Rules & Regulations on playing veteran Babe Ruth Players

I don't know of any rule in Babe Ruth that addresses the issue you are talking about. I do feel however, that the problem is that coaches, parents and players are not on the same sheet of music when it comes to teaching the sport of baseball. If you can visualize a triangle, the base being the "coach" he/she is the person that holds together the other two legs which are parents and players. The coach should have an extensive Parent Meeting at the start of the season explaining his substitution policy, playing times, commitment to practices, attitude of players and etc. This is a must because the coach and parent must work together to optimize on the potential of the player. The coach is a teacher and must teach a system for each skill fundamental so that not only does the player understand, but the parent as well. If a player has a weakness this should be addressed and a plan for the player to correct his/her weakness in that skill area. The parent should be brought on line so they can help the player learn and improve on the skill. If you think about it the triangle I spoke of earlier is called a "harmony" triangle which means that each part must be present for it to function correctly. Any leg of the triangle that is not there causes it to collapse. The other interesting aspect of the triangle is that two of the legs are adults, meaning that we as youth sports parents, coaches and administrators are to have successful programs WE MUST INCLUDE THE PARENTS in the process of teaching our children. I don't think any parent would send their child to school and never communicate with the teacher or have an idea of what homework the child was doing. The teacher has a great influence on our young children, in my opinion the youth coach plays that same role as teacher and the parent should be part of the teaching process in youth baseball as they are in our schools. The solution to your problem, again, in my opinion is go to the programs board of directors and suggest that they require their coaches to trai ned to teach our youth. There is a certification program called BATS that has set this type of certification program up for several programs and after extensive evaluations by both parents and coaches have in fact solved problems just like the one you addressed. If I can be of help please call me at 919-461-0735 or e-mail me. If your program admistrators would like for me to send information or come to talk to them please let me know I'm sure we could arrange something. As another note I am in the process of developing baseball videos on teaching the basic skills, hitting, pitching, catching, and defensive skills. These videos are built around the concept of Parent-Coach-Player and the harmony triangle. Thanks Coach Ray Harrington, BATS