Role of the Manager and Coaches

A WGLL manager or coach is a role model for children who: 

Adapted from: Little League's Diamond Leader Program

Managers must understand their division rules, especially as pertains to pitching. You can review the Little League rules here. 

Players thrive with routines.

All WGLL practices and games must embed the following routines:

• Dynamic warm-up ("warm-up to throw, not throw to warm up")

• Play catch with cones ("play catch with a purpose... take care of the baseball!")

• Set clear routines for hitting/fielding stations and repeat often ()

• Establish routines for gameday (eg dugout behavior)

Coaches Jones and Dyer created and shared this amazing coaching resource at the 2023 Upper Level Coaches Clinic - definitely check it out! 

WGLL Practice Plan

Another excellent checklist is available from Project Play: 

To provide a positive experience for our players, managers need to ensure that we have active contributors in the following roles:

• Two Assistant Coaches: Chosen by the manager to help assist with games and practices

• Team Parent: Assists the manager with coordinating all other volunteers such as:

  • Snack Shack (required for all!)

  • Practice Helpers (Optional): Invited by the manager to help with drills etc at practices

  • Field Prep: Help with field set-up and clean-up so the coaches can focus on the players (more below)

  • Scoreboard: Manage the scoreboard at either field (more below)

  • GameChanger: Assist with scorekeeping at AA and above (more below)

  • Umpires: Ensure a safe and fair experience for everyone

  • Supportive Crowds: Celebrating effort/growth of our players and supporting the coaches and umpires in their role

  • Ensure that everyone upholds the mission of WGLL in every interaction

Field Set-up and Clean-up 

Manager and coaches must take care of our facilities. We need to take care of our resources.

In terms of games, the home team sets up the field and the visiting team cleans up the field after the game. If we are hosting LGLL or SJA, then the home team does both.

Set-up involves: 

• Chalk the lines 

• Put down the bases 

• Turn on the scoreboard 

Clean-up involves:  

• Dragging and watering the field 

• Picking up trash and debris (including by the dugout stands) 

• Putting away the bases (if last game of the day) 

• Cover the mound and plate (if last game of the day)  

Your players must help you with this. We like to say, "we pack up the field before we pack up our bags." Do not let them start packing up or leaving until they have been dismissed by you!  

Parent volunteers are helpful too. Please train them to do the job properly.

The manager is ultimately responsible for making sure the field is properly cared for. Failure to do so could lead to loss of practice time on our fields.

Scoreboard for Majors Field 

The home team must provide a parent for the scorer's booth. That parent must run the scoreboard and, if possible, announce the hitters. Please make every effort to get the correct pronunciation. Kid-friendly music between innings is a nice touch too!

Scoreboard for Minors Field 

The home team must provide a parent who uses the SingleScore app to manage the scoreboard.

Providing Umpires (For Majors, AAA, AA, and A)

Please work with your team parent to ensure that you have parents for your assigned games. If you click on the respective link below, you'll see your name for the games you need to cover. 

• Majors Field: Majors and AAA umps provided by Majors, AAA, and AA (Link to be added shortly) 

• Minors Field: AA game umps provided by A (Link to be added shortly) 

GameChanger (for Majors, AAA, AA)

Similarly, please work with your team parent to ensure someone is on Gamechanger for every game. This is the only parent that is allowed to be next to the scorer's booth so they can hear the calls.

AA - http://www.gamechanger.io/g/wgllaa2022

AAA - http://www.gamechanger.io/g/wgllaaa2022

Majors - http://www.gc.com/g/wgllmajors2022

Uniforms 

Uniforms are provided for the manager and three assistant coaches. However, there can only be two assistant coaches in games at the AAA and Majors divisions (in accordance with Little League rules).  

Injuries 

Managers and coaches must follow all directives from our WGLL Safety Coordinator.  

Please keep the following in mind at all times: 

• When in doubt, call 911.  

• Always talk to the parent about possible injuries (Never assume the child will do so!) 

• Text/call the WGLL Safety Officer to debrief any injuries, and that board member will help determine next steps

Here are some additional coaching resources we love: 

The Positive Coaching Alliance is a terrific resource for managers and coaches!  Here are some favorite selections: 

• Dusty Baker on Managing in Public v. Private Settings 

• Dusty Baker on Motivation through Fun 

• Parent-Guardian Letter 

• How to Motivate a Player Who Doesn’t Want to Be There

•  The Dos and Don’ts When Coaching Youth Athlete

PCA uses the the Double-Goal Coach model - use this easy assessment if you like: