Parent Tips

Here are a few helpful tips to ensure your family gets the most out of your experience: 

A successful youth baseball/softball season begins with us - the parents. It is up to each of us to ensure a positive, fun and educational environment for our children. These tips will help make the season more enjoyable for you and your children:

 1. Work with your child. Playing ball with your child at home can help improve his/her skills dramatically. Just throwing the ball around the backyard or hitting the batting cages can make a world of difference in your child’s progress. Baseball is all about repetition, the more they play, the better they get. To ensure a productive home play session, talk to your child’s coach for training tips and ideas. Keeping with your coach’s training style will reinforce good techniques for your child throughout the season. 

2. Be a model of good sportsmanship. Applaud effort and attitude more than performance! Show the kids what a good sportsman looks like through your own behavior. Treat managers, coaches, umpires and other parents with the same respect you expect to receive. Take issues up in private through appropriate channels. Above all, win and lose with dignity and grace. 

3. Show up for games AND practices. As a parent, your child needs you to be there to encourage and support their progress throughout the season. They need to know that what they are doing matters and that as parents we are proud of them. 

4. Respect The Rules. One of our most important jobs as parents is to teach our kids to respect the rules and as parents we must teach by example. Every parent must respect and follow the rules of Sacred Heart CYO Baseball/Softball, from the to umpire calls to individual coaching practices. 

5. Get to know your team. Get to know your coaches and team parents. Even if you can’t volunteer on the team itself, be an active part of the experience and get to know the people working with your children. Open lines of communication are an essential tool for a productive season for all. 

6. Speak up if you have concerns. The Sacred Heart CYO Board of Directors is committed to ensuring a productive and positive program for the community. If you don’t let us know that you have a question or concern, we can’t help you. If you have issues with a member of the coaching staff, trouble with other parents, or concerns with the program, please contact us directly. The league welcomes and encourages suggestions. 

7. Be part of the solution. The more volunteers we have the better our league becomes, we can’t stress this enough. You don’t have to be on the board or coach a team to help out. Above all, if you see some way that the league can improve, don’t criticize it, give us suggestions on how to change it. This is your league too and we want to know how we can help your family have a wonderful season. 

8. Have fun. Above all, we want everyone to have a great season. Together we can create a positive, healthy, and fun learning environment for our kids.