Don't arrive at the field and take a look at who is there that day and scribble down a lineup and wing it from there....it won't go well. It starts with communications. You have to require parents to let you know when they will be absent. The same should go for practice and games.
First of all there are minimum playing requirements which you must adhere to. If the opposing coach does not notice when you don't adhere to those rules, the kids will and the PARENTS will.
As the league has grown, we have made a concerted effort to have smaller teams which makes this job easier. Our first season of AA, we had only 2 teams and each team had 16 or 17 kids. I quickly learned the need to get organized..
This Excel sheet, given to me by Coach Eric Smallwood, CLICK HERE allows you to see easily if you have a players assigned to each defensive position in each inning and to easily see how many innings each player is assigned to be in the field.
Note: At all levels, we use a continuous batting order and below Majors we have free defensive substitution. All players must play in one of the first 3 innings and all players must play at least 2 innings in the field. Majors substitution rules are a bit more restrictive. Suffice to say....you need to have a plan. My advice, don't over think and rethink your plan...stick to it.
If you have any questions on how to download or use the spreadsheet...just email me at plegere@gmail.com. If you have a better method - SHARE IT!
Thanks for Coaching!
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