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New Travel Ball Coach: Starter Guide

Your first season, organized: checklists, the parent meeting, gear, pitch counts, tournament days, safety and team culture.

First-season checklistParents and rosterParent meetingParent volunteer rolesCoaching your own kidExpectations and feedbackDevelopment over trophiesPositions, pitching and catchingHow you carry yourselfGear listPitch countsOvernight tournaments?There for the kidsTournament daysSafetyCultureSources

Checklists and opinions on this page are our suggestions unless a source is linked. Your league, tournament organization and state may have their own rules; follow them.

First-season checklist Our suggestion

  • Pick your organization(s) and read their rulebooks: bat rules (BatRules), pitch count rules (ArmRules), roster limits and age cutoffs.
  • Finish any coach requirements your organization has, such as background checks or safety courses. USA Baseball, for example, offers free online coaching courses and the BASE athlete safety program [USA Baseball].
  • Set a team budget: tournament fees, uniforms, field rental, insurance, team gear. Share it in writing before anyone pays.
  • Line up practice fields and a rainy-day option (cage, gym, or barn).
  • Build your coaching staff and give each coach a job: hitting, pitching and catchers, defense, and someone on the clipboard.
  • Pick a team parent, a scorekeeper and a pitch counter.
  • Make a contact sheet with each player's parents, phone numbers, emergency contacts, allergies and medical notes. Keep it in the first aid kit.
  • Write down your emergency action plan: who calls 911, the field addresses, the nearest hospital, where the safe shelter is for lightning, and who watches the weather [NFHS].
  • Hold the parent meeting (outline below) before the first tournament.
  • Print the pregame script and the practice plans (or build your own from the station menu), and set up the Training Planner for players who want to train at home.

Roster and parent communication Our suggestion

Parent meeting outline Our suggestion

About 30 to 45 minutes. Print it and hand it out.

  1. Welcome and introductions: coaches, their roles, and how to reach them.
  2. Team philosophy: what kind of team we want to be. Development and effort first; winning follows.
  3. Season calendar and costs: tournaments, practices, fees, what is due and when.
  4. Communication: the one team channel, how fast you will answer, and the 24-hour rule.
  5. Playing time and positions: how decisions get made, and that players will try different positions.
  6. Pitch count and arm care policy: we follow Pitch Smart and our organization's rules, we track every pitch, and parents tell us about pitches thrown for other teams [Pitch Smart].
  7. Safety plan: our lightning policy (NFHS recommends telling athletes and parents about it at the start of the season [NFHS]), heat plan, concussion plan (remove from play, out the same day, return only with healthcare provider clearance [CDC HEADS UP]), and the medical info sheet.
  8. Volunteer jobs: team parent, scorekeeper, pitch counter, snacks and water, tent and cooler crew. Hand out the parent volunteer roles so everyone knows the job.
  9. Game-day fuel: no donuts or candy before or between games. Protein snacks, fruit and water instead, treats after the last game, and the snack schedule respects the team’s allergies (ideas).
  10. Photos and social media: explain the consent policy. Every family says yes or no to their child being posted, a team account only happens if every family agrees, and otherwise families post only their own kid.
  11. Expectations of parents: cheer for effort, let coaches coach, respect umpires.
  12. One voice: let the coach coach. No coaching or yelling directions from the stands that differ from the coaches’. The head coach is the one voice on the field, because two sets of instructions only confuse kids. Cheer effort, not instructions.
  13. Team code of conduct: hand out the signed standards for players, parents and coaches (build yours with the Code of Conduct builder).
  14. Walk-up songs: clean versions only, fit for young kids (no explicit lyrics, violence or put-downs). Parents help their player choose, and the coach approves every song before it is used. If you wouldn’t play it for your grandma, pick another song.
  15. Questions.

Parent volunteer roles Our suggestion

A team runs better when a few parents each own one job. Ask at the parent meeting, write the names down, and thank them often. Snacks and water, tent and cooler crew can rotate week to week; the four roles below work best with the same person all season.

Team parent

The coach’s right hand off the field. Keeps the one team channel running, posts schedules and changes, organizes the snack and water rotation (check the team’s allergy list first, and point families to the game-day fuel ideas), and handles hotel blocks. Before an overnight trip, sends the family survey (who can go, and who wants to).

