Remember to bring your camera to each game to take action photos
Forward these pics. to cubspics@westsidecubs.net
New Images Available under Image area
2008 Game Schedule Now Available
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Remember to bring your camera to each game to take action photos Forward these pics. to cubspics@westsidecubs.net New Images Available under Image area 2008 Game Schedule Now Available
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Youth ParticipationThe Whitfield County Recreation Department (WCRD) league is an Instructional League. It is not a travel team league and it is not an all-star team league. We have different goals than these squads, who play to win. Our primary goal is to have fun and to provide instruction (to teach). Coaching Youth Baseball can be difficult because a coach has to find a careful balance between keeping those with limited skills interested in baseball, while not hampering the development of players with advanced skills. Not every player or parent will be 100% happy, 100% of the time. Those players with advanced skills typically play in every inning of every game. Players with a more limited skill set will see less playing time, but Parents should work more on polishing their skills at home to supplement these skills. With improved skills (and practice) they will begin to see more and more playing time as the year continues. In the past, we have always listed every player on our roster in the batting line-up and freely substituted players in various positions throughout the regular season. 2008 Will be no different. However, a 15 player roster will certainly limit playing time for some boys. In 2007, with a 10 man roster, we were able to play every boy 3 out of 4 innings in every game. The regular season win-loss record provides only the seeding for the
end-of-the-year County Championship Tournament and has no bearing on
Championships. To win the Championship you still have to beat the best teams in
the County, no matter where you are seeded. By playing every player in every inning during the 2007 Regular Season, we found our boys were better prepared for the 2007 Championship Tournament than other teams that played some players for the minimum 3 outs (in the field) per game. During the tournament, one of our players, who had only 3 hits all year, got 6 hits. This could not have happened if he had batted in only half our games or played outfield in only 3 outs per game. It was these (type) players that won the Championship for the Cubs in 2007; especially in the bottom of the last inning when every player on the Roster went up to the plate to hit and score 5 runs. If not for those players with more limited skills who found a way to get on base without making an out, we would never have come from behind to win. I do not expect our participation rule to change in 2008. We will bat 15 players in every Regular season line-up (depending on Roster size) and when tournament time rolls around we will reevaluate what makes sense for the players that worked hard during the regular season to polish their baseball skills. We will encourage any boy who is 11 on May 1 to move up to the 12 year old team which has 10 players. There is very little difference in skill level between our 11 year old Cubs and the 12 year old team. However, some boys will get more skill development time on the 12 year old team due to a more limited roster. Even with a 15 player roster, we will try to work with each boy to teach them new skills and polish their old skills, and each boy must work on these skills at home. We will not sit a boy on the bench who has attended every practice in favor of a boy who has missed practices, simply to fulfill a participation rule. On the other hand, a boy who works hard on developing his skills outside of regular practice time and shows more development will get every opportunity to showcase his skills in game situations. It is very difficult in finding a balance between rewarding better players and not hampering their advanced skill development and helping those with limited skills develop theirs. Some boys never put on a baseball glove after practice is over, while others have a baseball glove permanently attached to their hand from February through September. In the past, we have been able to get every Cub excited about baseball. If we can accomplish this with 15 players, we will have had a successful year. We will certainly lower our expectations for the 2008 season. Going into the Championship Game in 2007, our pregame pep talk consisted of telling the players that they had nothing to prove. They were told they had beaten the one team they wanted to beat (in the semi-final game) and proved they could do it, so they were already winners. They went into the game relaxed and under no pressure. In retrospect, none of the boys felt cheated in reaching that point and every boy had contributed to the championship. They all shared equal pride in what they accomplished. The 2008 Season will have the same philosophy. You simply can't have fun playing under pressure. At the start of the practice year, they will be reminded that they are still County Champions and should be proud, but they will not be constantly reminded that winning the Championship is the only goal we have. As we have seen with other teams, if you lose the final Championship game, when winning "that" game is the team's only goal, even an undefeated season is a disappointing season.
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