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Coaches/Coaching

Coaching Overview

With 1000+ players per year involved in Southlake Baseball Association we are always in need of volunteer coaches.  If you enjoy working with the youth of our community, want to see your player get the most out of their baseball experience then we encourage you to consider volunteering to be a head or assistant coach.

All coaches must pass a routine background check and complete a coach certification course offered by DYB at no charge.

Coach Activities/Responsibilities:

  • While no prior baseball coaching or playing experience is required it is helpful
  • Draft a team
  • Communications to parents
  • Get other parents involved/assistant coaches
  • 1 Weekly practice (2 before the season gets underway)
  • 1-2 Weekly Games
    • To accommodate all our teams some games may be scheduled during the week in the spring.  No more than 1 weekday game will be scheduled per team per week.  We schedule as many games as possible on Sat/Sun.
  • Game snacks

Time Commitment:

  • Practices 1-2 per week, 1-2 hours each
  • Games 1:40 (average) games
    • Pregame batting practice 1 hour prior (depending on home or visitor)
  • Weekly lineups and parent communications - 1 hour or less 

Two or three coaches are designated per team with a maximum of 2 per team attending the draft.  Afterwards other parents are encouraged to help at practices and games especially at the younger ages.  Attention spans being what they are it helps to keep the players engaged at all times.  It is not uncommon to see 4 or 5 parents helping out with fielding, pitching, hitting, etc. during practice and coaching bases and keeping the dugout orderly during games.

To keep teams competitive we only lock or freeze 3 players at the draft.  Returning coaches may freeze 5 players.   These are generally the coach's players.  We attempt to keep team sizes to a manageable 10-12 players per team.

Did you know that coaching hours are eligible for service hours and some company matching programs?  If you have questions please contact us using the link on this page.  Thank you for supporting Dragon Youth Baseball.

Coaching Recreational and Premier Programs

How are Recreational and Premier coaches selected?
We encourage and need parents to participate in coaching.  Coaching is a great experience for both you and your child.  If interested, please sign-up on-line to volunteer to become a coach.

In selecting head coaches, the SBA’s primary objectives are to provide and sportsmanship, but a safe and secure environment and allow our children to have fun playing baseball.

As the Premier Program is more competitive and players are more accomplished, Premier Coaches will generally have prior head coaching experience in the SBA or other Baseball Associations and previous baseball playing experience at the high school or higher levels.  To be selected to coach a Premier Team, the prospective Coach’s child must qualify to play in the Premier Program.  Therefore, the prospective Coach’s child must attend the League’s Coach Look and based on the rankings, be qualified to be drafted in the Premier Program.

As Recreational Program is developmental in nature, these Coaches generally have prior assistant and head coaching experience in the SBA or other Baseball Associations.

Coaches will be selected in the following manner:

  1. Coaching candidates must submit a written or on-line coach application to the League Commissioner.
  2. The Coaching candidate (or his assistant) must attend the League Coach Look in order to evaluate and be prepared to draft a team if selected to Coach a team.
  3. Candidates for both Head Coach and Assistant Coach for Premier Program must have their children attend the applicable Player Evaluation.  Only parents of eligible Premier Program players can coach a Premier team.  Therefore, players must be ranked prior to the selection of Coaches necessitating candidates attending the coach look prior to be selected as a coach!
  4. As we strive for competitive balance within our programs all draft information stays at the draft and is maintained by league commissioners.  
  5. Prospective Coaches will need to be available on the draft evenings in order to draft their respective team.  Please check the SBA Calendar for the draft dates to ensure your availability.
  6. A group of qualified coaching candidates will be identified by the Coaches Selection Committee (“CSC”).  The CSC consists of the President, Vice President, and League Commissioners.
  7. The CSC then evaluates each coaching candidate’s knowledge of the game, their teaching ability, the ability to create a positive, fun and winning environment for the athletes and their families. Other factors to be considered in the selection process will be:
    • Satisfactory experience as a Head Coach with SBA
    • Satisfactory experience as an Assistant Coach with SBA
    • Experience as a Coach outside of SBA
    • Level of involvement in various SBA activities
    • Prior baseball playing experience and level of experience (i.e. high school, college, minor leagues, etc.)
    • Recommendations by an SBA board member
  8. Provided that coaching candidates are equal in ability, SBA will attempt to select no more than 50% of it coaches from the SBA Board membership.
  9. Prior to the draft, but following the Coach Look, the CSC will present the proposed head coaching candidate slates for each league and division to the SBA Board of Directors for approval.

Summer or Tournament Coaches

How are summer tournament team coaches selected?
In order to coach a Summer Tournament Team, a prospective coach’s child must be registered and playing in a SBA Spring League.  Otherwise, the child is not permitted to play on a Summer All-Star Team due to PONY Baseball Tournament participation rules.

Coaches will be selected for Summer All-Star Tournament Teams in the following manner:

  • Satisfactory experience of a Tournament Team with SBA
  • Satisfactory experience as a Head Coach with SBA
  • Satisfactory experience as an Assistant Coach with SBA
  • Experience as a Coach outside of SBA
  • Level of involvement in various SBA activities
  • Personal knowledge of the candidate by an SBA board member
  • Knowledge of the game
  • Teaching ability
  • Ability to create a positive, fun and winning environment for the athletes and their families.

Those interested in coaching must submit a coaching application to the League Commissioner and attend the summer team appropriate Summer Tryout.

The CSC will consider coaching candidates on the same criteria as the recreational league coach selection and then make a recommendation to the full SBA Board for approval.

NOTE: Prior to any discussion regarding the CSC’s recommendation of coaches or the Board voting on coaching candidates, any member(s) of the CSC or Board that is/are among those candidates being considered shall leave the premises while further discussion is held for that particular age group. The member(s) may rejoin the discussion when the CSC or Board considers another age group.

 

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