Metzler

Youth baseball seasons seem to be going longer and longer. Some leagues enter All Star tournaments all the way through August. Come the fall, do some of these players who have played the last six months really want to enter a Fall League? The answer is yes. More and more fall leagues are cropping up around the country. Even with the competition from football and soccer leagues, some baseball purists still cant get enough. How should a youth baseball organization run a fall league? The first thing the league has to do is see if their league insurance covers them for the whole year or just the baseball season. The league Board should look into this and determine the fee for the league. As for uniforms, nothing more than colored t-shirts from the league are really necessary.

The games themselves can be played a number of ways. I happen to think that the league should be as non competitive as possible. This is a great opportunity for players to play different positions that they didnt do during the season. Pitchers innings should be limited. For example, if it is a four game season a player cant pitch more than four innings the whole fall season. If it is an eight game season, no more than eight innings, total for the Fall league season. One inning per game per pitcher should be the average. This is forcing the manager to use different pitchers. Also how about having a batting order comprised of the whole team, lets say one thru twelve. With this we have free fielding substitutions. The point here is to get each player up. You can add other rules to keep the game moving like nine players maximum at bat per inning or seven walks per inning.

There are a number of other creative rules a league can try. The league has to make sure if they have certain rule changes it is aloud by the League Board of Directors and the League Charter. The main point is some kids prefer playing baseball to soccer or football in the fall. If there is enough interest, its a shame to keep these fields empty during the months of September and October and when timed correctly a youth baseball fall league can be run right up to league tryouts for the next Spring season.

http://www.YouthSportsClub.com

Marty Schupak has coached youth baseball for 18 years and is the creator of "The 59 Minute Baseball Practice", "Backyard Baseball Drills", "Hitting Drills & Techniques" and author of the popular book, "Youth Baseball Drills". He is also President of the Youth Sports Club, a group dedicated to making sports practices and games more enjoyable for kids. He is also creator of "48 Chamnpionship Basketball Drills" and "Championship Soccer Drills". His best seeling videos have been viewed by millions of youth coaches and parents and are required viewing by many youth leagues around the world.