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Posted 8/3/2010:
With all the baseball, it's been a very long time since I blogged, but this seemed like the perfect time to start again as we prepare for Warrior tryouts. Our first season of the Competitive Development program was a huge success with 15 teams playing under the Warriors banner. I appreciate all the wonderful feedback from players and families, and nothing was better for me and the other Board members than to have no complaints or problems with any Warrior players, coaches or families this year! The feedback from other teams and tournaments is that our program is "classy" and does things the right way.
Having said that, this is the "silly season" where various teams and organizations try to recruit players. Unfortunately, the recruiting is not always positive. I want to be clear, the OYA Competitive Development program is designed around a core set of principals as outlined in our "Commandments". This does not make us "right", and does not make us the right choice for every player or family. Our entire organization recognizes there are other ways to approach each player's development. Our approach is focused on not burning out the player (physically or mentally), providing time for family and siblings, and always putting sportsmanship first. We like our approach, but recognize there are players who will benefit from something different.
We learned a lot from this first year of Warrior baseball. Next year will see our teams playing in different leagues, using different coaching techniques, adjusting our schedules, and doing many different things to better maximize player development within our core "Commandments". The coaches are ready to go, and we're all looking forward to getting going!
Posted 3/17/2010:
The sun is starting to shine, the snow is gone, and everybody is starting to emerge from their long winter isolation! Spring is a great time of year, and I hope everyone's throughts are turning to baseball. For us at the OYA, however, March is definitely a mixed blessing. This year we will have over 1,000 kids playing across seven different OYA leagues, and another ten teams playing in our competitive development program. That's over 1,200 players and managers, and many times that number when parents, siblings and others are included.
It is never easy to make the choices necessary to organize a baseball season. This year we had more manager volunteers than we had teams at almost every level. This is very, very positive for the OYA and our players generally, but it means some very good people will be coaches rather than managers this year. Our objective is to try and select a manager group who is focused on the OYA mission of providing all kids the opportunity to develop, have fun, and learn sportsmanship and teamwork. Fortunately, there are many parents who fit the bill. For those who volunteered but did not get a team, we still need your help! As any good manager knows, having great coaches is the key to success. Please volunteer again next year as we always try to rotate the manager group and give new parents the opportunity to be involved.
Once the difficult task of identifying managers is completed, the teams need to be formed. Commissioners at every level are hosting meetings this week to review rules, draft teams (or hand out rosters), provide scheduling and equipment information, etc. Board members are attending all these meetings to emphisize our general objectives, thank all the volunteers, help out, and answer questions. It is, quite simply, a massive amount of work and time.....and nothing is perfect. As anyone who plays fantasy football knows, drafts are always difficult, and making the choices to assign equal teams at the lower levels is also very difficult. We try very hard to balance the needs of commissioners, managers, coaches, players and parents, but it is impossible to get it right every time for all those groups. Just know that we are trying our best!
One thing our Board is fully committed to, however, is constant improvement. We definitely won't get it right every time, but we always try to be fair; and we never waiver from our total commitment to the kids. Every decision we make is grounded in a simple question: What is best for the kids? Where the rules can be improved, we will do it. Where a process can be improved, we will do it. So please let us know your thoughts and ideas, and we will continue to try and make the OYA better for every kid every single day.
Posted 3/13/2010
We are officially frantically preparing for the upcoming baseball season, a sure sign of spring! All of the leagues will be holding their manager meetings and roster assignments this week (except Colt and Shetland which start later) in advance of spring break. The weather is gradually turning, so get outside and play some catch!
The revised rulebook is posted under "Documents", and there are a few noteworthy changes for this year. All managers will be provided with a hard copy of the rules, but I would encourage all parents to read through the document for yourself and your child. The most important changes for this year:
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Rest Days for Pitchers: There will be required rest days for pitchers at all levels this year. We started this as a pilot program in Pinto last year, and it was very successful. While pitch counts have gotten lots of attention over the last several years, it is even more important that young arms have time to heal. Pitchers will be required to have one day of rest for every inning pitched this year. For example, a pitcher throwing two innings on Monday will not be eligible to pitch again until Thursday. This change will protect the players' arms, create opportunities for lots of players to pitch, and make scheduling easier. The only exception will be for the playoffs, when the rest days will be halved.
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No Spectators Behind The Plate: One of the most common problems we have throughout our leagues comes from spectators distracting players, arguing with umpires, or "coaching" from directly behind home plate. This can also be a safety issue with smaller siblings. Fans will now be resticted to seats on or adjacent to permanent bleachers or down the line past the dugouts. Obviously, the rule does not apply on fields where permanent bleachers are located behind home plate.
As always, our focus remains on providing a safe, fun and rewarding experience for all our players. We have a great group of coaches who are very excited to get going, and so am I and the other Board members!
Posted March 8, 2010:
This is an exciting time of year for the OYA as we frantically prepare for the upcoming baseball season. In a year where other youth sports leagues have seen declining enrollments by as much as 33%, we are very fortunate to have approximately the same number of participants as last year. Hopefully that is a sign we are doing something well, as well as a sign the economy may be improving.
As many of you know, we have focused a lot of energy and incentives into finding more manager volunteers this year. I am very happy to report we are oversubscribed for managers at all levels except for Bronco. Unfortunately, that means not everyone who signed up to manage will get a team, but it makes life much easier for all of us trying to get the leagues up and running, and it's also great for the kids (who all love spending this time with their mom or dad).
If anyone can help us, we need one more manager at Bronco. Please send an e-mail to
The other big event this week were the tryouts for our latest Warrior team at 8 years old. Tryouts are always a lot of fun because we get to see the kids who love baseball, and it's a great way to start the season. The one thing I know for sure, however, is we can't get it right every time. That's why our Competitive Development program is committed to forming as many teams as possible and having tryouts at least annually to give kids opportunities as they grow and develop.
A great example is with our 9 year olds this year. We almost had enough for a second team in August, and it broke my heart that we fell short. But we will have tryouts again in May for a 9 year old team to play in July tournaments. With a season full of Mustang behind them, I am very hopeful we will be able to add that second team.
Please come back to www.oyaboys.org regularly as we will be posting notices on rule changes, open workout times, and lots of other information in preparation for baseball.
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