08/11/2026
10 Tips for Community Associations by Sean Hall
I am very thankful to have gotten my coaching start in the Stillwater Traveling Program at age 19. I am going to share some of my opinions on what Community Associations can do to take their program to the next level.
#1 Know your Mission/Purpose
Is your mission to win as many games as possible? Is it to keep players from leaving your program? Is it to help your high school program be the best it can be? Whatever your mission is, your decisions should be made with your mission in mind. I think a great mission statement would be “Helping ALL players learn to develop their skills to a very high level in a positive, challenging environment.”
#2 Challenge Teams and Educate Parents/Players
This time of year many teams/programs need to make the big decision with their “Bubble Teams.” Should we be below .500 and play A or should we play B and kick butt and take names. WAY too often teams choose to play at a lower level. When you choose to play B Teams, you will see weaker pitching and the game will be played at a slower pace. This will lead to more wins and a FALSE sense of security for players, parents and coaches. If you choose to play A you will get challenged and you won’t win as many games but you WILL be seeing great pitchers and playing the game at a much faster pace. The players will adapt to playing at a faster speed. I would much rather have a team with a .300 record playing A than a .900 record playing B. We also need to teach players, parents and even coaches EXACTLY where the team finished. If Coach Sandbag Smith has a team that is a bubble team and he chooses to go the B route and his team finishes the league season 16-2 and ends up winning Tier 3 State he finishes the season as the 33rd best team. If Coach Jethro Jones chooses to go A and goes 5-13 in league but finished 5th place in Tier 2, State Coach Jones’s team should be much happier than Coach Sandbag Smith's team. They finished 21st at State and saw GREAT COMPETITION all year long.
#3 Work with High School Coaches and Players
Nothing brings a sense of community like High School Players and Coaches working with and getting to know the youth in the program. It works even better if the traveling coaches are working alongside the High School Coaches. Most of the top community programs in the state have some sort of help from the Varsity Coaches. If your program encompasses multiple High Schools try to get help from any of the coaches that are interested.
#4 Keeping players in your program
All programs - club or community, hate to see players leave their program. That being said sometimes it’s a good thing for the player and sometimes it’s a good thing for the association/club. I have seen many associations make mistakes trying to be everything for everyone. Some will force players to stay in their program as long as the rules allow them to keep them there. The best programs find ways to make the program so successful that players won’t want to leave the program. Community programs have a huge advantage as it is generally much easier to keep costs down compared to club teams. Some of the best community programs are offering more things than some of the club programs. Adding some extra things like bringing in clinicians, offering dome teams, practices throughout the winter help the girls who might be looking for more and wouldn’t drive up costs for players that aren’t interested or playing other sports.
#5 Support your Coaches
Coaching in this day and age is nearly impossible. Everyone is a critic and if you listen to the greasy wheel all the time you will need to find a new coach every year. Spend time supporting, helping and mentoring your coaches to get better. Players, Coaches and Umpires are all similar in that they are constantly learning and trying to improve. If we get rid of coaches instead of trying to help them, it’s a very slippery slope. If you want good coaches you need to invest. Send them to clinics, bring in clinicians to help them or have former coaches come in and mentor them.
#6 Try-Outs and Politics
Nothing shows a programs integrity like their try-outs. If they are well organized with non-parent evaluators and keep players busy with lots of QUALITY repetitions this is a plus. The best tryouts measure hard skills scores (throw speed, bat speed, running speed) and soft skills (human evaluation of physical skills). The best programs stay away from politics and try to choose the best players regardless of who their parents are and how much work they do for the program.
#7 DON’T FEAR THE B-TEAM!
Parents and players get too caught up in status. If your kid is a bubble player that could be on either team there is nothing wrong with being on the B-Team. When they are young the extra reps, prime positions and success is going to help them develop and have fun. That being said, if they were in the same position the following year I think being a role player on the A team would also be beneficial. I had a player from NSP that was on the 14U C Team. She worked her butt off and in her senior year became the Minnesota Player of the Year as an Outfielder and went on to play at the University of Minnesota.
#8 Find a few quality non-parent coaches
In the hay days of the Stillwater program Steve Wicker and myself coached every year for free. In Forest Lake Don Cramer and Tim Casey have helped support the programs for years. These types of coaches are invaluable to the credibility of a program.
#9 EDUCATE your players and Coaches.
There are lots of quality organizations that will help train players and coaches. If you are looking for any specific Coaches Clinics or Players Clinics S&C can help.
#10 Have a healthy board.
The best boards have a lot of diversity. Being on the board can be a thankless position. Long hours and lots of complaints and usually the people complaining are the last ones to help. Parents, Coaches and Board Members all need to work together to make a great program! Hats off to all the board members that work long hours to help make their programs great!