Scorekeeper

Keeps the official book every game, the same way every time. A steady scorekeeper makes the numbers worth reading, and hits versus errors are still judgment calls, so read the scorebook carefully.

Pitch count monitor

Counts every pitch, every game, for starters and relievers alike. Tells the coach as each pitcher gets close to the limit, not after, and checks the count with the other team’s book between innings so both sides agree. Rest rules: ArmRules.

Walk-up song parent (only if your team uses walk-up songs)

Runs the speaker from the coach-approved clean playlist (see the walk-up song standard). Plays music only during our own team’s at-bats, never over the other team or the umpire, and follows the tournament’s or field’s speaker rules. The song stops before the batter is set, so music never delays a pitch or distracts the pitcher or umpire.

Social media parent (only if the team chooses to have an account)

Runs the team’s Facebook or Instagram, if the families agree to have one (see the consent policy below). Posts team moments, game results and thank-yous, only of kids whose families said yes, and never in real time from the field.

Photo and social media consent policy Our suggestion

  1. Ask every family first. Before any player shows up in a team post, get a yes from their parent or guardian. Plenty of parents don’t want their kids online, and that is their call.
  2. A team account takes every family. If even one family objects, the team doesn’t have one. No vote, no majority.
  3. No team account? Post only your own kid. Families share photos of their own player, not other people’s kids. Crop or skip group shots.

Common-sense safety tips (our suggestion):

  • No full names together with locations or schedules, and nothing posted in real time. Post after the team has left.
  • For families who said no, no photos that show a jersey number and name together, even in the background.
  • If a parent asks for a photo to come down, take it down right away, no questions asked.
  • Collect consent in writing (the Code of Conduct builder has an optional photo consent line) and keep the list with the team parent.

Coaching your own kid (and avoiding “Daddy Ball”) Our suggestion

Plenty of us coach because our own kids play, and that is a great thing. “Daddy Ball” is the nickname for when it goes sideways: a parent-coach favoring their own child (or their friends’ kids) in playing time, positions, the batting order or who pitches. Even when you are being fair, parents are watching for it, so make fairness easy to see.

Your kid is just another player out there

  • Celebrate and discipline your own kid exactly the way you would anyone else on the team. No extra praise, no extra punishment.
  • Remember they’re a kid. They are going to make mistakes, just like everyone else.
  • About 11 other kids and 20 to 30 family members are watching how you treat your own child.

Ground Up coaching cue

Set expectations on day one, then give regular feedback Our suggestion

Kids play their best when they know what is expected of them and where they stand. Both jobs are on the coach, and both are easy to let slide once the season gets busy.

Day one: say what you expect, out loud

Tell players and parents the same thing at the first practice and again in the parent meeting. Write it down so nobody has to remember it word for word.

Then live by it. A standard you only enforce sometimes is not a standard.

Give every player feedback, at least once a month

Feedback does not have to come after every mistake. But at a minimum, once a month, every player should hear where they stand, what they have improved, and what they need to work on next. A lot of coaches never do this, and players are left guessing. Make it a habit and you will stand out.

Make it a two-way conversation. Ask the player first, listen without interrupting, and then share your own feedback. Kids open up more when they talk first, and you learn how you are coming across as a coach.

How to run the monthly check-in

  • Short and one-on-one. About 5 minutes, at practice (during a station or water break works). Never right after a loss.
  • Player goes first. Ask: How am I doing as your coach? How are you feeling as a player? What do you feel you have gotten better at? What do you think you still need to work on?
  • Then the coach shares three things: where you stand, what you have improved, and what to work on next.
  • Praise specific effort. “You backed up third on every throw Saturday” means more than “good job.”
  • One or two focus items, not a long list. Kids can work on one or two things at a time.
  • Your own kid gets the same check-in from an assistant coach. It keeps things fair and easy to see (see Coaching your own kid).
  • Keep simple notes for each player and check names off the roster so nobody gets skipped. Start next month by looking at last month’s focus items.
  • Take your own feedback to heart. If a player tells you something about your coaching, thank them and act on it.

Pair it with the skills progress check-in on the practice plans page if you want numbers to look at together.

