Menlo Atherton Little League

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Sportsmanship/PCA

Menlo-Atherton Little League
Sportsmanship/PCA

Sections:

2009 League Survey Results
MA-LL PCA Commitment
2009 Sportsmanship Award Winners
Special Recognition for MA Little League Coach

MA Little League Survey Results

MA-LL conducted its first formal online “customer” feedback survey in June, 2009 following the conclusion of the 2009 season. The goal was to solicit objective and confidential input on how the League is being managed and how its coaches were coaching from both coaches’ and parents’ perspectives. The League received nearly 250 completed surveys or over 33% of the respondent pool. This is an exceptionally high response rate for this type of research initiative, which provided an especially in-depth perspective on how our League and Coaches are doing and areas for improvement. Here are the key findings and actions the League is taking based on the feedback received.

The Good News:

The League received very high marks in many areas. This generally is a very good reflection of our coaches since the coaches are the primary touch points with parents. The League was positively evaluated on the following important dimensions:

• Overall satisfaction and good value for the money
• Generally well run from an administrative standpoint
• Has a good positive culture balancing winning and skill development with sportsmanship and learning life lessons
• Has good coaches who care and devote themselves to the kids
• Has generally good fields and availability despite ever increasing constraints and costs
• Employs good player/skill development training and coaching

The Areas For Improvement:

There were several key points that the feedback indicated improvement was warranted:

• Improve communication in several key areas:
• Improve frequency/timing of schedules key dates, especially when there are changes (including playoffs, all-stars, etc.)
• Improve communication of rules and especially any rule changes that might be unique to a particular division
• Make the Coach/All-Star selection process and grievance procedure more transparent
• Provide more resources for the T-Ball division (i.e., coach development and resource support)
• Provide more tools and resources to help coaches improve their knowledge base and coaching skills
• Make skill development clinics more geographically convenient

Actions To Be Taken Based on Survey Findings:

• Provide more communication to parents to supplement individual coach communication via League website, email blasts, and newsletters.
• Bring skill clinics to Menlo/Atherton vs. requiring travel to out of area locations
• Develop a formal and comprehensive “tool kit” for coaches including practice plans, skill drills, communication/team admin applications, “job descriptions” and expectations by division
• Provide more support and resources to the T-Ball division and T-Ball coaches so they can make the experience more fun for the kids, help the kids learn fundamental baseball skills/game knowledge and make it easier on the coaches.
• Continue to formally solicit feedback from parents and coaches alike to help further improve the quality, culture and offering of Menlo-Atherton Little League as a youth sports organization.
  

Thank you to everyone who participated in the survey and provided their feedback. It was very helpful. We also acknowledge the support of the folks at Market Tools, Inc. and Zoomerang (the online survey tool) for their expertise and contributions to our feedback initiative.

MA Little League PCA Commitment

Menlo–Atherton Little League is dedicated to managing the balance between winning and learning life lessons through sport as part of our core values. At all levels of play the League makes a concerted effort to educate its coaches, players and parents on the importance of sportsmanship and fair play at all times, both on and off the field.

To this end, M-A Little League has partnered with the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA). PCA is a nonprofit organization founded at Stanford University with the mission to transform youth sports so sports can transform youth. PCA was created to revolutionize the culture of youth sports to give all young athletes the opportunity for a positive, character-building experience. More background and information on PCA can be found on their website (www.positivecoach.org).

PCA has two primary goals:

1. Replace the "win-at-all-cost" model of coaching with the Double-Goal Coach®, i.e., the Coach who wants to win but has a second, more important, goal of using sports to teach life lessons
2. Teach youth sports organization leaders how to create an organizational culture in which Honoring the Game and not just winning is the norm

The Menlo Atherton Little League adheres to the philosophy and goals of PCA and has been an affiliate member of PCA for a number of years. We expect our Coaches and our parents to follow the tenants of the PCA philosophy and offer educational clinics for both our Coaches and parents of our players. As part of our coaches development program, the League has committed to a good-faith effort to ensure that every coach in our organization is trained and certified or re-certified this year as a Double-Goal CoachTM. Coaches can be trained and certified in a live workshop or through PCA’s online workshop at www.PositiveCoach.org.

For additional sportsmanship and responsible youth sports perspective and resources, please click on this link: https://www.responsiblesports.com/default.aspx

PCA Team Parent

In addition to having all coaches PCA certified, each team at every level elects a PCA Parent Representative to help coaches work with their team’s families to foster good sportsmanship as part of the team’s culture and in the stands.The role of the PCA Team Parent is part educator, part booster and part role model. THe PCA Parent plays an increasingly integral role in helping each team, from T-Ball to Majors, to create a positive experience for all involved all season long (click on this link for more details: PCA Parent Role).

