Tuesday Groveland practices moved to Aldine

The Major League Seals and other teams practicing

Groveland has decided to use their fields on Tues evening. We can use the field on 5/1/07, after that we have relocate.

Teams that had Tues pm practice there may use the field at Aldine Park, which is located on Aldine Ave. (between Snelling and Fairview), one block north of Marshall. The field is in rough shape but Dennis has asked the city to clean it up a bit.

Here's a link to a map.

--
John Faughnan (assist coach)
651-336-5548
jfaughnan@spamcop.net

Pitching clinic Mondays 7pm Expo School softball field

The Pitching clinic is Mondays, 7pm at the softball field behind Expo school. The first clinic is 4/30/07. This clinic is for minor or major league players.

Here's the notice from our web site:

Any Minor or Major Leaguer can drop by the Carondelet softball field (next to Expo School) at 7:00 on Monday nights for an hour of free pitching instruction. If your child wants to learn to pitch or improve their skills, let our high school and college pitchers from our Penguin Baseball program work with them.

--
John Faughnan (assist coach)
651-336-5548
jfaughnan@spamcop.net

HGRA Parent Guidelines: The Minor leagues

The HGRA Schedule page includes a link to the Minor League Parent Guidelines (pdf). It's a one page document and it's very well done.

The key section is a list of how parents can help:

• Supervise the players on the bench and announce the batting order for the kids during the games;
• Coach first or third base;
• Create & distribute a team roster with names, numbers, parents’ names, treat schedule, etc.;
• Bring a jug of water and paper cups on hot days - those who forgot will appreciate you;
• Keep a first aid kit (or at least some bandaids) in the car, just in case someone skins a knee;
• Sign up for one night of post-game treats. They are a tradition in HGRA. Your coach or a volunteer will
usually set up a schedule. Juice boxes, cookies, cookies or popsicles are a few suggestions. Bring enough
so brothers and sisters can have some too;
• Write your child’s name on your child’s cap and glove. This will help you get them back when they are
left behind and picked up by a parent, coach or visitor;
• Remember that we are all trying our best - if your child has not batted first yet, or played 1st base, it is
probably just an oversight. A quick, friendly word to the coach is all that is needed.

Indelible laundry markers work best for writing names on gear and caps.

2007 Season: notes from the commissioner

Commissioner Dennis Merley sent some notes out to the coaches. Here are excerpts of interest to everyone:

3. Groveland 3 is the field on the west side of Groveland Elementary that borders Sargent Ave. Groveland 4 is the field on the west side of the school on the corner of Cleveland and St. Clair. Other fields - Highland Senior is the softball field on the corner of Snelling and Montreal, Hillcrest is the field in the Northwest corner by the parking lot, Homecroft is the east field that borders Edgcumbe Road. If you have questions about these fields, let me know.

7. If you are looking for coaching guidance, I recommend "Coaching Youth Baseball the Ripken Way". It's a well-written guide to teaching skills and running practices, and it seperates everything by age groups. The age groups more or less correspond to what we do so the suggestions should be pretty applicable. It's available for $11.00 on Amazon. ..