutes !! This was designed for a scheduling round-robin games, but it can be used for any sport.
• Game Matrix - Click the title to see the spreadsheet on how to schedule games for a league of 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 or 15 teams.