May 18

May 18 Update

#1 Quickest Way to Become a Better Coach!

This isn't some sort of cheat code or fast-tracked program to magically figure out how to coach. Instead this post is going to focus on one of the most fulfilling and important programs we have in SPMBA, Challenger Baseball.

Challenger Baseball is an adapted baseball program, modified to suit the needs of any player who desires to play baseball. According to Jays Care, the program is "designed to empower children, youth and adults living with physical and/or cognitive disabilities". The focus of the program is to provide a fun and safe place for people to enjoy and learn the game. Challenger Baseball also provides athletes with the intangibles that any player learns through baseball: "teamwork, communication, determination, resiliency, inclusion, support and courage". Athletes participating in Challenger Baseball can increase their "independence, self-esteem and self-awareness, relationships to peers, connection to positive role models, their courage to try new challenges, their likelihood of living a physically active life, and their baseball & physical literacy skills".

I had the fortune to attend a Challenger training program in March 2019, where program organizers and "buddies" could learn how to facilitate a successful Challenger Baseball program. This program tested my abilities as a coach, teacher, and as a person as I had to drastically re-evaluate what it meant to impart the game to someone else. How do you really teach someone to hit, throw, run the bases, or catch a ball? These questions seem simple, but in practicality they are the hardest questions to answer in baseball. Our wonderful Challenger Baseball athletes think, feel, learn, know, and wonder in ways similar to anyone else, but at the same time, often radically different than anyone you may have had to coach before. This is where Challenger Baseball and Jays Care is truly special: the resources they provide their organizers, coaches, and buddies are second-to-none. Their training program and manual should be the core of any coaching fundamentals or introduction to coaching course. They provide universal principles with which you can communicate with athletes and parents, plan and execute high quality, long term development-rooted practices, and facilitate the fun, caring, and safe environment that is at the core of Challenger Baseball. It is truly a masterclass in how to coach - a concept completely independent of the athletes this program is designed for. I can assure you that you will become a significantly better coach by getting involved in Challenger Baseball, or your money back.

I've embedded the Challenger Baseball handbook, with the hope that even a couple people read it to improve their coaching practices or even take the plunge and get involved in the most rewarding baseball experience imaginable.

Yours in baseball,

Coach Lovie
Baseball Development Lead
Sherwood Park Minor Baseball Association
baseballdevelopment@spmba.ca