"The heart of Little League is what happens between the adult manager/coach and player. It is the manager more than any other individual who controls the situation in which the players may be benefited. Improving the level of leadership in this vital area must be a continuing effort."

This section of the site is dedicated to furthering that effort and providing our managers and coaches with every resource we can manage.  If you have a favorite website, book, or strategy, e-mail the website. We'll publish it here and get it out to your fellow coaches and managers.

Thank you all for your dedication to the children of RBVLL!

Field Management

Pre-Game

For all scheduled games follow this schedule:

1. Minors Field Teams will use cage #2 (black net)
2. Majors Field Teams will use cage #1 (green net)
3. Visiting team assigned the cage 90 minutes prior to game start
4. Home team assigned the cage 60 minutes prior to game start
5. All players/coaches on their field of play 30 minutes prior to game start
6. Visiting team takes infield 30 minutes before game start
7. Home team takes infield 20 minutes before game start

Post-Game

1. Promptly clear your team out of your dugout, pickup all trash and sweep if necessary.
2. If there is a game following you, do NOT have your post-game discussion on the field of play
3. Arriving teams shall not enter the dugout until the prior teams have had the opportunity clear out of their dugout

Last Game or Practice of the Day

1. Fill any holes on the mound or around home plate
2. Brush excess dirt off the infield grass
3. Pull the bases and place them in the nearest dugout
4. Place tarps on the mound and homeplate

Thank you!

RBVLL

Manager's Season Blueprint

Calendar

 Prior to season start, rosters released, schedule released  (Late January)

1. Attend coaching clinics sponsored by league
2. Attend manager meetings hosted by league and division representatives

 As season nearly begins (Early February)

1. Pick up uniforms and equipment from league officials
2. Attend season kick off meeting
   • Review local rules
   • Understand safety policies
   • Bring any questions to division representative
3. Create team website (optional)
4. Create team welcome letter (optional)

Rosters delivered to managers (Mid-February)

1. Meet with division rep to get practice schedule and team schedules
2. Schedule pre-season team (parent) meeting
3. Call parents of all players on your roster, be prepared to:
   • Tell them when/where your first practice is
   • Tell them when the season starts
   • Explain how uniforms will be distributed
   • Confirm all contact info, including e-mail address
   • Notify them of your pre-season team meeting
4. Solicit for a team parent, and any additional coaches you might need

Practice Begins (Late February)

1. Work with division representative to confirm practice times/locations
2. First Practice – HAVE A PRACTICE PLAN FOR EVERY PRACTICE!
   • Meet and greet with your players
   • If you haven’t had a parent meeting, have coaches run practice and meet w/parents
3. Describe expectations IN DETAIL to players and parents

Opening Day/Season Begins (Early March)

1. Opening ceremonies – game begin
2. Teams typically play 2 games per week
3. At the youngest ages, 2 games + 1 practice per week often adequate – talk to your parents!
4. Arrange for parents to help you ready the field AND clean up after games

Season Ending (Late May)

1. Closing ceremonies scheduled on Saturday closest to June 15
2. Participation awards provided by the league 

Key Activities

Planning a practice (recommendations)

1. HAVE A PRACTICE PLAN FOR EVERY PRACTICE!
2. Challenge your players to work hard on 1-2 skills at every practice
3. T-Ball through AA – max. practice time 60-90 minutes
   • Do start every practice with a fun run or other fun activity
   • Don’t start every practice with a lengthy chat
   • After a brief 5-10 minutes of activity, stop, chat, ask your players questions, lay out the plans  (young children will not track the whole practice unless they can visually see it).
   • Set up 3-4 different “Stations”:  hitting, throwing, grounders, running
   • Rotate players to new stations every 10-15 minutes
4. DO practice groundballs on a sidewalk or other smooth surface for good hops!
5. DON’T have a hitting practice with one player hitting and 10 players fielding
6. DO practice flyballs and catching with tennis balls or whiffle balls, graduate kids to the harder balls as they improv
7. Wrap up a practice asking the players what they improved on that day

Working with a team parent

1. This may be the most crucial thing you accomplish all season
2. Don’t put the burden on 1 person, 2-3 people can share duties
3. Explain what you would like them to do:
   • Manage all fundraising activities (cake/cap, pictures, dinner dance, etc.)
   • Manage uniform fittings
   • Manage picture day
   • You might have a parent who wants to be your team webmaster
   • Assist with e-mails/phone calls for schedule changes
   • Assist with the distribution of schedules and other paperwork
   • Schedule any fun team activities/parties they would like to plan

Promoting the program

1. You are the leader of the team.   You need assistance.   Your actions, and your tones will set the stage for everyone on the team – players/parents alike
2. Promote the Positive Coaching Alliance mentality – support all of our kids
3. Share any league info with your team parent for distribution
4. Learn about the league so you can be a point of information with your parents
5. Talk to the Division Representative with any questions

Game Day

1. Have a batting line-up and a defensive lineup written out for every game.
   • T-Ball - rotate your batting lineup every inning – everyone will eventually get a chance to hit first and last.   Single A – rotate your lineup 1 spot every game.   AA consider following the same format
   • Defensively in T-ball, rotate outfield to infield every inning.   Give everyone a chance at every position.  In Single A, everyone plays infield and outfield.  Put kids where they have a chance to succeed – and fail.
2. Setting up and cleaning up the fields
   • Have your parents do the hard work!!!!
   • Ask them to sweep dirt off the infield
   • Ask them to help you chalk the field for the games
   • Tell them to clean up the stands when the game is over
3. Post-game
• Speak very briefly – recap the game at your next practice
• Find the positives to highlight, save the negatives for practice
• The most important thing to these kids is the post game snack!

Parent Pre-Season Letter

Injury Report Form

Volunteer Application

Team Website Setup

Getting you TEAM WEBSITE is easy with a Shutterfly Share site, communicating with parents, sharing team photos and managing event schedules, snack duties and player availability has never been simpler or more fun.

Child Protection

Prepare the child for the path

In the hypercompetitive world of youth sports, Little League continues to emphasize that we "prepare the child for the path" as opposed to "preparing the path for the child."   Through Little League success and failure and interaction with teammates and opponents, we are helping to develop children for the challenges they face in the years after Little League.   The attached document provides guidance and clues for "preparing the child..."