Many dedicated volunteers–typically parents–raise their hand each year and spend valuable hours coaching youth softball. Almost none have any formal training in teaching the sport.

In Softball, youth coaches are not required to have any formal skill training or coaching education.

ONE Softball asked over 300 college and travel ball coaches in the ONE Softball Coach Think Tank if they thought that youth softball should have some sort of standardized coaching education for volunteer coaches, and the results are overwhelming: 92% say YES!

College coaches answered “yes” at a slightly higher rate than the travel ball coaches. From this we surmise that the college coaches would like the players that come to them to have an even better foundation of skills than they currently have, and that the college coaches are interested in improving players at all levels.

There is a lot to “coaching” at any level. Skills like hitting, pitching, baserunning, and defense are complex and require and understanding of both what do to and how to teach it. Other important skills like working as a team, showing strong character and leadership skills, and recovering from failure are often noted as crucial skills that kids learn from sport participation. Coaches can help kids learn these things better and faster if they, the coach, have learned how to teach it.

ONE Softball is committed to improving coaching education by bringing coaches and parents information directly, and we look forward to working with others on formal, standardized coach education.