Parent/Player Pledge

Menlo-Atherton Little League believes strongly in balancing winning with learning and sportsmanship. We are striving to build a league culture where kids can play hard, learn and have fun without the "win at all costs" pressures that negatively affect kids and youth sports organizations today. Parents are encouraged and expected to keep proper perspective and be good role models.  Additionally, players are expected to understand what good sportsmanship means and to adhere to a set of guidelines. To this end, before the season starts, we ask each parent of each player in all divisions and each player, especially in the Single A to Majors divisions, to sign a pledge of sportsmanship acknowledging some basic expectations for behavior, committing to set a good example and adhering to a simple code of conduct (click here to see the MA Little League Parent/Player Pledge).

Training & Education

The League again held educational sportsmanship training for its coaches and Team Parents.  All Coaches in each division were required to complete a workshop from PCA as part of their preparations for the season.  Team Parents selected by their coaches, from Single A to Majors divisions, were invited to participate in an educational workshop conducted by PCA representatives specifically for better understanding the role and responsibilities of the Team Parent and providing tips to influence good sportsmanship behavior by parents in the stands.

Additionally, PCA has a sizeable resource library of tips, perspective and information regarding sports psychology and how to develop good sportsmanship habits on its website (www.PositiveCoach.org) for both Coaches and parents (PCA Resource Library).

 

Sportsmanship Awards

As a further demonstration of the League’s commitment to good sportsmanship, each team - from Single A to Majors - selects one of their players who have best demonstrated excellent sportsmanship throughout the season. These players are given special recognition in a public ceremony at the end of the baseball season for their contribution to sportsmanship and to MA Little League.

Congratulations 2009 Sportsmanship Award winners!!

To underscore the league's commitment to sportsmanship, each team in A, AA, AAA and Majors awarded the "Sportsmanship Award" to the one player who best exemplified the spirit of the game and the spirit of Little League itself -- "Play Fair, Strive to Win, Do One's Best."

Pictured: (Back: Austin Wilson, Ben Simon, Stephen Kaufman, JR Hardy, Andrew Simpson, Riley Haught, Ian Rosenfeld, James Burke, Suraj Dhawan, Andrew Wyatt, Brad Yaffe, Jackson Benning; Front: Liam Smith-Leitch, Cooper Ketsdever, Joe Posthauer, Hunter Thompson, Robby Batista, Rob Wild, Grant Porter, Zachary Meyer, Peter Vitale, Nolan Birkeland, Ethan Mimeles; Not Pictured: Grant Komin, Emelio Obando, Will Moldau, Walt Smithers)

Special Recognition for MA Little League Coach!!

On August 8, 2009, one of M-A Little League’s very own, Mike Mainiero – Coach of the AA Tigers, was honored at AT&T Park as one of the Bay Area’s best examples of leadership in sportsmanship and being a “Double Goal” Coach – i.e., balancing winning with learning life lessons through sport.

The Award was sponsored by the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) and more than 200 submissions were received. Mike was one of just 10 coaches from around the Bay Area across all different sports and age groups to have been selected. Mike and the other nine award winners were formally recognized on field by the Giants and PCA staff during the game. As part of the Giant’s PCA Day, Mike and the others also had a chance to get their own ‘chalk talk’ session with several of the Giants coaches on how to manage and motivate players.

Here’s a short summary of what the AA Commissioners said of Mike in support of his nomination.

“Mike is truly one those coaches you wish every child had the opportunity to learn from. He cherishes life, life’s challenges and the skills needed to navigate through it all. He emphasizes how baseball brings about the same or similar challenges each of us will face throughout our lives and uses every situation as a teachable moment.”

As a first step in the process of getting to one nominee for the league, each of the different divisions within M-A LL were asked to identify the one coach in their respective divisions that, similar to our player Sportsmanship Awards, best embodies the spirit of Little League Baseball - "To Play Fair, Strive to Win, and Do One's Best" and consistently demonstrates excellent sportsmanship. The nominees by division were:

A: Dean Wilkins
AA: Mike Mainiero
AAA: Bill Hoy
Majors: Brian Rodrigues

Congrats to Mike and the others for being great role models. We are fortunate to have a group of coaches throughout our league who put a priority on sportsmanship as part of the youth sports experience and a league culture that tries to balance winning with teaching our kids life lessons.