too many assistant coaches

[bmakj]

10u LL manager/coach here

got a fairly minor dilemma, but I do not want to piss anybody off. draft was sunday, contacted all my parents by phone and email, big stress in email was I need help, wanted to be able to get girls in small groups to make practices effective. here is what I have so far

-1 dad who will help as he can, not league "certified" (don't know the correct term, background check, rutgers training is the gist of it, that and $3 and volunteer app filed), has some health issues that will make it hard for him to help in cold weather (we are mid atlantic, so will be cold to chilly for most practices before season)
-1 dad who will help as he can, not league "certified" (I had his girl on a team 3 years ago, honestly don't remember him, I kinda ignore parents, had like 15 girls), but DW says they are nice.
-1 dad who is league certified, managed/coached in coach pitch my 2nd year, only available on Sat to help (work schedule)
-1 dad who is league certified, has said he will help as schedule permits, his older DD plays travel ball (pitcher, little sister (lefty) on my team wants to pitch, dad said she has sat through many of older sister's lessons) will probably as him to help with pitchers
-1 dad who is league certified, has said he will help as schedule permits.
-1 uncle who is also softball admin for our league, he and I do not get along great, he kinda runs softball as a dictator, but knows the game, is good with girls. Clashes are over administrative crap. will be at most games and practices, as he is he one who generally brings his niece.

we currently have 9 girls. dilemma is games really, practices I will take all the help I can get, if I can have some girls working one on one with an adult at times this will be awesome.

in games, I probably want to limit it to myself and two others in dugout (actually a rule I believe). how do I approach the non certified dads to tell them that during games, if the certified dads are there, they will be in ACs for the game? don't want anyone's noses out of joint, but want to try to do everything by the book when possible (of course when not possible, I will turn blind eye, but i figure as long as we have one league certified adult to supervise, should be OK, was pretty much told this by couple different league officials. league admin will generally be on field or in dugouts as well, but we can always say he is there in that capacity (mostly looking for help from him at practices).

really want their help for practices, and hopefully also for field prep, scorebook, etc., so don't want to make them feel like they are not as good. a lot of this could have been avoided if our league would schedule the rutgers training AFTER drafts. by the time you are asking your parents who can help out, too late for them to get required training. one of the things I plan to bring up since I am on BOD now. probably get a lot more rutgers trained people, and potential manager/coaches, if they did it this way.

 

[quincy]

I want the parent that shows up at every practice.

Honestly I do not care if they can throw or catch.

If the background check doesn't pass, not sure about that. I am inclined to they are not allowed to participate in practice or games.

 

[bmakj]

league certification has nothing to do with ability or knowledge of the game, just rutgers training and background check, and volunteer app.

the others did not undergo a background check, so they have not failed, and I (or someone league certified) will always be there. I just know there are going to be situations where I will be the only certified adult. in those cases, I will need whomever is there to help out.

 

[finalcloud]

Got to use the ones with the background check/paperwork completed. If you have the softball admin with your team, he'll be on top of that and would enforce the league's policy. As the softball commish, I got to follow the rules. Before that, I thought whoever showed up the most got the job during the game. Sadly I've never really had that much help until last Fall. My A/C is coming back and I just need to find another official one. The main difference is who gets a shirt or not, lol.

 

[jacman]

Careful what you ask for, you might get it! At this point, be very clear in you own mind what you want/expect from your volunteers, and communicate that clearly. You're the head coach. Be polite and respectful, but be in charge. If it looks like there will be disagreement, try to keep that conversation private.

As much as possible, I'd try to keep the same people as your dugout staff. I think that familiarity helps the girls stay more focused on the game, plus a lot of coaching is about the positive relationships players have with the coaches. Easier to develop those in stable, predictable patterns.

Probably would have been better not to have sent a distress call up in a general email. I prefer phone calls or face-to-face conversations to inquire about helpers. Something like, "I may look for some help with the team at points during the season. Do you have an interest in that? What kind of time do you have? Any experience before? Great, as my plans solidify for the season, I'll let you know what I need." Hindsight, for now.

 

[bmakj]

yeah, but I find that if I do not put out a distress call early, I get nothing. One year I had 16 girls (my first year, yikes) and 1 assistant, plus my kids babysitter, who loves softball and kids and offered to help.

I did talk to all on phone (except one whose work only allows Sat help, but I knew him already, and talked to his DW).

also, if I get interest early, another local LL is having a Rutgers course in early March, think they will let outside people attend if they have space, will highly reccomend this to anyone helping.

 

[cvsoftball]

for 10U and 12U, I have 2 A/Cs. during practices, I will have other parents help out but they know there is only 3 of us in the dugout. for 16U, 2-3 A/Cs and that's it. I don't mind encouraging parents to help at the younger levels because then they take it home and are more apt to work with their kids there. but there are some parents I don't really want on the same field and therefore keep a tight check on them. my FIL always said his team of preference is a team of orphans.

 

[bmakj]

for 10U and 12U, I have 2 A/Cs. during practices, I will have other parents help out but they know there is only 3 of us in the dugout. for 16U, 2-3 A/Cs and that's it. I don't mind encouraging parents to help at the younger levels because then they take it home and are more apt to work with their kids there. but there are some parents I don't really want on the same field and therefore keep a tight check on them. my FIL always said his team of preference is a team of orphans.

this is exactly my goal, I want 2 ACs in dugouts/base coaches for games, but for practices, I want as much help as possible. just want to make certain I don't offend anyone when I tell them thanks for help during practice, but these other guys will be ACs for games (even if they were around less for practice), all who said they would help said they will be limited by work schedules.

and it was my softball admin in previous years who told me "do what you got to do" regarding lack of certified help at practices. hopefully he is at lots of practices and all the games (he is his neices ride to most things)

 

[Easton33]

I would take the uncle but I would definitely make sure all rules are laid and he knows it is your team and that you can and will dismiss him. Let the the others with all paperwork approved be the "soft toss" guys.

 

[bmakj]

definitely, want his input, but final decisions are mine.

when it comes to technical matters, i will probably defer to him most of the time. he knows the game, how to teach it, and is good with the girls. just not so good with parents and adults