We have a pretty unique way we host friendly's and we've seen it benefit not just our team, but our competition. I started it when I was coaching my daughter in 10U and have continued into 12U, even though I'm not a coach on that team, the concept was adopted.
We'll set up a round robin with 4 teams, (75 minute finish the batter). Coaches all discuss certain scenarios they would like to try, both offensively and defensively that they have been practicing with their team. Throughout the game, we may set up different scenarios by moving baserunners around, starting runners on certain bases, adding runners, etc... The possibilities are endless. One team will know what they are trying to accomplish, such as drawing a throw, double play footwork, delayed steals, etc... We will run the play once, and see how the girls react. We allow the play to finish and then have a quick meeting to recap the situation. We then put all the girls back in their original position and re-run that same scenario. We will also stop the game if a mental error occurs to go over "what should have been done". This has tremendously improved the girls' situational awareness.
We don't keep score (although some parents do
) or have trophies/medals but we do have umpires. The umpires we use are great and they're also on-board with the learning experience and will even call time to correct things they notice as well.
After the games we get pizza for all. All in the cost is $150 per team for the umps and food. These may be some of my favorite games I've coached/watched. Lots of lightbulbs turn on and to see the girls execute the plays in tournaments has benefited all involved.
We'll set up a round robin with 4 teams, (75 minute finish the batter). Coaches all discuss certain scenarios they would like to try, both offensively and defensively that they have been practicing with their team. Throughout the game, we may set up different scenarios by moving baserunners around, starting runners on certain bases, adding runners, etc... The possibilities are endless. One team will know what they are trying to accomplish, such as drawing a throw, double play footwork, delayed steals, etc... We will run the play once, and see how the girls react. We allow the play to finish and then have a quick meeting to recap the situation. We then put all the girls back in their original position and re-run that same scenario. We will also stop the game if a mental error occurs to go over "what should have been done". This has tremendously improved the girls' situational awareness.
We don't keep score (although some parents do
) or have trophies/medals but we do have umpires. The umpires we use are great and they're also on-board with the learning experience and will even call time to correct things they notice as well. After the games we get pizza for all. All in the cost is $150 per team for the umps and food. These may be some of my favorite games I've coached/watched. Lots of lightbulbs turn on and to see the girls execute the plays in tournaments has benefited all involved.
