Here is one for you guys to tackle..We were fortunate to have enough for two (Minor League) fall teams. Ages 8-10. Obviously that means two managers with me being one..Other manager had his team selected before registration for the fall teams were finished. That being said, he took every eligible player that made the 8-9-10 year-old all-star team during the summer. That included two catchers and four pitchers.
When my roster was completed, I had four players with minor league experience, six players coming up from coach pitch and one player who never played baseball before in his life. As well as not one kid who had ever taken the mound before in his life.
Parents in the league were outraged when they saw the disparity in how the rosters were formed. Regardless, after seeing the hand I was dealt, I went with drills, drills, and more drills. I went heavy emphasis on the fundamentals. Proper base running, hitting mechanics such as where to stand, where to hold the hands and so forth. Lots of infield and outfield. Fortunately I have three other guys helping me where we could break practice down into groups..Some taking BP, others doing soft toss, hitting balls to the outfield and whatnot. Biggest struggle has been the pitching. With it being fall and minimal practice time, it has been tough to work on the pitching. Can't say enough about how the kids have responded..
We played our first game two weeks ago against the manager who loaded his team..I don't keep a book, just write notes down on the back of a lineup card that I keep in my pocket as a way of remembering batting order and such. That way I can mention some points that I think we can improve on. We lost that first game 15-2 where the manager kept one of the all-star pitchers in the game for two innings so he could strikeout six consecutive kids just up from coach pitch.
The last two games have been much better. Throwing to the correct base, backing up throws from the catcher and actually stringing some hits together.
I am treating the fall the way I believe it should be treated. Making it a learning experience, especially for the kids just coming up, so when the spring season rolls around they will have a general idea of what they are doing.
Sorry for the length of the post. Just a tad bit of frustration that a league would allow something like this to happen to a bunch of 8-9 year old kids.