Hello 7U/5U Families,
Welcome to the
2024 7U Baseball Season! Since we're about to kick off our season next
week, I thought a quick check in would be good. I'm Jocelyn Ehgoetz - I'm new to organizing this program, so please bear with me as we learn together. Any questions, suggestions or concerns throughout the season can be sent to me and I will do my best to reply -
[email protected]
SportsHeadz app - We set it up at this age group to get a feel for how it will function going forward, I think it will be good for the parents and coaches to get used to the app. Please feel free to join your child's team and add parents/guardians/coaches. Outside of the scheduling and roster benefits of the app I'm not sure how useful each team will find it, but I do encourage you to become familiar with it for future seasons. The schedule for each team is on the app and available on the website as well. Additional parents/guardians/fans can also join their team by searching for teams on the app - search using "St. Marys", the teams will populate from there.
Coaches and parent helpers - In the past all parents were encouraged/asked to be involved in the program, I would appreciate it if this would continue. Please offer your support to our coaches and come to each game prepared to help (Our 5U Blue team could use 1 more co-coach). I have not asked coaches to do any emailing or contact points with parents/guardians at this age group. Games are informal but some coaches may prefer to know numbers for each week. Check in with your coach and see how they would like to handle the app and availability information. Coaches, if you're going to be away for a game, please work with your co-coach/parent group to find someone to cover in your absence.
Week one - Team Jerseys and hats will be at the benches for each team/coach to distribute. I'll do my best to be at each diamond for the start of the games. Tee's and bases will be set up on week one, I'm not sure about the subsequent weeks, but I will let you know.
Coaches - please start each week with a brief warm up, ie. jumping jacks, jogging, stretches, throwing/catching. Both teams can warm up together if coaches would like this, please communicate amongst yourselves on arrival, maybe the "home team" coaches can run the warm up? Just a fun idea.
Game Play - Players in the field will be arranged "evenly" throughout the infield/outfield(U7's may wish to have some players in the outfield). All players available should find room in the field, no specific positions necessary, with a designated first base person. Players should throw to first, and the first base person should be ready for the ball to come to them, a new first base person is encouraged each inning. Coaches and/or parent helpers, please try to be out in the field with your players throughout the inning to keep their attention and remind them what to do when the ball comes to them. Outs will not be recorded. The team up to bat will hit from a tee, run to first and stop there, the last player up to bat will hit a "homerun" to clear the bases. Please have your batting order change each inning so that each player has a chance to be the first batter and last batter, hitting a homerun is pretty fun! Runs will not be counted. 7U's* - IF a coach chooses to pitch to the 7U age group, we ask that the players be assessed on an individual basis, we ask that it be kept to 3-pitch(then hit off the tee) to keep the game running smoothly and to ensure our players in the field are kept engaged.
Rain outs - I will try to send out a notification about rain outs by 4pm.
Looking forward to a great season of baseball for the kids!
Joce