2011 Minor League Coaches Meeting

1. 2011 Minor League Coaches Meeting February 22, 2011

2. Agenda • Introductions – Kevin and Vince • The Mission Of Little League - • League Overview – • Coaches Action Items – • Season Start-Up, Play Ball – • Season Wrap-Up – • Coach Resources – • Closing Remarks and Questions -

3. MYO Key Contacts

4. 2011 Minor League Coaches

5. The Mission of Little League • Little League Baseball, Incorporated is a non-profit organization whose mission is to "to promote, develop, supervise, and voluntarily assist in all lawful ways, the interest of those who will participate in Little League Baseball and Softball." • Through proper guidance and exemplary leadership, the Little League program assists youth in developing the qualities of citizenship, discipline, teamwork and physical well-being.By espousing the virtues of character, courage and loyalty, the Little League Baseball and Softball program is designed to develop superior citizens rather than superior athletes.

6. League Overview

7. District 9 - OH • Mason Youth Organization affiliated with Little League in 2009 • Each year we are making changes to align more and more to a traditional LL organization – Majors, Minors, Draft etc • We are part of District 9 which is comprised of Anderson Twp, Warren County, Loveland, West Side Hamilton, Fairfield, West Chester, Butlerville, Lebanon, Middletown, Miami (Oxford) and Little Miami • Roger Fox is our District 9 Administrator • West Side LL is the king of 12U and Miami is king of JR and SR ball

8. New League Formats • Minor League – developmental focus • Major League – competitive focus • Evaluations were conducted in December and January to aid in team formation and the draft • Evaluations were administered by the professional coaching staff at MIB

9. Player Development for 2011 • New for 2011 - Indoor practice will begin on February 28 and last for 4 weeks • One practice per week, one hour per practice • 24-man practice rosters • Indoor practice sessions led by the professional staff from MIB – Danny Davis, Marty Crowe, Andrew Ellis • Time is prepaid by MYO – please make sure we use the time and space

10. Coaches Action Items

11. Coaches Certification • NYSCA Certification through the National Association of Youth Sports - http://www.nays.org/coaches/ • NYSCA Certification in Baseball must be completed prior to first indoor practice – NO EXCEPTIONS • Report NYSCA member ID to training@masonyouth.org • Little League background checks (sign forms)

12. Safety • Safety is the first priority for MYO • Medical Release Form – must be completed by each player prior to first indoor practice – NO EXCEPTIONS • Incident Report – must be completed for any practice or game related injury • Submit incident report to safety@masonyouth.org

13. Umpires Fees • 2011 Major League Umpire Pay Matrix • Umpire Pay Matrix • League Age Plate Base Alone • 8U Minor13$15 $10$25 • 10U Minor13$25$15$40 • 12U Minor16 $30 $20 $50 • You will receive a check for umpire fees – cash out and bring to each game (exact amount only, please) • All internal games (Mason vs Mason), each team will split the umpire fee • All hosted interleague games, home team pays full fee (may be for just 12U)

14. Team Names and Uniforms • Major league team names are available, either American or National (NO YANKEES ) • Players will receive a Cool Base jersey and replica MLB hat • Uniforms to be available 1st week of April. You or a team designate must pick-up uniforms when ready at Scott’s Awards, ensure proper size for each player • MYO will pay for Names and Numbers on Jerseys – only if you use Scott’s Awards.

15. Sponsors • Sponsors are critical to supporting MYO and offsetting costs. Please be sure to thank the team sponsor • If you or a parent sponsored a player on team, the sponsor logo will be printed on sleeve of jersey • We will also distribute sponsor advertising slicks, brochures etc with the uniforms. Please help us distribute to all of the parents

16. Rule Books • There are two rule books that will be in play for the season - the 2011 MYO Rules Amendment and the 2011 LL Official Rule book • Why two? To allow for deviation from LL rules within the guidelines of our league and league charter. For example, LL does not allow any adult to warm-up a pitcher either on the field or in the “bull pen”. Our league rules allow adults to warm-up pitchers • Each team will receive one copy of each rule book. If you would like an additional LL rule book, please contact Kevin Carey ($5.00 / book)

17. Season Start Up Play Ball!

18. 2011 Calendar

19. Game Schedules • Game schedules will be completed in March • 14-16 games including season-end tournament • Be prepared to play two games / week with no set weekday night • Internal rainouts will be rescheduled by Schedule Coordinator (Mike Elegeer) following MYO rescheduling guidelines • Interleague rainouts will be on you to reschedule with Mike Elegeer (if home game) and the visiting coach. If away game, you will need to coordinate with host team and their process

20. Game Day • Home team to provide new game ball and decent back-up • Winning team will report score on-line by clicking on Game Results on our website • Clean up your areas and vacate bench area as soon as possible and hold post-game talks away from bench areas • ZERO tolerance for umpire abuse – that includes you, your assistant coaches, parents and players • Umpires will follow weather rules established in MYO Rule Book Amendment

21. Opening Day Celebration • We will be hosting our third annual Opening Day Celebration on Saturday, April 30 (10AM -12:00 PM) • We want this FREE event to be a fun event for the entire organization • Get involved! • We need helpers, team participation, product donations, photographers, booth attendants, cooks • Dunk tanks, Pitch-Hit-Run, Home Run Derby, Parade???