Parents and players have their own pages. Share the parents’ guide (the ride home, talking to the coach, supporting the check-in) and the player’s guide (how to get ready for the check-in) so everyone knows what to expect.

Monthly player check-in template Our suggestion

Print one per player, per month. About 5 minutes. Player talks first, coach second.

Player: ____________________   Month: __________   Coach: ____________________

1. Player goes first (coach listens)

How am I doing as your coach?
How are you feeling as a player?
What do you feel you have gotten better at?
What do you think you still need to work on?

2. Coach shares

Where you stand
What you have improved (specific effort you noticed)
Focus item 1
Focus item 2 (optional)

3. Wrap up

What I (the coach) will do differently
Last month’s focus items: better, same, or still working?
Optional: quality at-bats this month (saw pitches, swung at strikes, hit it hard, competed with two strikes)

groundupbaseball.net/coaches/new-travel-ball-coach/ · Our suggestion. Play Hard, Stay Grounded.

Development over trophies Our suggestion

Everybody likes to win, and winning is fun. But in youth baseball, the scoreboard and the trophy table are a poor way to measure whether a season went well. Here is how we see it at Ground Up.

Hardware and rings aren’t worth a kid’s arm

Ground Up’s view: arm health and development are the most important part of the process. No trophy, ring or banner is worth an overused arm. Count every pitch, follow the Pitch Smart limits and rest days [Pitch Smart] (see pitch counts and rest and the ArmRules calculator), and keep up the routines on our Arm Care pages. Don’t ride your best one or two arms through a championship Sunday to win a trophy. Develop more pitchers instead, so no one kid has to carry the team.

Nobody is scouting 10-year-olds

Ground Up’s view: no scout is going to look back at what a kid did at 9, 10 or 11. What matters at these ages is building skills, a healthy arm and a love for the game, so the kid is still playing, and still getting better, when it really counts.

Read the scorebook carefully

Scoring apps like GameChanger are a great tool for the team, and they are most useful for objective counts: pitch counts, balls and strikes, walks and strikeouts. Even those are only as accurate as the person logging every pitch. Hits versus errors are different. Those are judgment calls made by a volunteer scorekeeper, often a parent doing their best from the bleachers, and two people can score the same play two ways. That makes batting average and errors an unfair way to rank kids. Use the stats as a rough record of the season, not a rating of the player.

Judge the quality of the at-bat instead

A hard line drive right at the shortstop is an out in the book and a great at-bat in real life. A bloop that falls in is a hit in the book and maybe not a great swing. So look past the result:

Quality At-Bat checklist

  • Saw pitches: worked the count instead of chasing the first one.
  • Swung at strikes and laid off pitches out of the zone.
  • Didn’t take one right down the middle.
  • Hit the ball hard, wherever it went.
  • Competed with two strikes: shortened up, fouled off tough pitches, put it in play.
  • Moved a runner or did the job the situation asked for.

Praise these out loud in the dugout, and use them in the monthly check-in (there is an optional line for them on the template).

Be patient with players who are struggling

Some of your best players will struggle at the plate for stretches. It might be timing, confidence, a growth spurt or one small habit in the swing. Keep them in the lineup, keep encouraging them, and keep working on the one thing that is holding them back. Once they get past it, they may become your best player. Kids remember the coach who stuck with them.

Lineups that build hitters

When a kid is struggling at the plate, the easy move is to bury them at the bottom of the order. We think that is backwards. A struggling hitter needs to see the ball more, not less, and batting last means fewer at-bats, which can make the slump worse. Move them around and give them more chances. The same goes for the top of the order: don’t bat the same top hitters up top every game.

“Trust me, your wins are not important.”

At the youth level, development comes first. Nobody will remember a 10U pool-play record, but a kid who got enough at-bats to work out of a slump will remember the season they figured it out.

Ground Up coaching cue

“GameChanger is fake news.”

A playful reminder to tell your players: don’t live by the stat line. Nothing against the app. It just can’t see how hard you competed, how many pitches you saw, or how hard you hit it. Your coach can.

