Positive Coaching - February/March 2007

Positive Coaching Alliance Asks: Are You Ready for Some Baseball?
By Jim Thompson
Positive Coaching Alliance

Just as we savor those four sweet words – “pitchers and catchers report…” – it’s nearly time to start another Little League season. Are you prepared?

No, we’re not just talking about your arm., which will soon be very sore from your first throws in months. Are you mentally prepared? Are you ready to take the field with a great attitude and cultivate the same among your players and their parents?

If not, Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) stands ready to help. Your first step is to become a Little League Double-Goal Coach by registering for the online Little League Double-Goal Coach Course (www.positivecoach.org/littleleague).

Then, explore some of these FREE resources PCA offers to coaches at: (http://www.positivecoach.org/subcontent.aspx?SecID=180):

A downloadable letter and pledge for parents that you can send out right before the start of your season.

Instructions on Positive Charting, which helps you and players’ parents identify and praise players for the proverbial “things that don’t show up in the scorebook,” such as hustle and picking each other up.

Coaching scripts that help you introduce players to the three principles covered in the online Little League Double-Goal Coach Course: Honoring the Game, Redefining "Winner," and Filling the Emotional Tank.

All these are great tools that will help get you, your players and their parents onto the same page. Once that happens, many of the distractions that might plague other teams and leagues are eliminated; everyone can concentrate on on-field fun, competition and learning the unique life lessons that baseball and softball can teach.

Sorry, Positive Coaching Alliance can’t help you with that sore arm.