22. Fields • Games will be played at Cottell Park, Heritage Oak Park, High School JV1, MI 4/5 and MI 5/6. • All fields will have home run fences • We will have more responsibility for field maintenance in 2011 at HOP and Cottell – we will be looking for assistance from all teams when field prep is required • Some fields may have dugouts by season start – Cottell 4/5, HOP 5/6 and JV1 • Practices will be conducted OFF of the ball fields once games begin in designated areas at HOP and Cottell Park

23. Team Pictures • April 9 and April 17 • Please make sure to select a date and time tonight for your picture day • It will be your responsibility to get your teams to the pictures on time as well as pick-up pictures when returned from photographer

24. Season Wrap Up

25. Season Ending Tournament • Single Game Elimination for all leagues • Seeding will be determined by League Commissioner (recommend to pick from hat and flip coin for Home and Away) • We will have an upper and lower for 8U and 10U

26. Internal All Star Game • Proposing for each league to have a Single Game Internal All Star Game – 8U, 10U and 12U Major and Minor after the season ending tournament • Based on number of teams in each division, each team would nominate x players to team and we would have a game • We need coach commitment, player commitment and parent commitment to make this happen. Requesting coaches to gauge interest from team and provide feedback to Vince and Kevin

27. District 9 All Star Tournament • As part of LL and Ohio District 9, we can enter teams to participate in 9/10, 10/11, 12 Majors and JR All Star games. • We can enter as many teams as we want in the 9/10 and 10/11, however, only one team in the 12 Majors bracket. • If we have the ability to enter more than one team in the 9/10 and 10/11 brackets, we will have an A, B etc level team • All Star games are played at a hosting LL site and typically starts after July 4 • All Star games are double elimination and tons of fun and excitement for the boys, coaches and families • Team rosters cannot be announced until June 15. • Player selection will be done via tryouts. Players must have played in 60% of regular season games and must be available for the duration of tournament • Coaches will be selected based on their interest – please submit to Brent Rice by June 1 if interested. If we do not have coach interest, we will not place teams • All Star Coaches will need to work with Bill Worley for uniforms, practice fields and All Star paperwork (lots of it!)

28. District 9 All Star Tournament • 9/10 All Star Tournament will start July 16 at West Side Little League – old school LL • 10/11 All Star Tournament will start July 23 at Hamilton – Fairfield • 12 Majors All Star Tournament will start July 9 • JR All Star Tournament – TBD • SR All Star Tournament will start on July 15 at Miami

29. Equipment Return • Each team is responsible for their equipment bag provided at beginning of season. • Glen Garvin will designate a day in July for equipment return. Please see website for date as well as emails from Glen • All unused umpire money must also be returned at equipment drop-off

30. Fall Ball • Please consider playing in our Fall Ball League that starts in August and ends in October • It is typically 6-8 game season • You can form your own team – no rules around that • You may also want to consider playing up to the level that your team will be playing at in 2012

31. Coach Resources

32. Coach Resources • MYO home page (Calendar, Practice Schedules, Game Schedules, League Standings) • League Lineup website – requesting all teams to create site and give to Brent to post on website for all to view • Mason Rain-out Line – 513.588.0177 • Little League home page • Little Coach Resource Center • Power Chalk Talk • Free scheduling site • MYO key contacts

33. MYO Home Page http://www.masonyouth.org/

34. Power Chalk/Little League Connect LittleLeagueConnect.org is a Little League Baseball® partnership with PowerChalk.com™ This is a web-based sports motion telestrator that lets you: • Upload • Markup and voice over videos • Play, pause, slow-mo, analyze and comment on their performance http://www.powerchalk.com/

35. Little League Home Page That’s why Little League International created The Coaches Registry. The registry gives coaches exclusive tools and resources to prepare them for the job of putting the Little League program into action. Baseball and softball specific packages include: • Rulebooks • Electronic Rulebooks • DVD Training Material • Coach and Manager Training Manuals • And much more! http://www.littleleague.org/

36. Little League Coaches Resource Center • The intent of this Resource Center is to provide the Little League Baseball and Softball Coach or Manager with the tools they need to be effective leaders of children, to run efficient and productive practices, and to teach children the baseball or softball skills they need to be able to excel.  • This service is being provided at absolutely no charge whatsoever by Little League International. http://www.littleleaguecoach.org/

37. Free Team Website • Free team website that can hold entire season of stats, schedules, photos, etc.  • Have a league page for every team and all linked together.  Each team would need to designate an admin to maintain the site.  • Requesting all teams to provide url to Brent to post to main website • Sample: www.leaguelineup.com/masonallstars http://www.leaguelineup.com *Maybe even a best team website contest!*

38. Free Scheduling Website • A free website sounds good to use for the coaches - time saver and nice soft touch for parents. https://www.schedulesmith.com/

39. Thanks • Questions