Ground Up coaching cue

Positions, pitching and catching Our suggestion

One primary infield spot, one primary outfield spot

Give each player a primary infield position and a primary outfield position to really develop, and keep rotating them through other spots too. Kids change a lot as they grow, and the player who looks like a second baseman at 10 may be your shortstop or catcher at 13. Knowing more than one position also makes them a better teammate and gives you options.

Let kids who want to pitch actually pitch

It is easy to keep telling a kid “work on this and that first” and never hand them the ball. We think that is a mistake. Players need real game innings to learn what they need to work on, because kids perform differently in a game than they do in practice. A low-pressure inning (a comfortable lead or deficit, the bottom of the order, a pool-play game) is a great first outing.

Keep it safe every time: follow Pitch Smart and your league’s pitch count and rest rules [Pitch Smart] (see pitch counts and rest and ArmRules), count every pitch, and keep up the routines on our Arm Care pages.

Every kid should learn to catch

Ground Up’s view: catching builds arm strength, lower-body strength and grip strength that help at every position, and it teaches kids to see the whole field. It is also smart team planning. If you only have one or two catchers, at a position where bumps and injuries are more likely, one injury can leave you with nobody who knows what they are doing back there.

You don’t have to put every kid behind the plate every game, but give as many kids as possible practice reps. Gear has to fit properly: a full set (helmet or mask with throat protection, chest protector, shin guards) and a cup for boys. Loose, oversized gear doesn’t protect anyone.

Catcher work every practice

Set aside 15 to 30 minutes of dedicated catcher work in every practice. Run it as a rotating station with 2 or 3 kids at a time while everyone else works the other stations. Too many coaches skip catcher practice, and it shows on game day with passed balls, wild throws and a tired kid in the gear.

Sample catcher station (about 20 minutes)

  1. Stance (3 min): bases-empty and runners-on stances on the coach’s call.
  2. Receiving and framing (5 min): soft tosses around the zone; catch, stick it, quiet glove.
  3. Blocking (4 min): soft or tennis balls into a mat or grass, 8 to 10 reps.
  4. Transfers and throws to 2nd (4 min): quick hands, then a capped handful of throws at an age-appropriate distance.
  5. Pop-ups and plays at the plate (4 min): back to the infield and mask off; tags with a walking runner and no collisions.

Keep throw volume low and count throws like pitches. Full drill library: catcher drills, and every practice plan now has a catcher block.

Tell your players: how you carry yourself counts Our suggestion

Ground Up’s view: kids hear a lot about velocity, exit speed and 60 times. Remind them that the way they carry themselves matters just as much to the people watching (coaches at the next level, and someday scouts) as how hard they throw, how far they hit and how fast they run. Talent gets noticed, and so does attitude.

Say it simply: “Somebody is always watching. Give them something good to see.”

Gear and equipment list Our suggestion

Team bag
  • Buckets of practice balls and a few game balls
  • Batting tee(s) and a portable hitting net
  • Throw-down bases and cones
  • Catcher's gear: helmet or mask, chest protector, shin guards (each catcher brings a cup)
  • Extra batting helmets that meet your league's rules
  • Fungo bat, pitch counter or app, scorebook, lineup cards, pens
  • Rule books, field addresses and the roster with birth dates if your organization needs them
Field-day comfort
  • Team water cooler with extra cups or bottles, and ice
  • Pop-up tent or canopy for shade
  • Sunscreen
  • Towels, trash bags, a rain tarp for gear
First aid kit [Red Cross]
  • Adhesive bandages in assorted sizes, sterile gauze pads and a gauze roll
  • Adhesive cloth tape and a roller bandage
  • Antiseptic wipes and antibiotic ointment packets
  • Instant cold compresses (we pack several extra; our suggestion)
  • Nonlatex gloves, tweezers, an emergency blanket and a breathing barrier
  • A thermometer and emergency first aid instructions
  • The parent contact and medical info sheet (our suggestion). Do not give players any medicine without a parent's OK.

Gear for players: GloveCode for glove sizes and BatCode plus BatRules for bats your league allows.

