[gchappel]

I helped coach Tball and pitching machine for a couple of years- teams did well, regionals etc. As stated above make sure this is fun for the kids. Parents ruin the game. The kids want to have fun, hit the ball, watch the ants crawl around and laugh when a bird sh~ts on the batter- yes it all happens. It is the parents that want the team to win, pressure the coach to bench some players so the team can win, yell at the kids if they miss a ball, etc. Practice, even practice at home, can be stressful on the kids- they can tell if you think they are uncoordinated because they miss the ball. They are trying so hard to please their parents. Take a couple of deep breaths and let it go. Play ball with your kids- but it is not practice at this age. Play. Catch a ball, a frisbee, play catch with the kid and the dog, laugh when they fall down, when they throw the ball the wrong way. Our league improved when they stopped keeping score, but the parents went crazy, so scoring came back. Treat the kids the same whether they win or lose- especially under 8 or 9 they don't care unless you do. Even praising them when the catch it, and saying thats ok when they miss reinforces that they are not "good" unless they catch it all the time. Until they are about 9 you can't tell if they have any talent or not- I mean real talent. Some "great" 8 year old players never get better, and get passed by late bloomers. With the young kids, my goal was always to have the kids want to come back. That was it, a simple goal, to want to come back next year and play. They will learn along the way, they will never learn if they don't want to play. My kids are now in college- and I still see a bunch of the players from 10-15 years ago, so we must have done something right. A couple are playing at college level, that vast majority- including our best 5-7yr old players are not. Make this another outlet to have fun with your kids- they grow up and move out way too soon.
Make sure you enjoy it , the kids will too.
Gary