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Why Pittsford Little League is the Right Baseball/Softball Program for Your Player It’s tough being a parent, and sometimes tougher-still trying to help your son or daughter make the right choices as they pursue their interests. With the various league choices in baseball and softball programs, we thought it would be helpful to share our thoughts on why we think Pittsford Little League (PLL) is the right choice. (Sorry, but we will give you our complete biased opinions!) On to our short list of questions and our long-winded answers….
Part of the reason we choose to live in a town like Pittsford is to enjoy and appreciate small-town living and the traditions that go with it. Playing Little League baseball in Pittsford is something that Pittsford kids have been doing over 55 years. Many of the coaches and managers played for the various teams and have memories that will last a lifetime. Being Pittsfords' Little League, our players have the fun of playing with and against their friends. Many days the talk around the lunch table or outside at recess is about the upcoming “big game” or kids trying to figure out who is pitching that night at Ford or Habecker. It’s hard to go to Tom Wahl’s without seeing at least a few PLL teams having a burger and re-hashing the plays of the game. For many players, the PLL experience is about both play and socialization. We are very proud of our organization and the literally hundreds of volunteers that make things happen. We have the benefit of many years of operation, so we pull off things like the annual opening day parade and ceremonies, registration, and tournaments in a pretty organized and quality way. Many of us volunteer with PLL even after our kids are past Little League ages because we believe strongly in helping our kids play and compete in baseball and softball. We are also very proud of our fields and facilities. The improvements that we have made have improved play and safety for our players, and the comfort of their fans. Our fields are now among the best in the county, and we have more improvements on the books for the years to come. Why not try something more competitive? Like other sports, there are different options available. Choosing the right “fit” for your child is sometimes challenging. You may have high hopes for your player and believe that he/she needs to play at the highest level of competition available. In our league, we combine both fun baseball and competitive baseball. We keep it instructional for the younger players (ages 5-8) and then when the fundamentals are established, we bring more competitive baseball into play. For ages 9 and up, we offer various league options in a spring season where the players play against teams of other Pittsford kids. We believe (and mandate) that all players on the team play and participate. The teams keep score, we keep standings, have play-offs, but we don’t waiver from our principle that every player plays. After the spring season, we offer summer tournament team opportunities for players beginning at age 9. The 9 year-olds compete in a Monroe County tournament, teams for 10 and 11 year-olds compete for the New York State Little League Championship, and our 12 year-old teams begin each year with the dream of making it to Williamsport, Pennsylvania for the famed Little League World Series in August. We also have “local” teams that are made up of kids who want to continue to play ball, but don’t want the pressure of higher competition. Many of our tournament teams have done exceptionally well. In 2006, our 9/10 year-old softball tournament teams won the sectional and came within a game of winning the states. Many of the players who were part of this great team will remember their experience for a lifetime. Some of the better players in our league enjoy the fun of the spring season and look at it as a “warm up” for the more challenging summer tournament season. Will my child get quality instruction and coaching? We believe that they will. We offer our coaches numerous coaching clinics and work hard to recruit motivated and trained coaches. We have also recently expanded our player development programs that now include two 4-week sessions at Frozen Ropes where the players get repetition and instruction. In addition, we work with other baseball coaches to bring clinics and instruction to our league. In 2007, our player development programs were very popular with nearly 1,400 hours of instruction provided to our players in February and March. We have also recently upgraded our practice facilities at Ford Field and they now include two pitching mounds (real clay mounds with all distances for baseball and softball), an “Iron Mike” pitching machine (capacity 400 balls so you aren’t picking up for half the practice), and a grassy area perfect for throwing or short grounders. For 2008, (thanks to an Eagle Scout Project) Habecker will have a batting cage to help get more swings in for the players. Aren’t the travel team leagues better for my player? The downside to choosing a travel team is a bigger commitment on your part (half the games will be somewhere in Monroe County, plus tournaments in other areas/states), and the possibility that your son or daughter won’t be the “star” on the team and may, in fact, not play all that much. Another factor to consider is that coaches on travel squads are focused on wining and will likely choose your player for a specific role on the team. If they think that your player is just a good hitter, the player might play left field and not get a chance at shortstop or third base. We believe that PLL offers a great mix of fun and competition vs. a focus on winning. We think youth players continue to develop and should have the opportunity to pursue positions of their choosing. In our opinion, it’s too early to pigeon hole a player as just a pitcher or catcher. Little League has a long-standing tradition of getting everybody in the game, and we continue this tradition at PLL. Probably the biggest difference between Little League and more competitive leagues is our philosophies on winning. Our definition of success in Pittsford Little League is how many of our players return to play another year because they had a fun experience. It isn’t all about winning. It is about developing our players so that they can have an enjoyable experience playing ball. We preach good fundamentals, good sportsmanship, and good fun. That’s the Pittsford Little League experience. |
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Pittsford Little League View Our Guestbook | Sign Our Guestbook 18 visitors have signed our guestbook. |
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