DEAR CAL -- I'm an assistant coach for my son's 12-and-under travel team. He has been playing on this team for the past four years and is seeing a lot less playing time this year. This year, there has been a dispute among some parents and coaches regarding batting the minimum number of players in the lineup. We started the season batting all 12 kids. I understand the logic of batting the minimum and getting more at-bats to the top and middle of the lineup, but I'm concerned about the effect it's having on the kids who are not getting as much playing time. I think the parents and coaches who have forced the issue with batting the minimum have put too much on wanting to win and not enough on the development of all the players as a team. Please let me know your thoughts.
Wayne Bussard, Hampstead
DEAR WAYNE -- While I understand the idea that winning becomes more important as we progress up the youth baseball ladder, I think that coaches, even of travel teams, often need to step back and re-examine why they should be coaching. When dealing with 12-year-olds, is it more important to win or more important to develop well-rounded baseball players, athletes and people? I think the answer to that question is obvious. If 12 players were good enough to make your team at that age and were willing to make the extra commitment to play at the travel level, those players should be good enough to play equally.
At 12, kids still are very much in the developmental stages as baseball players and athletes. Some mature much faster emotionally and physically than others. Who knows which of your smaller and possibly less-skilled players might blossom into a high school superstar or a potential college or pro prospect? If, as a coach, you don't give one of those kids an opportunity to play and develop, there is a pretty good chance that that kid will leave the sport altogether. When that happens, the team, the athlete and the sport lose out.
Is it important to teach kids the strategies that can give them a better chance to win ballgames at age 12? Absolutely. That's part of developing young baseball players. And it's fine to implement those strategies in an attempt to win games. Winning and losing graciously are life lessons learned through baseball that transfer to everyday life.
But at that level, winning games should be secondary to the development of the players. If you are going to have a travel program and search for 12 players who are good enough to be part of that team, you owe it to those players to help them develop to their fullest potential. Give them equal opportunities to play, learn and develop and you will be surprised by the results.
Have a question or issue arising from your involvement in youth sports? Send it by e-mail to askripken@baltimoresun.com.