Pitch counts and rest

Pitch Smart, from MLB and USA Baseball, sets a daily maximum of pitches in a game by age and the days of rest needed after a given count [Pitch Smart]:

AgeDaily max0 days rest1 day2 days3 days4 days
7-8501-2021-3536-50N/AN/A
9-10751-2021-3536-5051-6566+
11-12851-2021-3536-5051-6566+
13-14951-2021-3536-5051-6566+
15-16951-3031-4546-6061-7576+
17-181051-3031-4546-6061-8081+

Read it as: a 12-year-old who throws 40 pitches needs 2 days of rest; 66 or more needs 4 days. Your tournament organization may use its own pitch rules, so look up yours in ArmRules, which has a rest calculator for each organization. When two sets of rules apply, we follow the stricter one Our suggestion.

Do you really need that overnight tournament? Our suggestion

Travel ball does not have to mean a hotel every other weekend. If there are good teams within driving distance, you can get plenty of strong competition and still sleep in your own beds. Going out of town just to see different jerseys is not a good enough reason on its own.

Remember what families are already paying

Most families have already put in a few thousand dollars for the season by the time you start scheduling. Every overnight trip piles more on top of that. From our own experience, a single weekend away can run around $500 for hotel rooms and another $500 or so for food and gas, per family. Your numbers will be different, but they add up fast, especially for families with more than one kid playing.

Ask before you commit

Before you sign up for a travel event, ask your families two honest questions: Who is actually able to go? And do we really want to? A tournament where half the roster cannot make it, or where parents are stretching to afford it, is not worth the entry fee.

If you do travel, make it worth the trip

Pick somewhere families will enjoy, a place near a beach, a lake, a fun town or a ballpark, where they might turn the weekend into a small family vacation. That way the money spent feels like a reward, not just a bill.

Travel tournament checklist

  • Survey families before you book: who can go, and who wants to.
  • Add up the full trip cost per family (entry fee share, hotel, food, gas) and share it.
  • Pick travel events early, ideally before the season starts, so families can budget and request time off.
  • Mix it up: build most of the schedule from strong local events and add only a trip or two.
  • Choose travel spots families would enjoy visiting anyway.
  • Cover it in the parent meeting with the rest of the season costs.

You’re there for the kids Our suggestion

On game day, you are there for the game and the kids. The same goes for practice: you are there for the kids and the team. Conversations with parents matter, but game day is not the time. Most of them can wait until the next practice, or until after the game if it really is important. Before the game, your focus is your team and getting them ready to perform.

A polite way to say it

“I want to give this my full attention. Can we talk after the game, or at practice this week?”

Then follow through: set the time and show up for it. If it is a safety or health issue (an injury, an arm that hurts, a family emergency), handle it right away.

Ground Up coaching cue

This lines up with the 24-hour rule parents hear at the parent meeting and on the parents’ page: concerns wait until the next day, and nobody grabs the coach before the first pitch.

Tournament-day logistics Our suggestion

Find events by state and age group on our Tournaments page.

The night before

  • Confirm the schedule, field address and parking. Times change; check the tournament site again.
  • Send the arrival time (first pitch minus your pregame script), uniform color and what to bring.
  • Read the tournament rules: time limits, run rules, tiebreakers, pitching rules, bat rules and check-in requirements.
  • Fill out lineup cards ahead of time, with a backup lineup.
  • Check the weather forecast for heat and storms.

Game day

  • Check in at the tournament desk if required.
  • Set up the tent, cooler and team area. Know where the lightning shelter is.
  • Run the pregame script (short version between games).
  • Track every pitch and post the pitch count sheet after each game.
  • Between games: shade, water, real food, and check who can pitch next and when.
  • After every game, if the next team is waiting: clear out with all your gear and a clean dugout first, then meet in the outfield or away from the next teams.
  • After the last game: a short huddle, clean the dugout, and send the next day's times.

Safety basics

General education, not medical advice. Know your league's and state's rules, and call 911 in an emergency.

Lightning

Heat

Concussion awareness

First aid kit

Build it from the gear list, keep it in the team bag, and check expiration dates and restock used items [Red Cross].

Culture and expectations Our suggestion

Put it in writing: turn these standards into a printable team code of conduct with signature lines using the Code of Conduct builder. Our suggestion

Sources

Sources retrieved Oct 24, 2026. Everything marked Our suggestion (timings, drills, rotations, checklists and coaching opinions) is our own coaching advice, not a rule or a published prescription.