Season and Game/Practice Prep and Being Ready!

To get ready for a great season of Baseball/Softball you need to have the following:
1-Baseball Glove – Appropriately broken in – THIS IS VITAL – please read this blog post for info on how to break in your glove or hit up Google.
2-Your Own Bat – This is a new COVID based rule and may have some flexibility as of 3/29/21. We used to be able to share bats but for now that’s not an option. If you need a bat, ask your coach, they may have some you can borrow for the meantime. If you’re going to buy a bat you must make sure it complies with USA BASEBALL Specs. It’s a bit of pain and expensive but them’s the rules.
3-Your Own Helmet – This is probably more important than a bat at the time of this writing.
4-A Uniform – Players will get a uniform shirt and hat. Our colors are Green/Black and White. For Majors/Minors players they will need pants, socks and a belt for game days. Please check with your coach on colors. For practices ALL Players should at least wear their teams hats. Uniforms should only be worn on game days. Otherwise for practice regular work out clothes are fine.
5-Cleats or Baseball Spikes – At the Tball/Rookie ball level, sneakers are fine and encouraged over spikes. At the Minors/Majors level kids should have a pair of baseball cleats/spikes. Make sure there is NO METAL in any of the spikes on the bottom of the shoe. Metal is illegal.

Part of being a good baseball player and a good teammate is preparation. Preparation means being ready to play when it’s time to play.

So what does it mean to be ready?

Here’s a quick list that will help:
1-Show up early (Please be aware of all COVID related rules, showing up early may not be desired in some situations so check with your coach if you have questions) so that you’re ready when the game or practice starts. If the game is at 6pm, remember you need to stretch, run, throw and warm up before you’re ready to play, each team has their set time to arrive and it’s listed in the details on TeamSnap. Please respect those times as coaches prepare their line ups with those times in mind.
2-Have your Uniform prepared and complete. A uniform consists of cleats, white socks, grey baseball pants, a belt the color of your jersey, a tucked in jersey and a hat. Without these things a uniform is not complete.
3- Eating in the dugout is not permitted. Gum and seeds are ok, but pizza, sandwiches, candy bars, or other types of food is for before or after the games. Please come with the expectation that you will not be eating during the game and if you must eat, plan on leaving the game and the dugout so as not to distract the other players.
4-Drink a lot of water. Bring water bottles and drink a lot. It’s fine to have water in the dugout and sports drinks as long as everything is picked up after.
5-Go to the bathroom. I know this can be more challenging with little ones but the optimal situation is one where bathroom breaks happen before or after the game.

If everyone can follow that list in general we will have a productive and fun season. Remember your readiness effects the rest of the team so practice being ready.